Endoscopic Treatment of Metastasis in the Main Bronchi From Sarcoma: A Report of 2 Cases

Leiomyosarcoma is a cancer that can affect the soft tissues or organs. The standard treatment is complete tumor resection. Prognosis is difficult to predict and distant metastases can occur after a long disease-free period. Lung metastases are common but metastasis to the main bronchi with pulmonary atelectasis is very rare.We describe 2 cases of pulmonary atelectasis and obstructive pneumonitis due to metastasis to the main bronchi from leiomyosarcoma of the uterus in one of the patients and leiomyosarcoma of the thigh in the other. Both patients were treated with endoscopic resection. We discuss the role of endoscopic laser treatment in the palliation of symptoms and as an initial procedure before other cancer treatments are started.     

Evaluating mechanism and severity of injuries among trauma patients admitted to Sina Hospital, the National Trauma Registry of Iran

Purpose: Injuries are one of the leading causes of death and lead to a high social and financial burden. Injury patterns can vary significantly among different age groups and body regions. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between mechanism of injury, patient comorbidities and severity of injuries. Methods: The study included trauma patients from July 2016 to June 2018, who were admitted to Sina Hospital, Tehran, Iran. The inclusion criteria were all injured patients who had at least one of the following: hospital length of stay more than 24 h, death in hospital, and transfer from the intensive care unit of another hospital. Data collection was performed using the National Trauma Registry of Iran minimum dataset. Results: The most common injury mechanism was road traffic injuries (49.0%), followed by falls (25.5%). The mean age of those who fell was significantly higher in comparison with other mechanisms (p < 0.001). Severe extremity injuries occurred more often in the fall group than in the vehicle collision group (69.0% vs. 43.5%, p < 0.001). Moreover, cases of severe multiple trauma were higher amongst vehicle collisions than injuries caused by falls (27.8% vs. 12.9%, p = 0.003). Conclusion: Comparing falls with motor vehicle collisions, patients who fell were older and sustained more extremity injuries. Patients injured by motor vehicle collision were more likely to have sustained multiple trauma than those presenting with falls. Recognition of the relationship between mechanisms and consequences of injuries may lead to more effective interventions.     

Effects of Hemp Dust Exposure on Nonsmoking Female Textile Workers

Symptoms of byssinosis were found in 39% of 102 female hemp workers who were nonsmokers. A higher prevalence of chronic bronchitis (P < 0.01) was found in workers with symptoms of byssinosis than in those without such symptoms. In hemp workers, either with or without symptoms of byssinosis, FEV_1.0 and FVC significantly decreased during work on the study days, Mondays and Thursdays; significantly lower reductions were registered on Thursdays. Inhalation of metaproterenol sulfate (Alupent) before work significantly diminished FEV_1.0 reduction, although not completely preventing it. Metaproterenol inhalation after work significantly increased FEV_1.0, indicating the reversibility of acute lung function changes during work. Comparison of lung function values measured before work with values obtained in the control group indicates a chronic effect of hemp dust on ventilatory function.     

Occupational exposure assessment of magnetic fields generated by induction heating equipment-the role of spatial averaging

Induction heating equipment is a source of strong and nonhomogeneous magnetic fields, which can exceed occupational reference levels. We investigated a case of an induction tempering tunnel furnace. Measurements of the emitted magnetic flux density (B) were performed during its operation and used to validate a numerical model of the furnace. This model was used to compute the values of B and the induced in situ electric field (E) for 15 different body positions relative to the source. For each body position, the computed B values were used to determine their maximum and average values, using six spatial averaging schemes (9-285 averaging points) and two averaging algorithms (arithmetic mean and quadratic mean). Maximum and average B values were compared to the ICNIRP reference level, and E values to the ICNIRP basic restriction. Our results show that in nonhomogeneous fields, the maximum B is an overly conservative predictor of overexposure, as it yields many false positives. The average B yielded fewer false positives, but as the number of averaging points increased, false negatives emerged. The most reliable averaging schemes were obtained for averaging over the torso with quadratic averaging, with no false negatives even for the maximum number of averaging points investigated.     

