Reviews in Clinical Medicine

58-64

Authors: Gholamreza Khademi; Bahareh Imani

Introduction: Noise pollution in hospital wards can arise from a wide range of sources including medical devices, air-conditioning systems and conversations among the staffs. Noise in intensive care units (ICUs) can disrupt patients’ sleep pattern and may have a negative impact on cognitive performance. Material and methods: In this review article, we searched through PubMed and Google Scholar, using [noise and (ICU or “intensive care unit”)] as keyword to find studies related to noise pollution in ICUs. In total, 250 studies were found among which 35 articles were included. Results: The majority of the reviewed studies showed that noise pollution levels were higher in ICUs than the level recommend by The United States Environmental Protection Agency and World Health Organization. Noise pollution was mostly caused by human activity and operating equipments in ICUs and other hospital wards. Conclusion: As the results indicated, identifying, monitoring and controlling noise sources, as well as educating the hospital staffs about the negative effects of noise on patients’ health, can be highly effective in reducing noise pollution.

72-75

Authors: Maryam Dadzan; Fatemeh Tavassoli

Borderline ovarian tumor or low malignant ovarian tumor presents in 10-15% of all ovarian cancers, which usually affects younger women and have favorable prognosis even with conservative surgery, in which fertility can be preserved. Lack of reliable diagnostic tool to indicate the type of malignancy before or at the time of surgery makes the borderline ovarian tumor one of the most controversial topics in gynecology. This might lead to many overtreatment cases with radical surgery or undertreatment with conservative surgery with the higher rate of overtreatment compared to under treatment. In this review article, we extensively searched for all reported data regarding the accuracy of frozen section in borderline ovarian tumor. Reviewing the results of six studies, which specifically considered the accuracy of frozen section in borderline ovarian tumors, revealed an accuracy of 60% with an agreement between final pathology and frozen section results. Overall, 24.5% of under-diagnosed malignant cases interpreted to be benign and 4.9% overdiagnosed cases with benign tumor considered as a malignant. Frozen section is a reliable tool to exclude benign tumor from borderline and malignant but underdiagnosed percentage is higher. There are limitations in this review including the small number of enrolled cases, different time of diagnosis and different investigated countries and the discrepancies between the studied articles in this review.

80-83

Authors: Paria Hebrani; Fatemeh Behdani; Hoda Jalayer

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder is one of the most common psychiatric disorders in childhood. The medications which inhibit the reuptake of noradrenline and dopamine including psychostimulants such as methylphenidate and dextroamphetamine and non-stimulating pre-frontal cortex noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor such as atomoxetine, are the standard treatment of ADHD. Adverse effects of stimulants have been reported in thirty percent of patients with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. More than fifty percent of the parents of these children have tried one or more complementary or alternative medicines including vitamins in their children. Ginkgo biloba has been described to be effective for various neuropsychiatric symptoms. It was assumed that ginkgo biloba might improve some symptoms of attention deficit disorder as well. Nevertheless, no systematic study reported a possible efficacy of ginkgo biloba in attention deficit disorder. This review article evaluates the available evidence on the efficacy of ginkgo biloba medication in Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder children to present an appropriate guidance for this common child disorder.

88-91

Authors: Samira Zabihyan; Humain Baharvahdat; Sirous Nekooei; Amir Reza Sabah

Subarachnoid hemorrhage is one of the most important and dangerous neurologic emergencies worldwide. It is characterized by a sudden and severe headache caused most commonly by the rupture of intracranial aneurysm. Cerebral vasospasm is the most important cause of disability and death in whom survived from the first event. Early diagnosis and management of cerebral vasospasm could prevent and reduce its morbidity and mortality. Thus, an ideal technique must be able to detect the vasospasm before the occurrence of neurological deficits. Perfusion computed tomography could assess vascularity of brain including cerebral blood flow, cerebral blood volume, time to peak and mean transit time. For this application, perfusion computed tomography and computed tomography angiography techniques offer significant advantages and can result in early diagnosis of vasospasm. In this review, we discuss the utility of these two techniques and their safety in the diagnosis and the management of vasospasm following subarachnoid hemorrhage.

96-99

Authors: Vahid Shojaee; Mostafa Dastani; Alireza Abdolahi; Hamid Reza Rahimi

Cerebrovascular event is one of the important causes of death in the world. Carotid artery stenosis is one of main risk factors of cerebrovascular events. Risk factors for atherosclerosis are found in carotid artery stenosis. Thus, coincidence of coronary artery disease and carotid artery stenosis were observed. In an individual with high risk of coronary artery plaque formation, peripheral artery stenosis is imaginable. Histological morphology and plaque formation in coronary artery disease and carotid artery stenosis are similar and they occur together most of the time. Although many similar findings were shown in coronary artery disease and carotid artery stenosis, carotid artery stenosis is associated with more severe stenosis compare with coronary artery disease. Carotid artery stenosis does not have exact similar biological activity with coronary artery disease. Some invasive and non-invasive diagnostic methods are established for carotid artery stenosis detection. Same medical and surgical treatment techniques could be used for carotid artery stenosis management that vary due to patient-to-patient specific conditions.

103-106

Authors: Morteza Talebi Doluee; Hamidreza Reihani; Bahram Zarmehri; Hoda Zabihi

Pain is the most common complaint in emergency department and there are several methods for its control. Among them, pharmaceutical methods are the most effective. Although intravenous morphine has been the most common choice for several years, it has some adverse effects. There are many researches about intravenous acetaminophen as an analgesic agent and it appears that it has good analgesic effects for various types of pain. We searched some electronic resources for clinical trials comparing analgesic effects of intravenous acetaminophen vs. intravenous morphine for acute pain treatment in emergency setting. In two clinical trials, the analgesic effect of intravenous acetaminophen has been compared with intravenous morphine for renal colic. The results revealed no significant difference between analgesic effects of two medications. Another clinical trial revealed that intravenous acetaminophen has acceptable analgesic effects on the post-cesarean section pain when combined with other analgesic medications. One study revealed that administration of intravenous acetaminophen compared to placebo before hysterectomy decreased consumption of morphine via patient-controlled analgesia pump and decreased the side effects. Similarly, another study revealed that the infusion of intravenous acetaminophen vs. placebo after orthopedic surgery decreased the consumption of morphine after the surgery. A clinical trial revealed intravenous acetaminophen provided a level of analgesia comparable to intravenous morphine in isolated limb trauma, while causing less side effects than morphine. It appears that intravenous acetaminophen has good analgesic effects for visceral, traumatic and postoperative pains compare with intravenous morphine.