Tehran University Medical Journal

Background: Bronchiolitis is one of the most common diseases of the lower respiratory tract in infants. Vitamin D has been shown to be protective against lower respiratory infections; however, there are limited and contradictory results in relation to serum vitamin D level and the incidence of bronchiolitis in children. The aim of this study was to compare serum levels of this vitamin in healthy infants and infants with acute bronchiolitis.
Methods: This case-control study conducted at Abuzar hospital in Ahvaz city, during October to March of 2014. Three groups of 45 eligible infants including control, low and high intensity of bronchiolitis enrolled to study. The severity of bronchiolitis classified according to scores derived from the respiratory distress assessment index. One to eight scores considered as low intensity and 9 to 17 scores considered as high intensity of bronchiolitis. Subsequently, 3 ml of venous blood sample were taken from them and the serum levels of 25(OH)D were measured by using an enzymatic kit.
Results: 60 (44.4%) infants were girls. The mean age of the control, low and high intensity of bronchiolitis groups were 11.2±5.2, 10±5.8 and 9.8±4.7 months, respectively (P=0.1). The mean of 25(OH)D concentrations in the control, low and high intensity bronchiolitis groups were 28.3±19.4, 17.7±11.7 and 13.6±5.7 nm/l, respectively. There was a significant difference in levels of 25(OH)D between the control-low intensity bronchiolitis groups (P=0.001) and the control-high intensity bronchiolitis groups (P=0.002), this difference was not significant between the two groups of bronchiolitis. There was a direct and significant correlation between serum level of 25(OH)D and age (r=0.2, P=0.005), breast milk consumption (r=0.3, P=0.001), and vitamin D supplementation (r=0.6, P=0.000).
Conclusion: In the present study, levels of 25(OH)D were significantly lower in infants with bronchiolitis than control group. In addition, 25(OH)D levels did not affect the severity of bronchiolitis.

Background: The herpes simplex viruses cause a variety of clinical illnesses that are painful and often distressing. To control the infection, the development of an effective vaccine that prevents or reduces the primary and recurrent infections would be of great significance. With considering to immunological changes following an acute endurance exercise, the purpose of this study was to assess adjuvant effects of an acute endurance exercise in first herpes simplex virus 1 vaccine injection and its booster shots on interleukin-10 cytokine and granzyme B levels.
Methods: This experimental study was carried out in Tarbiat Modares University during May to October 2016. 32 BALB/c mice were divided into 4 groups: control, vaccine, vaccine plus an acute exercise in first injection and vaccine plus an acute endurance exercise in first injection and booster shots. Mice without or with access to acute endurance exercise were immunized intramuscularly with inactivated KOS strain of HSV-1. Two weeks after three booster shots of vaccine, interleukin-10 and granzyme B levels were determined in spleen cell culture with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method.
Results: This study was undertaken to test the hypothesis that an acute endurance exercise as an adjuvant in herpes simplex virus 1 vaccine can change interleukin-10 cytokine and granzyme B levels in mouse model. The result of this study showed significant differences between groups in interleukin-10 and granzyme B levels (P=0.001). Increasing in granzyme B levels with concurrent decreases in interleukin-10 levels was observed following using vaccine plus acute exercise in first injection of vaccine and booster shots.
Conclusion: It is suggested that exercise may stimulate parameters related to cellular immunity and hence decrease the risk of infection decreased levels of interleukin-10 in experimental group that had vaccine plus acute exercise in the first injection of vaccine and booster shots as an adjuvant was observed. These results demonstrate alternation of T helper 2 cells function and improve of cell immunity for protection against herpes simplex virus 1 infections.

Background: Tenderness, pain, muscle weakness, and limited range of motion (ROM) are symptoms of myofascial pain syndrome, which leads to restrictions on physical, occupational and social activities and ultimately reduction of productivity and quality of life. Different methods of rehabilitation are used to improve the symptoms of these patients. One of the new methods is the use of kinesio tape. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of kinesio tape on neck pain and disability and also muscle strength in myofascial pain syndrome.
Methods: In this single-blind randomized clinical trial, from June to November 2017 in Imam Hossein Hospital of Mashhad, Iran, thirty individuals (male and female) with Myofascial pain syndrome were divided into two groups (treatment and control), randomly by lottery. In treatment group, the kinesio tape with appropriate tension was applied directly over pain place and on upper trapezius muscle; and control group received placebo kinesio tape (kinesio taping without tension). In this study, before and three days after application of kinesio taping, numerical pain rating scale (NPRS), neck disability index (NDI) and manual muscle testing (MMT) were used to assess pain, disability and strength, respectively.
Results: To compare the effect of treatment, the mean of variables were compared with independent sample t-test before and after treatment. Pain and strength of upper trapezius were significantly different in both groups (P< 0.05), but in neck disability there was not significantly difference (P< 0.05). Then, for a closer examination, the paired t-test were used to compare the mean of disability before and after the treatment and result showed a significantly different in the treatment group and was not significantly different in the control group.
Conclusion: According to the results of this study, kinesio tape can reduce neck pain, increase the strength of upper trapezius, and ultimately reduce the disability of neck in myofascial pain syndrome. Therefore, this method can be used in rehabilitation clinics to improve the symptoms of patients with myofascial pain syndrome.

