J Res Med Sci
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A decision analysis model was developed to assess the cost-effectiveness of adriamycin and cyclophosphamide (AC) in comparison with paclitaxel and gemcitabine (PG) in women with advanced breast cancer in Iran. ⋯ Overall, AC was a simple dominate strategy. In other words, AC was estimated to have a lower cost and greater effectiveness than PG.
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Saliva is a fluid with the complex compound which can be used as diagnostic markers for type 2 diabetes (T2D). This meta-analysis evaluated salivary glucose, immunoglobulin A (IgA), total protein, and amylase levels in adult T2D compared with the controls as well as the correlation of salivary glucose levels with serum glucose and hemoglobin A1C (HbA1c) levels in both groups. ⋯ Measurement of these salivary factors can be helpful for diagnostic and monitoring purposes of T2D. In addition, salivary glucose as a diagnostic tool can evaluate serum glucose and HbA1c levels in the diabetic patients.
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Considering that ethnicity and gestational age (GA) could affect the value of nuchal fold thickness (NFT) in mid-trimester, we aimed to determine the reference intervals of NFT values for each gestational week from 16 to 24 weeks of pregnancy among a group of Iranian pregnant women. ⋯ The findings of this study revealed that before the 20th week of gestation, the appropriate cutoff value of NFT is 5 mm, and for 21st to 24th weeks, the proper cutoff is 6 mm. However, for providing more conclusive results, further studies with larger sample size and considering the impact of other influencing variables are recommended.
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Blood transfusion is essential in severely ill patients whose hemoglobin (Hb) levels are low, but there are some factors that inhibit optimal increase in Hb. The aim of this study was to evaluate the amount of increase in Hb levels after packed red blood cell (PRBC) transfusions in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) patients and its related factors. ⋯ The results of our study showed that the increased Hb level based on one unit of received PRBC was low, especially in patients with internal. Therefore, based on high frequency of anemia in ICU patients and relative complications, physicians should pay attention to factors affecting Hb levels after PRBC transfusion such as medical history.
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Renal colic is a painful medical emergency, needs urgent intervention to reduce pain. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, opioids, and entonox are pain-relieving agents. This study was aimed to compare fentanyl + entonox (nitrous oxide + O2) versus fentanyl + oxygen. ⋯ Entonox is more effective to decrease the duration of hospitalization and reduction of pain than O2 in renal colic patients.