Background: Folate and vitamin B12 have a number of biologic roles that makethem important in hematological disorders and MALIGNANCY. In the present study, wehave assessed serum folate and vitamin B12 levels and their associated variables inpatients with leukemia, lymphoma, and solid tumors. Methods: This cross-section study investigated 98 patients (57 with leukemia, 16lymphoma, and 25 solid tumors) between April 2015 and March 2016 in Southern Iran. Complete blood counts and serum levels of folate, vitamin B12, lactate dehydrogenase, and homocysteine were measured. Clinical characteristics of the patients were alsogathered from their medical records. Results: Patients had the following mean serum levels: serum folate (12. 27± 6. 69ng/ml), vitamin B12 (331. 81± 183. 22 pg/ml), and homocysteine (11. 74± 26. 67 μ mole/L). Vitamin B12 showed a significant negative correlation with homocysteine levels (r=-0. 223, P=0. 043). Overall, there were 21(21. 9%) vitamin B12 and 9 (9. 8%) folatedeficient patients. Vitamin B12 patients had a longer remission time (time from offtherapy until study entry) of 18± 16. 97 months compared to those with normal vitaminB12 levels (8. 81± 8. 08 months, P=025). However, logistic regression analysis showedthat only mean corpuscular volume had a significant correlation with vitamin B12deficiency (B=-0. 105, odds ratio=0. 9, 95% CI: 0. 819-0. 990, P=0. 03). None of thevariables showed significant correlation with folate deficiency (P>0. 05). Conclusion: Vitamin B12 and folate deficiency are frequently seen in survivors ofCHILDHOOD MALIGNANCY, mainly due to the effects of chemotherapy. These vitamins haveimportant roles in hematopoiesis, as well as development and maintenance of the nervoussystem; therefore, timely detection of their deficiencies is of utmost importance. It ishighly recommended to check the serum levels of these vitamins in children whosuccessfully survive their cancer treatments.

Localized morphea is a disorder of unknown cause in which there is localized sclerosis of the skin. Disabling pansclerotic morphea of CHILDHOOD is a rare severe mutilating form of morphea involving the dermis, fat, fascia, muscle and even bone, usually starting before the age of 14 years. Here, an eight-year-old boy with progressive sclerosis of palmar surface of wrist and hand and digits without involvement of finger tips is presented whose major signs were flexion contracture of wrist and claw hand deformity of third and fourth fingers. Due to progressive nature of the disease he was treated with prednisolone and hydroxychloroquine and the progression of the disease was controlled.

Background: Survivors of CHILDHOOD MALIGNANCY are at risk of long-term late effects. One of the most commonly involved systems in this effect is endocrine system. Appropriate timely recognition and treatment of late complications including endocrine complication is essential for the continuing health and improvement in quality of life in cancer survivors.Objectives: Therefore, this study has been conducted to investigate the aforementioned complications resulting from the treatment of the common malignancies in children in Iran.Patients and Methods: We performed a cross sectional study for evaluation of endocrine complication in cancer survivors who had finished their cancer treatment and come for followed up in oncology clinic of children medical center.Results: Demographic data, treatment modality, and endocrine late effect recorded and analyzed. There were 96 survivors with median age of 13.8±5.8 years (range 3 - 31 years). The median follow up time was 2.7 years (range 1 - 10 years). Hyperinsulinemia was the most common late effect. Other complication was dyslipidemia, overweight, obesity, osteopenia, hypothyroidism, diabetes mellitus and osteoporosis respectively.Conclusions: Our study has demonstrated a significant prevalence of endocrine complication after CHILDHOOD cancer therapy and a long term follow-up program for survivors of CHILDHOOD cancer is therefore needed.

