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Background and purpose: Hydroxy urea lowers the severity of anemia in patients with thalassemia by increasing Hb F but may cause negative effects on heart due to high Ô2 affinity of Hb F.
Materials and methods : This descriptive study was performed on patients with thalassemia receiving Hydroxyurea during a five year period in thalassemia ward at Booali Hospital. Ïnclusion criteria were no none or less than 4 times transfusion in a year and using Hydroxyurea since at least one year ago (range 1-5 yr). Demographic & other data were collected through a questionare. The data were then analyzed using descriptive methods by SPSS software. Çorrelation of some variables was evaluated by pearson correlation coefficient.
Results : This study were done on 20 patients including 13 (32%) male & 27 (68%) female aged ranging 20.87 to 3.95 . 48% of them had no cardiac problem but some had cardiac complains including 15% mild chest pain, 35% occasional palpitation & 32% occasional dyspnea. Physical examination showed grade more than 2.6 systolic murmur in 5%, S3 in 2.5% and mild edema in lower extremity in 37%. None of the patients had heart failure. Âccording to Ëchpcardiography all of the patients had normal systolic function but 35% had mild diastolic dysfunction. 72.5% had normal ËÇG finding without arrhythmia but 15% had mild increased PR interval (max=0.2sec) and 12.5% had nonspecific ST-T changes.
Çonclusion: Âs no significant cardiac complications were found and considering the positive effect of Hydroxyurea on Hb level in thalassemia, it could be used in these patients.

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Introduction: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common endocrine disorders in women during reproductive ages. This syndrome is associated with disruption of sex hormone levels. Studies have shown that endurance of the heart to ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury can be affected by sex hormones. In the present study, the rate of cardiac tolerance against I/R injury in the PCOS rat model was compared with normal (control) rats.
Materials and Methods: The rats were randomly divided into two groups; PCOS and control (n=8 per group). The hearts were isolated in Langendorff isolated heart system. Cardiac perfusion was performed in a retrograde flow in the aorta at constant pressure (75 mmHg) by Krebs-Henslit buffer. A pressure (5-10 mmHg) was put to the left ventricle, using an intraventricular balloon, to measure the hemodynamic parameters of the heart. Cardiac signals were recorded while being transmitted through the catheter to the Powerbull system.
Results: Before I/R, the values for cardiac hemodynamic parameters including HR, LVDP, RPP and ± dp/dt, increased in the rat model of PCOS compared to controls, although these increases were not statistically significant (P>0.05). These parameters had decreasing trends after I/R in PCOS rats compared to controls which were not statistically significant (P>0.05).
Conclusion: Cardiac resistance to I/R injury was found to be similar in both PCOS and control animals, which could be due to the cardioprotective role of sex hormones such as estrogens.