Background: Marital satisfaction is considered to be the feelings and understanding of the couple about their marital relationship and their two-way relationship. Many factors play a role in creating marital satisfaction, and on the other hand, marital satisfaction is one of the concepts that cause sexual health in a person. Sexual health has many dimensions and includes coordination and adaptation of physical, emotional, intellectual, and social aspects of sexual affairs in humans. This study was conducted to assess the marital satisfaction of working women in Iran through meta-analysis.
Methods: In this meta-analytic study, the issue of marital satisfaction amongst Iranian working women which has been published in local articles was evaluated. To find pertaining studies, Magiran, IranDoc, SID, Iranmedex, and Pubmed websites were used. Statistical society in this research consists of all studies in Iran in regard to the relationship between being a working woman and having marital satisfaction that has been accomplished since 2001-2018 and was indexed in one of the scientific informative websites.
  To access desired articles we used the English keywords of ‘Sexual dysfunction’, ‘Iran’, ‘Sexual function’, ‘Marital satisfaction’, ‘Working women’ and ‘women’ and their Persian equivalents. After the selection process of articles related to the research objectives, 10 articles were selected and assessed as final samples.

Background: Anesthesia duration can play a significant role in post-operative complications. Therefore, the present study investigated the effect of auditory sensory stimulation with a familiar voice on anesthesia return in patients undergoing rhinoplasty.
Methods: This study was performed on 80 patients who were candidates for rhinoplasty surgery in Yazd Trauma and Burn Hospital from September-2018 to October-2019. The patients were randomly divided into two groups of 40: control and intervention. For patients in the control group, routine nursing care was performed after entering the recovery room. In addition to routine care, the patients in the intervention group were stimulated with a 15-minute pre-recorded audio. Patients' hemodynamic parameters were recorded before and after hearing stimulation. Also, the return time of the patient from anesthesia was recorded. Finally, the collected data were entered into SPSS software (Ver. 22) and analyzed using an independent sample t-test and Repeated mesasure ANOVA.

Background: Long-term and intensive physical exercise can change the function of different cells in the immune system in athletes, predisposing them to viral infections such as coronavirus disease (COVID-19). The purpose of this brief report was to provide protocols related to the immune system in athletes to prevent infectious diseases.

Background: Gender differences in scientometric indicators among medical faculty members in Iran was investigated.
Methods: The Research performance of the faculty at all universities and institutes of medical sciences in Iran was assessed using the Iranian Scientometric Information Database (ISID) on June 12, 2021. Selected variables in our study were name, gender, university, degree, academic rank, type of faculty, the total number of articles, the total number of citations, self-citation percentage, h-index, citation per article, international cooperation percentage, and the number of research collaborators. The Kruskal-Wallis test was used. The extracted data were analyzed using R v4.0.1 statistical software.
Results: A total of 21064 faculty members in 77 universities and institutes of medical sciences were registered in the ISID database, of which 12093 (57.4%) were men. Men faculty members outnumbered women in all academic ranks, except for the “instructor” rank (1134 female instructors against 835 male). In both sexes, most faculty members were assistant professors. There were more articles (346837 vs. 146024) and citations (5177060 vs. 1639246) by men than women. Among the 1789 faculty members with zero articles, 902 (50.4%) were men. One-hundred-and-fifty-four people were among ESI's top researchers' list, with a majority of men (124 people equal to 80.5%). The medians of all the scientometric indicators were higher in men than women. Men had a higher number of articles, the number of citations, h-index, citation per article, percentage of international articles, and co-authors, however, women had lower self-citations (1.56% vs. 2.51%). In all academic ranks, men had higher scientometric indicators. The only exception was the associate professors’ self-citation, in which women’s citations were higher than that of men (3.5 vs. 3.3). The highest mean h-index was in men with a Ph.D. in Pharmacy (13), men with a Ph.D. by Research (12) and women with a Ph.D. by Research (8.5), respectively.
Conclusion: Gender differences were evident in research performance in Iran. Women faculty members of medical sciences in Iran generally had lower scientometric indicators.