Objective: One of the primary factors in managing patients with retinoblastoma is early diagnosis. The main idea of this study was to recognize the consequences of delay in diagnosis on therapy of the disease.Methods: A retrospective review of all children with proven retinoblastoma, who had presented to MAHAK hospital in Tehran, from April 2007 to Dec 2011, was performed. Grouping of intraocular tumors was applied as A to E according to International Classification of Retinoblastoma.Findings: There were 157 (91 boys) children eligible for study. The mean age was 1.21±0.11 years with average delay in diagnosis of 3.4±0.53 months. Classification of D group in both unilateral (93 patients) and bilateral tumors was the largest category. A significant relation (P=0.05) between delayed diagnosis time and tumor grouping was evident. The most frequent symptoms were leukocoria and strabismus. Age was significantly lower in the subgroup of bilateral tumors than in unilateral retinoblastomas (0.6±0.12 year vs 1.6±0.15 years). The diagnosis was delayed in subgroup of extra ocular retinoblastoma more than in intraocular tumors (8.7±2.9 months vs 2.9±0.52 months).Conclusion: The authors recommend early referring of suspected cases to ophthalmologists and pediatric oncologists and to organize educational programs to publisize signs and symptoms of the disease such as leukocoria, strabismus and ocular inflammatory disorders through national media. In conclusion, early diagnosis of retinoblastoma can be the primary factor in managing the patients as the delay in diagnosis accounts for highly advanced disease and poor prognosis.

Background & Aim: Considering the pathogenesis of nursing caries, the emphasis has more been focused on microorganisms, especially streptocucus mutans, There are also multiple factors interfering the onset of this disease, the immunological responses of the host are one of the them. Among different immune factors, there has been little attention to the role of neutrophils, though they act as the frontiers in defense mechanism. So this study was done with the aim of evaluating the relation of salivary neutrophil percent in children with baby bottle tooth decay and caries free children in 3-5 years old kids in Tehran kindergartens.Methods & Subjects: Thirty - six children with nursing caries and 36 caries free kids were selected for this analytical cross sectional study. All the basic variables which might had affected on neutrophil rate were omitted. One ml of saliva was obtained from all children and a fruity was prepared for each case to compare the results. To prevent the bias all the samples were coded. The analysis was performed by SPSS ver10.0 software and chi - square analysis. Results: The neutrophils count in samples with early CHILDHOOD caries was 23.6±11.4 and 17.6±11.2 in caries free kids. Saliva neutrophil count in kids with nursing caries was significantly higher than caries free children (P<0.02). Conclusion: In nursing caries the polymorphonuclears (Neutrophils) migrate into the oral cavity and a significant increase in their rate is observed in saliva, indicating their effort for defence.

Background: b-thalassemia trait is one of the most common genetic disorders in Mediterranean countries. Previous studies have shown that b-thalassemia trait has a protective effect against malaria, coronary artery disease, hypertension and Alzheimer disease. We hypothesize that due to the shorter life span of red blood cells and increased hematopoiesis, these patients are at increased risk of developing hematological malignancies. Thus, this study investigated the possible effect of b-thalassemia trait on CHILDHOOD malignancies.Methods: This was a case-control study that included 432 children with malignancies (leukemias and lymphomas as well as solid tumors) as the case group and 432 healthy individuals who referred for premarital b-thalassemia trait screening as the control group. All patients underwent a complete blood count as well as hemoglobin electrophoresis. Hemoglobin A2³3.5% or hemoglobin F between 2% and 10% were considered diagnostic for b-thalassemia trait. The results were compared between groups with the chi-squared test.Results: Mean age of the patients was 7.08±5.1 years and mean age in the control group was 25.46±7.3 years. There were 253 (58.6%) boys and 179 (41.4%) girls among the patients and 308 (71.3%) men and 124 (28.7%) women among the controls. The prevalence of b-thalassemia trait was 5.6% in the case group and 11.3% in the control group (P=0.001). The mean hemoglobin level was 9.81±3.1 g/dL in those with malignancies and 15.3±1.7 g/dL in healthy individuals (P<0.001).Conclusion: b-thalassemia trait is a protective factor against developing CHILDHOOD malignancies in an unselected Iranian population. However, more studies are needed to clarify this issue.