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Background and purpose: β thalassemia major is one of the most prevalent progressive and severe genetical disorder in our country. The homozygote patients (major) sometimes show the milder form of the disease, known as intermedia. Some chemicals like hidroxy urea has been tried in thalassemic patients. Ïn this study the therapeutic effect of the drug on the patients referred to Boali Sina thalassemic center was considered in 1377-78.
Materials and Methods: Ôur study was a clinical trial done on the onset diagnosed thalassemic patients whose start of blood receiving or else was from the age of 4 years more, they did have severe blood transfusion dependency. Âfter clarification of the issue to the parents of the patients and their agreement the hydroxy urea capsules (made of medac, germany) were given orally with the primary sigle doses of 10-30 mg/kg daily cell blood count and monthly reficulocyle count indices and F-hemoglubin measurement before and treatment and in the third and sixth month was done. White blood cells count , measurement of urea and creatinine were done monthly, in order to study the probable side effects of the drug. The mutations were determined by ÂRMS method and PÇR technique in Pasteur institute, Tehran. Descriptive and analytic statistical methods (Turkey Kranmer) ÂNÔVÂ were used for the repeated measurements.
Results : 21 girls and 9 boys took part in this study, with mean age 7 ± 19 the follow up term was 6 months, and the mean dose was 18 mg/kg. The effect of hydroxy urea caused no need of blood transfusion in 73%. The Hb, Hct, MÇV, Retic variation the rate and the percentage of HbF were calculated during the term of therapy, which were significant statistically (P<0.05 to <0.0001) ÏVSÏÏ-Ï was the predominant mutation, recorded in 46 chromosome under studies from 39 cases.
Çonclusion : Hydroxy urea was very effective with less side effects, and has less cost compare to transfusion so, more study on molecular biology and on probable mechanism of effect is recommended and also supervision on the domestic production of hydroxy urea is suggested.

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Background and purpose: Blood is a life saving product and has no equivalent. Limitation time for storing and cost of typing and cross matched in respect of lab equipment and personnel, may lead to importance of proper request and use of them.
Methods and materials: In a cross sectional descriptive study, 500 patients with elective surgery were participated. Variable and data collection were done with check list. Data analyzed with SPSS soft ware. The standard ratio of cross matched per transfused was less than 1/5 pack.
Results: Results shown that of 500 patients, the blood transfused only for 80(%16) of them. The mean of hemoglobin for patients who have transfused were 12/4. The mean of hemorrhage for patients who have transfused were 822 milliliters and for the rest were 424. The whole products which used were, 325 packs and 15 units were platelet and the rest were whole blood and packed cell.
Conclusion: In this study the ratio of cross matched blood with transfused was 4 packs higher than standard. Because of costs for storing, reservation, transport to hospitals, and costs of cross matched in respect of lab costs and staffs, the request of blood must be by real indication and exact needs.

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Background and purpose: Blood transfusion is one of the essential and important parts of modern medicine. Blood transfusions are life saving for some patients, but some risks such as body's response should always be considered. This study was conducted to determine the incidence of transfusion outcomes and identifying the relationship between demographic profile of patients and some properties of blood products.

Materials and methods: This descriptive study was carried out in all patients being admitted to the emergency department in Sari Imam Khomeini hospital whom underwent blood transfusions (in 2014). After recording demographic data, the history of transfusion reactions, clinical signs and symptoms, severity of side effects, the numbers of blood infusion packs over the last 24 hours were evaluated. Statistical analyses were performed in SPSS ver. 16 applying T-test and Chi square test.

Results: A total of 961 patients had blood transfusion including 529 (55%) males and 432 (45%) females. Twelve patients (1.24%) developed acute blood transfusion complications. The most common reactions included chills (83%, n=10), fever (58%, n= 7), and dyspnea (58 %, n= 7). There were no significant correlations between the incidence of complications and other variables such as age, sex, initial hemoglobin level, previous medical history, and the age and number of injected blood products (P>0.05).