Background: Otitis is the most common infectious disease of the ear with internal and external cranial complications. If the infection is in the middle ear, it causes otitis media. If the infection is in the external ear, it’s along with otitis externa (OE). Different types of otitis media include acute otitis media (AOM), chronic otitis media (COM) and Otitis media with effusion (OME). This study aimed to investigate the different types of otitis and its symptoms.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from March 2019 to February 2020 for 200 patients who have been referred to the ENT center of Shafa hospital, Kerman, Iran. Sampling was conducted with ease and no need for specified sampling distribution. The type of otitis was written in a questionnaire by the physician after the examination. The present research investigated types of otitis along with its symptoms. Also, their demographic information was determined.

Background: In Iran, a combination of three methods of budget payment, fee for service and case-based payment (known as the global payment system) is used to reimburse the cost of hospital services. The aim of this study was to investigate the costs of 90 services of the Global Hospital Reimbursement System at Tehran University of Medical Sciences.
Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional applied study was performed from March  2017 to March 2019 in the hospitals of Tehran University of Medical Sciences. The billing and record data of all patients whose services were reimbursed on a global payment system basis were extracted from hospital information systems. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (frequency mean. std deviation, maximum & minimum) in SPSS 21 and Excel 2016.
Results: During two years in TUMS, the costs of services provided to 143,866 patients have been reimbursed based on the global payment system., which had a cost of 2300 billion rials. 80% of the total services and costs were related to 10 services. 78.46% of the cases were related to two specialized groups of ophthalmology and obstetrics and gynecology. 83.17% of the total costs of services reimbursed globally at the TUMS were related to these two specialized groups. The average cost per service was about 16 million Rials, but varied greatly for different services, ranging from about 1.8 million Rials to 67 million Rials. On average, for a global service, the share of each of the cost subgroups of diagnostic services, hoteling and nursing services, medicine and consumables, operating room and surgery, physician's visit and consultation, respectively 3.1%, 11.6%, 21.4%, 49.9% and 13.9%.

Conclusion: Managers need to focus on high-frequency and high-cost services to reduce the cost and financial losses for services that are under the global payment system. Depending on the specific cost pattern of each service, the strategies adopted to control the costs of that service should also be different.

Background: The incidence of adverse perinatal outcomes including increased risk of miscarriage, preeclampsia, preterm birth and stillbirth is higher in pregnant women with coronavirus. Pregnant women who are infected with the coronavirus have placentas that are abnormal compared to the placentas of healthy women. Examples of these adverse effects have been observed before and include reduced fetal growth, pre-eclampsia, premature birth and stillbirth. Scleroderma is an uncommon connective tissue disease and its most obvious manifestation is skin fibrosis. Patients may also have involvement of visceral organs, as a result, their digestive system, kidney and heart are affected. Scleroderma also exacerbates miscarriage, fetal growth retardation, intrauterine fetal death, and preterm delivery. Pregnant women with these problems need special measures, so this study was performed to report a successful cesarean section in a woman with coronavirus and scleroderma.
Case presentation: The patient was a 31-year-old pregnant woman with a gestational age of 29 weeks who presented to Sanandaj Besat Hospital in November 2021 with symptoms of shortness of breath and dyspnea. HRCT-positive, PCR-positive, bilateral pleural effusion, and pulmonary dilatation corona were diagnosed. Due to 3 liters of vaginal bleeding and diagnosis of Décollement 60% and severe preeclampsia underwent emergency cesarean section. The live baby was born weighing 1300 g with Apgar 7. During surgery, he received 3 units of FFB and 3 units of Cryoprecipitate. Microcalcifications and fibrin thrombi were reported in the pathology of intermittent nodules. The diagnosis and treatment of this patient has significant points that are mentioned below.

Conclusion: Complications of pregnancy and childbirth in pregnant women infected with Corona virus include an increase in premature birth and an increase in the rate of cesarean section. Pregnancy in women with scleroderma at the right time and careful delivery monitoring will increase the probability of successful pregnancy outcome and all patients need counseling.

Results: From the obtained results, the gEUD values for the rectum ranged from 51.04 Gy to 74.69 Gy and for the bladder from 27.22 Gy to 75.51 Gy. The maximum calculated risk values for the rectum and bladder were calculated to be 49.85% and 74.91%, respectively. Besides, a significant level of secondary cancer risk within the rectum and bladder was obtained for most of the studied patients. Furthermore, small values of secondary cancer risks were estimated for patients who were irradiated at older ages, and higher ones were obtained for patients who were irradiated at younger ages. Conclusion: The results showed that there is a higher probability of developing secondary malignancies in the bladder than the rectum. The information obtained in this research can improve the performance of the treatment process, so that information about secondary cancers following radiation therapy for prostate cancer will ultimately help doctors design more effective and optimal treatment designs.

