Arch Iran Med
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Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is now of global concern due to its rapid dissemination across the globe. The rapid spread of this viral infection, along with many of its unknown aspects, has posed new challenges to the health care systems. The main challenging effects of COVID-19 are rapid dissemination through close contact and varying clinical severity among different individuals. ⋯ Also, due to the variable pulmonary manifestations of COVID-19, some physicians may misdiagnose patients. To overcome these issues, we proposed a web-based software to aid physicians in detecting possible COVID-19 cases through online consultation with different specialists and educate the not-well experienced physicians. Our results demonstrated that this software could improve the diagnostic rate for not-well experienced physicians.
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Historical Article
Caduceus: A Medical Symbol of Deception, or Is There More to That?
The serpent is the most popular representative symbol of medicine. The two main figures commonly used are the rod of Asclepius and the caduceus. Much controversy exists in the literature on whether the caduceus is a false symbol for medicine or not. ⋯ This current essay is an attempt to discover and interpret how the snake came to be part of the rod of Asclepius and the caduceus, and constitute the symbol of medicine in our days. It is widely accepted that a doctor's obligation is not only in healing the ill, but the task that is bestowed upon him is more complex. Therefore, one should be considered more of a physician rather than simply a doctor.
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Cardiovascular-related death remains the major cause of mortality in Iran despite significant improvements in its care. In the present study, we report the in-hospital mortality, hospitalization length, and treatment methods for patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) in Tehran Heart Center (THC). ⋯ In-hospital mortality and hospitalization length were almost halved during the study period, and primary PCI has now replaced thrombolysis in the management of STEMI.
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Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of death in Iran. A fixed-dose combination therapy (polypill) was proposed as a cost-effective strategy for CVD prevention, especially in lower-resource settings. We conducted the PolyPars trial to assess the effectiveness and safety of polypill for prevention of CVD. ⋯ Polypill may be effective for primary prevention of CVDs in developing countries.