Background There is considerable variation in hypertension prevalence and awareness, and their correlates, across different geographic locations and ethnic groups. We performed this cross-sectional analysis on data from the Golestan Cohort Study (GCS). Methods Enrollment in this study occurred in 2004–2008, and included 50,045 healthy subjects from Golestan Province in northeastern Iran. Hypertension was defined as a systolic blood pressure (SBP) ≥140, a diastolic blood pressure (DBP) ≥90, a prior diagnosis of hypertension, or the use of antihypertensive drugs. Potential correlates of hypertension and its awareness were analyzed by logistic regression adjusted for sex, age, BMI, place of residence, literacy, ethnicity, physical activity, smoking, black and green tea consumption and wealth score. Results Of the total cohort participants, 21,350 (42.7%) were hypertensive. Age-standardized prevalence of hypertension, using the 2001 WHO standard world population, was 41.8% (95%CI: 38.3%–45.2%). Hypertension was directly associated with female sex, increased BMI, Turkmen ethnicity, and lack of physical activity, and inversely associated with drinking black tea and wealth score. Among hypertensive subjects, 46.2% were aware of their disease, 17.6% were receiving antihypertensive medication, and 32.1% of the treated subjects had controlled hypertension. Hypertension awareness was greater among women, the elderly, overweight and obese subjects, and those with a higher wealth score. Conclusions Hypertension is highly prevalent in rural Iran, many of the affected individuals are unaware of their disease, and the rate of control by antihypertensive medications is low. Increasing hypertension awareness and access to health services, especially among less privileged residents are recommended.

Background The complexity of treatment regimens, costs and pill burden decrease the medication adherence and contribute to shortfall in cardiovascular preventive drug coverage. The polypill, a fixed dose combination pill of established drugs is expected to increase adherence and reduce the costs whilst preventing the major cardiovascular events (MCVE). Design and methods The PolyIran trial is a pragmatic cluster randomized trial nested within Golestan Cohort Study (GCS). Subjects were randomized to either non-pharmacologic preventive interventions alone (minimal care arm) or together with a polypill (polypill arm) comprising hydrochlorothiazide, aspirin, atorvastatin and either enalapril or valsartan. This study benefits from the infrastructure of the primary health care system in Iran and the interventions are delivered by the local auxiliary health workers (Behvarz) to the participants. The primary outcome of the study is the occurrence of first MCVE within five years defined as non-fatal and fatal myocardial infarction, unstable angina, sudden death, heart failure, coronary artery revascularization procedures and non-fatal and fatal stroke. Trial status From February 2011 to April 2013, 8410 individuals (236 clusters) attended the eligibility assessment. Of those, 3421 in polypill arm and 3417 in minimal care arm were eligible. The study is ongoing. Conclusion The infrastructure of GCS and the primary health care system in Iran enabled the conduct of this pragmatic large-scale trial. If the polypill strategy proves effective, it may be implemented to prevent cardiovascular disease in developing countries.

BackgroundInflammation of the pituitary gland can occur in a variety of primary or secondary disorders. Idiopathic granulomatous hypophysitis is a rare inflammatory disease of the pituitary gland that can closely mimic a pituitary adenoma clinicoradiologically. Most authorities agree on minimally invasive transsphenoidal surgery as the mainstay in diagnosis and treatment of this disorder. There is still some controversy regarding pure medical management of idiopathic granulomatous hypophysitis in the literature.Case presentationA 47-year-old Iranian woman of Azeri ethnicity with a history of benign breast cysts with a chief complaint of galactorrhea presented to our endocrinology clinic. Her past medical history was negative for any menstrual irregularities, hirsutism, visual complaints, diplopia, polyuria and polydipsia or seizures. She was taking 100 mcg of levothyroxine daily. Her familial history and physical examination were unremarkable. Her initial laboratory work-up revealed hyperprolactinemia (82.4 ng/mL) with otherwise normal pituitary axes. Brain magnetic resonance imaging showed a pituitary macroadenoma for which she was treated with 0.5 mg of cabergoline weekly. Although her serum prolactin level dropped to 1.7 ng/mL and her galactorrhea was resolved, she continued to complain of headaches and nausea. Repeated imaging showed no decrease in size of the macroadenoma. Therefore, she underwent transsphenoidal surgery of the macroadenoma which was reported as chronic granulomatous hypophysitis by expert pathologists. Tuberculosis, sarcoidosis, Wegener’s granulomatosis, Langerhans cell histiocytosis, and syphilis were ruled out by appropriate tests and she was diagnosed as having idiopathic granulomatous hypophysitis. Fortunately, her condition was not complicated by hypopituitarism and she was symptom free 9 months after transsphenoidal surgery.ConclusionsIdiopathic granulomatous hypophysitis, a rare inflammatory disease of the pituitary gland, is a diagnosis of exclusion for which both medical and surgical management are reported in the literature. We present a case of idiopathic granulomatous hypophysitis who was symptom free with no complications of hypopituitarism following its transsphenoidal resection after 9 months of follow-up.