Caspian journal of internal medicine
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Caspian J Intern Med · Jan 2013
Approach to undiagnosed exudative pleural effusion: the diagnostic yield of blind pleural biopsy.
Blind percutaneous pleural biopsy has traditionally been performed to investigate the etiology of exudative pleural effusion in which the initial thoracocentesis has been non- diagnostic. In view of the increasing use of image-guided and thoracoscopic pleural biopsies, this study examined the role of blind Abrams pleural biopsy in the investigation of the exudative pleural effusion in the largest tertiary pulmonary center in Tehran, Iran. ⋯ Blind Abrams needle biopsy was diagnostic in approximately three out four patients presented with undiagnosed exudative pleural effusion. The data support the use of the Abrams needle in the investigation of pleural effusion especially in the less developed countries.
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Caspian J Intern Med · Jan 2012
ReviewMethodological issues of confounding in analytical epidemiologic studies.
Confounding can be thought of as mixing the effect of exposure on the risk of disease with a third factor which distorts the measure of association such as risk ratio or odds ratio. This bias arises because of complex functional relationship of confounder with both exposure and disease (outcome). ⋯ The criteria, source of confounding and several points in confounding issues have been addressed. The advantages and disadvantages of several strategies for control of confounding have been discussed.
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Caspian J Intern Med · Jan 2012
Transfusion-related acute lung injury in multiple traumatized patients.
Many of the multiple traumatized patients who refer to the hospital need transfusion. Transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI) is a serious clinical syndrome associated with the transfusion of plasma-containing blood components. In the article, we present a case of TRALI following transfusion of packed red blood cells Case Presentation: A 24 year old male referred to Shahid Beheshti Hospital due to multiple trauma with left femoral and humerus fractures. Due to severe anemia he received 3 units of packed red blood cells. The symptoms of TRALI began 2 hours after transfusion. He was transferred to intensive care unit (ICU) due to metabolic acidosis and severe hypoxia. The TRALI was confirmed after ruling out the other probable pulmonary diseases. He recovered and was discharged. ⋯ Transfusion related acute lung injury should be considered in any case receiving transfusion of plasma containing blood components.
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Caspian J Intern Med · Jan 2012
Acute generalized weakness in patients referred to Amirkola Children's Hospital from 2005 to 2010.
Diseases that cause acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) often progress rapidly, thus may cause life threatening complications, therefore, their diagnosis and cure are important. This study was carried out to investigate the causes of acute generalized weakness in children referred to Amirkola Children's Hospital, in Babol, Iran. ⋯ Guillain-Barre syndrome is the most common cause of AFP in children admitted due to acute generalized weakness in Amirkola Children's Hospital.
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Caspian J Intern Med · Jan 2012
Pulmonary tuberculosis and diabetes mellitus: Co-existence of both diseases in patients admitted in a teaching hospital in the southwest of Iran.
A number of former studies have shown that tuberculosis (TB) is higher in diabetes mellitus (DM) patients than non-diabetics. Both DM and TB are major public health problems in Iran, and because of the lack of investigation in this field in the region, we conducted this study to evaluate the prevalence of DM in admitted pulmonary tuberculosis patients. ⋯ We found that the frequency of DM in TB patients in the region is more prevalent than it was expected. Tuberculosis had positive association to DM. DM might be an important risk factor for developing tuberculosis.