The relationship between illnesses and medical drug consumption with the occurrence of traffic accidents among truck and bus drivers in Tehran, Iran

Purpose: To determine the relationship of illnesses and medical drug consumption with the occurrence of traffic accidents among truck and bus drivers.Methods: This is a cross-sectional study on truck and bus drivers in Tehran, Iran. The criteria for participating in this study were: married males over 30 years old, driving license in grade one, five years of job experience, mental health and non-addiction license. The criterion for not participating in this study was the lack of cooperation in responding to the questions. Six months was spent to collect the latest five years data of driving accidents from 2011 to 2016. A total of 323 truck and bus drivers in Tehrancity and the suburbs, Iran were chosen. Among them, 112 were responsible for accidents (accident group) while 211 were not responsible for any accidents or involved in an accident in the last five years (nonaccident group). A specially designed questionnaire was used to investigate the demographic information, medical drug consumption, medical backgrounds and history of accidents.Results: The results revealed that compared with healthy subjects, the occurrence of accidents among people with diabetes (OR = 2.3, p = 0.001) and vision weakness (OR = 1.7, p = 0.020) was significantly higher, while that among people with cardiac (OR = 0.5, p = 0.002) and hypertension (OR = 0.9, p = 0.048) problems was remarkably lower. Moreover, consumption of Gemfibrozil (OR = 1.8, p = 0.010) and Glibenclamide (OR = 2.2, p = 0.002) drugs resulted in significantly higher incidence of accidents than those without.Conclusion: Frequencies of illnesses like cardiovascular and hypertension were not higher in accident drivers than in non-accident drivers; but diabetes, vision weakness and consumption of Gemfibrozil and Glibenclamide lead to more traffic accidents.     

Pharmacological prevention of acute ventilatory capacity reduction in flax dust exposure

Valić, F., and Žuškin, E. (1973).British Journal of Industrial Medicine,30, 381-384. Pharmacological prevention of acute ventilatory capacity reduction in flax dust exposure. The protective effect of the preshift application of a bronchodilator (orciprenaline), an antihistamine drug (diadril), and ascorbic acid on flax-induced acute bronchoconstriction was studied in 13 byssinotic and 7 non-byssinotic female workers exposed to airborne fibres of biologically retted flax. Orciprenaline was applied by inhalation, while diadril and ascorbic acid were given orally. All the three drugs exerted a significant preventive effect, diminishing the acute fall of ventilatory capacity during the shift. The fall in forced expiratory volume (FEV_1·0) was reduced by 50% and the fall in maximal flow rate at 50% vital capacity (_max 50% VC) by over 65%.     

Psychometric properties of the Persian version of the Questionnaire of Cognitive Schema Activation in Sexual Context (QCSASC) in unsuccessful sexual situations

The aim of this study was to translate and adapt to Persian, and to assess psychometric properties of the Questionnaire of Cognitive Schema Activation in Sexual Context (QCSASC). A total of 265 Iranian participants (121 women and 144 men) were recruited for this study. A principal component analysis (PCA) with varimax rotation and subsequent confirmatory factor analysis revealed a best fitting five-factor structure similar to the original QCSASC: Incompetence, Undesirability, Abandon/Rejection, Powerless/Helpless, and Difference. However, in the Iranian sample, the original Self-Depreciation dimension was included in the Incompetence and Undesirability factors. An Abandon/Rejection dimension was also evident, and may be explained by cultural, social, and religious factors in the Iranian culture. Additionally, reliability analysis has supported the internal consistency (adequate Cronbach's alpha values) and temporal stability (test–retest reliability) of the QCSASC in an Iranian sample. The findings suggest the adequacy of the Persian version of the QCSASC to assess cognitive schemas in sexual context among Iranian men and women.