Background: Tonsils are lymphoid tissues of the body's defense system that surround the pharynx and prevent the entry of microbes through inhalation. Tonsillectomy is the final treatment for enlarged tonsils and is one of the most common procedures in the ear, throat and nose. To prevent and improve postoperative complications, various methods are used, including lidocaine and dexmedetomidine injections. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of intravenous infusions of lidocaine and dexmedetomidine on the rate and severity of immediate complications after tonsillectomy surgery.
Methods: This study was conducted as a prospective, triple-blind, randomized clinical trial on 96 patients who were candidates for tonsillectomy under general anesthesia at Al-Zahra Hospital, Isfahan, Iran. The patients had informed consents and met the conditions to enter the study. 30 minutes before induction of anesthesia, patients were randomly assigned to one of three groups receiving lidocaine, dexmedetomidine, or placebo. All patients were examined for intraoperative bleeding, laryngospasm in the first 2 hours after the operation, and laryngitis in the first 24 hours after the operation. SPSS version 26 software was used for statistical analysis.

Results: The findings of this research indicated that at 45, 75 and, 90 minutes after recovery, the mean score of pain and at 15-90 minutes in terms of anxiety was significantly different from the rest in at least one of the three groups (P<0.05). Systolic blood pressure (SBP) and arterial oxygen blood pressure in minutes 30 to 90, as well as Diastolic blood pressure (DBP) in minutes 60, 75 and 90, showed a significant difference between the three studied groups (P<0.05). There was no significant difference between the incidences of laryngospasm in the groups. However, there was a significant difference between the incidences of bronchospasm in all three groups. In terms of factors such as cough and nausea, no significant differences were observed in the studied groups. However, the average amount of bleeding in surgery, the recovery time and, the first time to tolerate liquids and solids in at least one group were significantly different from the others. Conclusion: Overall, both dexmedetomidine and lidocaine are effective in reducing heart rate, SBP, Per Os (PO), and bleeding, and also increase arterial oxygen pressure, while respiratory rate, laryngospasm, bronchospasm, cough, nausea and extubation time were not significantly different between the three study groups.

Background: Otalgia is defined as pain localizing in the ear that can be primary or referred. By careful history and physical examination, all causes in this extensive differential diagnosis can be excluded. Given that otalgia is one of the most common causes for patients to visit the clinic and has a wide variety of differential diagnosis, the purpose of this study is to investigate the frequency of different etiologies of ear pain in patients referred to referral clinic.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on patients presenting with otalgia. After entering the study, the patient underwent a thorough examination of the ear, nose, throat, head and neck, teeth and salivary glands by a resident under the supervision of a senior otologist, and based on the findings, relevant para clinical procedures such as x-ray, CT scan or stroboscopy were performed. Data collection was done based on a data log check list. Samples were collected during six months. SPSS software version 20 was used for analyses.

Results: The most common causes of otalgia were acute otitis media 29%, external otitis 17% and chronic otitis media 15%. Cerumen and referral ear pain were next in line (13.5%). There was significant relationship between otalgia with age groups (The age between 13 and 30 years were the most referred due to otalgia). There was no significant relationship between otalgia and gender, underlying disease, economic status, smoking and opium use.

Background: Vancomycin resistance in intensive care units has significant complications and additional costs. Given the need for rational use of this antibiotic to prevent the occurrence of antibiotic resistance, the present study was designed to evaluate how to prescribe the antibiotic vancomycin consumption pattern in a pediatric subspecialty hospital.
Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive-analytical study was conducted over a 3-month period (February, May, and June) in 2021 at the Pediatric Hospital of Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz. All patients hospitalized in the intensive care unit and infectious disease ward with vancomycin prescription were included in the study. Patients who were hospitalized for less than three days or had no desire to enter the study were excluded from the study. Vancomycin prescription by clinical pharmacist was reviewed based on the latest version of Lexicomp from Wolters Kluwer and the National Health Service (NHS) guidelines.

Results: Of the 91 hospitalized patients, 70.3% (64 cases) were prescribed vancomycin without performing an antibiogram culture based on experience and 29.7% (27 cases) were based on an antibiogram culture. In 96.7% (88 cases) , the duration of intravenous vancomycin infusion did not comply with the protocol. Red Man Syndrome was observed in 8.8% (8 cases). In 91.2 % (83 cases), no adverse effects were reported. In 65.9% (60 cases), the drug dose was determined based on the correct renal function Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and in 34.1%, the drug dose was determined regardless of the renal function of the patients. Vancomycin doses were lower and higher than the guidelines in 6 and 25 patients, respectively. Out of all patients, eighty four cases recovered and seven cases died. Conclusion: In almost half of the patients, Vancomycin were prescribed based on experience and without performing an antibiogram test. Use of guidelines, Serum level monitoring programs and continuous medical education for doctors can be effective in rational use of antibiotics.