Endoresection of high posterior melanomas was not associated with a higher risk of metastasis, death, or local recurrence than other reported techniques used to treat similar melanomas.

IntroductionWomen’s sexuality may be particularly affected after breast cancer. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the changes in sexual life after treatment of breast cancer in Tunisian women and to identify the influence of demographic and clinical factors on sexuality.MethodsWe recruited 50 patients who were in remission for at least 3 months after initial treatment of breast cancer. Sexuality and body image were evaluated using the Arabic version of the specific scale of breast cancer QLQ-BR23. Screening for emotional disorders has been done with the Arabic version of HAD scale (Hospital anxiety and depression scale).ResultsPatients had poor sexual functioning and sexual satisfaction and the mean scores were respectively 45.3% and 43.9%. Only menopausal status and sexual difficulties in the partner was significantly related to poorer sexual satisfaction (p respectively 0.018 and 0.014). According to the HAD scale, 42% of patients had anxiety and 44% had depression. The sexual satisfaction was statistically associated with the presence of anxiety symptoms (p=0.0003).ConclusionResults suggest that the psychological side and the sexual difficulties in partner are the most important factors that appear to be involved in sexual satisfaction of Tunisian women after breast cancer. So, those factors need to be taken into account in therapeutic process and psychological counseling to maintain and enhance patient’s psychological well-being.

Background To evaluate the efficacy of swept –source optical coherence tomography angiography (SS-OCTA) in grading macular perfusion in retinal vein occlusion. Methods Retrospective observational case series including patients with different types of retinal vein occlusion (RVO). SS-OCTA utilizes OCTARA algorithm to examine the retinal vascular plexuses for the presence of morphological signs of ischemia according to a predetermined grading scheme. The findings were compared with fundus fluorescein angiography (FFA), and swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) features. Bivariate correlation, coefficient of determination, and crosstabs procedures were used to calculate inter-variable linear correlation, relative contribution of the tested variables, and multivariate association, respectively. Results The study included 144 eyes of 138 patients. The most common type of RVO was branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO) (53%). The superficial capillary plexus (SCP) and the deep capillary plexus (DCP) did not correlate with each other in all parameters tested. Increased central macular thickness (CMT) and disrupted retinal outer layers (DROL) were associated with increased severity of ischemia in DCP. Disorganized retinal inner layers (DRIL) correlated significantly with the presence of perifoveal capillary ischemia in the SCP and the DCP. Macular ischemia on FFA correlated with ischemia in the SCP layer only. Increased CMT, DROL and DRIL on SS-OCT, and SCP and DCP ischemia on SS-OCTA contributed significantly to diminished best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA). Conclusion SS-OCTA is more precise in defining the extent and location of maximum ischemic insult following RVO compared to FFA, hence represents a more efficient grader for ischemic damage in the posterior pole. Increased CMT, DRIL, and DROL on SS-OCT, and SCP and DCP ischemia on SS-OCTA are significant predictors of poor visual outcome.

Monthly intravitreal injection of ranibizumab for 3 months has a short-term beneficial anatomic effect.

Objective:Probiotics such as lactobacilli prevent the development of a wide range of human and animal's pathogens. The aim of this study was evaluation of antagonistic effect of isolated lactobacilli from local dairy products against three standard strains of Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.Materials and Methods:Twenty samples of local dairy products including cow milk, buffalo milk, cheese, and yogurt were collected from different areas of Ahwaz city. Antimicrobial disc diffusion method was applied on S. aureus (ATCC-6538), B. subtilis (ATCC-12711), and P. aeruginosa (ATCC-27853). Antimicrobial effects of isolates were evaluated by disc diffusion test on Mueller-Hinton agar medium plated with three pathogens.Results:Obtained results showed that only three strains of isolated lactobacilli of local dairy samples had inhibitory effects on understudy pathogens including Lactobacillus alimentarius, Lactobacillus sake, and Lactobacillus collinoides. All three isolates showed moderate activity (inhibition zone <15 mm) except of L. collinoides and L. alimentarius that had relatively strong activity (inhibition zone ≥15 mm) against P. aeruginosa and B. subtilis, respectively.Conclusion:These bacteria can be raised for the production of various kinds of food, pharmaceutical products, and functional foods.