Conclusion: In this study, the incidence of acute transfusion reactions was lower than that in other studies in Iran. Reduction in the number of red blood cell packs injected into patients can be one of the reasons for reducing the risk of acute transfusion reactions.

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Background and purpose: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is one of the most important pathogens in immunocompromised patients, those who need regular blood transfusion, and renal failure patients undergoing hemodialysis. The aim of this investigation was to study the epidemiology of cytomegalovirus in hemodialysis patients in Sari, Iran.
Materials and methods: This cross-sectional study was performed in 180 hemodialysis patients attending two referral centers in Sari, 2017-2018. To include the patients we considered sociodemographic characteristics, blood transfusion history and period, and duration and frequency/week of hemodialysis. Blood samples were collected from all patients and after centrifuge, serum samples were examined for CMV-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Statistical tests including Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Mann-Whitney, and Kruskal-Wallis, and descriptive analysis including proportion for qualitative data and median (quartile range 25-75) for quantitative data were used.
Results: The participants were 180 patients, including 93 (51.7%) females and 87 (48.3%) males (mean age: 61.5±14.4). All patients (100%) were positive for anti-CMV IgG antibody. There were no significant relationships between antibody titer and sex, age, dialysis period, dialysis duration, dialysis frequency per week, transfusion, transplantation, or HBV and HCV status (P >0.05).
Conclusion: Our findings showed high frequency of CMV-IgG positive in hemodialysis patients. Due to the possibility of CMV infection progression in immunocompromised patients, especially those who undergo hemodialysis, screening programs should be performed to prevent adverse consequences.
 

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Background and purpose: Thalassemia is a common disorder in Iran and the world. The progress in the field of diagnosis and treatment of thalassemia made these people able to live for a longer period. In these patients, frequent blood transfusions are associated with numerous complications such as depression, anxiety, stress, etc. These problems are associated with a decrease in the quality of life. Therefore, this study was carried out to investigate and compare the quality of life in beta-thalassemia major patients with and without blood transfusion.
Materials and methods: In this study, which was cross-sectional and descriptive-analytical in nature, a total of 170 patients with thalassemia major, aged 18-60, who were referred to the Thalassemia Center of Bo Ali Sina Hospital in Sari during the summer of 2014, were examined. The study was conducted with the ethical code IR.MAZUMS.REC.1402.18665 of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences. According to the inclusion criteria, education level, and age range of the studied population, 116 patients out of 170 thalassemia major patients were studied. Considering that the number of thalassemia major patients with and without blood transfusions referring to the thalassemia center of Bo Ali Sina Hospital in Sari is almost equal, out of 116 patients with inclusion criteria, 58 patients are treated with periodic blood transfusions and 58 patients are under control without the need for transfusions. Blood was studied. Thalassemia patients are treated with blood transfusion every 15-30 days for injection and patients who do not need blood transfusion every 1-3 months to the thalassemia center for control. SF 36 standard questionnaire was used to check the quality of life. The reliability and validity of the Persian questionnaire were reported with Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.77 to 0.90 and vitality scale of 0.65. To analyze the variables, frequency indices, percentages, independent t-test, and chi-square test were used.
Results: Among the thalassemia major patients studied, 52 (44.8%) were male and 64 (55.1%) were female. The average age in the group with and without blood transfusion was 34.75±8.35 and 39.33±8.18 years, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference in the average age between the two groups (P=0.128). There was no significant difference in the marital status, occupation, and level of education between the patients with and without thalassemia major injection. Among the investigated clinical complications, diabetes was significantly higher in the blood transfusion group (P=0.001). From the average coefficients of the eight indices of the SF 36 test, the subscale of general health (GH) was significantly better in patients with blood transfusion with a mean and standard deviation of 55.79±19.20 than in the non-injection group, 44.05±21.59 (P=0.002).
Conclusion: It is suggested that in patients with thalassemia, especially thalassemia major, with or without blood transfusion, like other periodical control measures and medical treatment, evaluation of general health and quality of life should be carried out at regular intervals, to improve the quality of life of these patients, timely psychological or psychiatric interventions to be done at the required time.