Endometriosis is a gynecologic disease. The prevalence of endometriosis in the reproductive age of women varies between 3-10%. Cesarean scar endometriosis is a rare event and rare cases have been reported in gynecologic and surgical articles. The incidence of cesarean section scar endometriosis is not accurately determined but ranges from 0.03% to 0.15% and in some other articles the incidence up to 1% has been reported. Frequently the cesarean scar endometriosis is not diagnosed until before surgery (80%) and usually the patients are operated on the basis of some pre-operative diagnoses such as kelloid, hematoma, suture granuloma, incisional herina and neoplasm. The most common symptom is cyclic and periodic pains in the area of operation which appear approximately 1-7 years after cesarean section. The accurate diagnosis is made by pathology. In this article a patient with cyclic and severe pain in cesarean scar area for 8 years is reported. The patient had been treated with anti- inflammatory drugs for several years without any diagnosis. The patient was operated with diagnosis of subcutaneous mass and probably suture granuloma and the final pathologic report was Endometriosis. The choice treatment for cesarean scar endometriosis is surgery, and awareness about this unusual complication of it will increase the probability of preoperative diagnosis.

  Background & Objective : Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer among women worldwide and accounts for the majority of their deaths due to the cancer. Hence, diagnosing its risk factors is of great importance. In this study the association between abortion and breast cancer risk was investigated.

  Methods : In this Case- Control study in Mashhad, 105 patients with confirmed breast cancer were compared with 105 healthy women who were living in their neighborhood and were the same age. A questionnaire including demographic information as well as same questions regarding the factors associated with conception and emphasising abortion were used to collect the data, which then were analyzed using SPSS ver 9.

  Results : the findings indicated a relationship between breast cancer and history of abortion, compared to women with no history of abortion (OR=2.09 95% CI=1.18- 3.69). Also there was a significant relationship between the frequency of abortion and breast cancer (P=0.008 ). but odds ratio was not higher among women whose age at first abortion was less than 20 years. Also abortion before first full- term pregnancy increased breast cancer risk (OR= 5.97 95% CI=1.18-19.6). But the age at the time of abortion did not have any effect on the breast cancer risk.

  Conclusions : The findings suggested that the risk of breast cancer has a positive relationship with frequency of abortion and the risk is even higher if the abortion occurs before the first full-term pregnancy. Thus, health interventions seem to be necessary in this regard.

  Background & Objectives: Cesarean section is one of the most common surgeries in women. In developed countries the rate of cesarean section is reported to be 21.2%. In Iran, the rate of cesarean section is even higher than the international norms. In a study in Ardabil, in 2001, cesarean section rate came out to be 42.86%. Postoperative pain after cesarean is one of the complications that all mothers experience in one-way or another. Besides bothering mother it can disorder newborn feeding, ambulation of mother and bonding between newborn and mother if it is not controlled effectively. This study was conducted to compare the effect of intramuscular Methadone and Diclofenac suppository for pain relief after cesarean section in Alavi hospital, Ardabil.

  Methods: This study was a double blind clinical trial. 56 women who experienced cesarean section for the first time were randomly divided into two groups. Diclofenac suppository (100 mg every 8hr) was given to first group and Methadone (5 mg every 8hr) was injected to the second group for 24 hours. Then, the severity of pain was measured with numerical scoring in serial postoperative visits. The data were analyzed by SPSS software using descriptive and analytical statistics such as chi-square and ANOVA.

  Results: The findings indicated that the severity of pain in 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th postoperative visits was significantly lower in patients who received Diclofenac suppositories than the other group (p<0.05). But overall, there was no statistically significant difference between the pain severity in Methadone receiving group (Mean & SD= 5.85 ± 3.5) and Diclofenac receiving group (Mean & SD= 6.46 ± 2.9).

  Conclusion: There was no significant difference between Diclofenac suppository and Methadone in terms of decreasing the postoperative pain after cesarean section. However, regarding the restrictions in the use of opioids, Diclofenac can be a suitable replacement for these drugs.

  Background & Objectives: Preeclampsia is still one of the leading causes of maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality. Despite active researches over the past many years, the etiology of this disorder in human pregnancy is an enigma. Oxidative stress has been implicated in the pathophysiology of preeclampsia. Essential nutrients such as vitamin C can scavenge free radicals inducing cellular damage. The present study was designed to investigate the plasma levels of vitamin C in patients with preeclampsia (case) and normotensive pregnant women (control).

  Methods: In this case-control study vitamin C as an antioxidant was estimated and compared spectrophotometrically in 40 preeclamptic and 80 normotensive pregnant women referring to Alavi Hospital of Ardabil province, Iran. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics.

  Results: The plasma levels of vitamin C were significantly lower in patients with preeclampsia (0.147 ± 0.030 mg/dl) compared to controls who were normotensive pregnants (0.347 ± 0.119 mg/dl).

  Conclusion: Attempts at prevent preeclamsia are justified but since no reliable screening test has been offered as yet for women at risk, assessment of plasma level of vitamin C in patients prone to preeclampsia is strongly suggested.

Background & Objectives: Hypertension is the most common medical problem in pregnancy, with  an incidence rate of 6-8%. The patients with preeclampsia are exposed to more maternal and fetal  complications. This requires more intensive prenatal cares. The diagnosis in early stages of disease has an important role in decreasing maternal and neonatal mortality and its comsequent complications. This study was an attempt to determine the epidemiological factors and complications of preeclampsia among patients admitted to Alavi hospital, Ardabil.

Methods: This descriptive retrospective study was conducted on 176 women with preeclampsia. The data were collected using a questionnaire and medical records of patients. These data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics.

Results: 75% of the patients had severe preeclampsia and 25% had mild preedampsia. Regarding the predisposing factors, history of preeclampsia was observed in 23.1% of the cases, mother's underlying diseases in 12.5%, twin in 2.3% and hydramnios in 4%. The method of delivery in 62.5% of the cases was cesarean section. 67.6% of preeclamptic patients had maternal and fetal complications (10.2% Maternal and 57.4% fetal). The maternal complications were: abruptio placenta, (44.4%), eclampsia (22.2%) and coma (11.1%). The fetal complications were: IUGR (42.4%), prematurity (39.6%) and  IUFD (9%).

Conclusion: In this study the incidence of severe preeclampsia was higher, which may be due to insufficient prenatal cares and delay in diagnosis. Further studies about the effect of prenatal cares on pregnancy outcomes in preeclamtic women are recommended.