Cocarcinogenic and irritant factors of Euphorbia esula L. latex

The latex of (Euphorbia esula) has been found to contain highly skin irritant and inflammatory ingenol-3delta 2,4,6,8,10 pentene tetradecanoate and another factor, ingenol-3-dodecanoate, which is less irritating but which can be responsible for the cocarcinogenic activity exhibited by the latex preparation in the mice back skin experiment.     

Inspiratory and Expiratory High-Resolution Computed Tomography (HRCT) in Patients with Chemical Warfare Agents Exposure

Chemical warfare agents (CWA) including sulfur mustard (SM) were commonly used in Iran–Iraq war. Respiratory problems are the greatest cause of long-term disability among people who had combat exposure to SM. High-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) has been accepted as the imaging modality of choice in these patients. We used expiratory HRCT findings in comparison to inspiratory HRCT for demonstration of pulmonary damage in these patients. HRCT in deep inspiration as well as full expiration was performed in 473 patients with a history of chemical gas exposure during the war and the results were compared. The study was prospective during 1 yr. Of 473 patients, 366 (77.38%) showed normal HRCT in deep inspiration; however, on corresponding expiratory cuts, 263 (71.86%) had abnormalities. The most frequent abnormal finding in expiration was patchy air trapping (77.77%). We conclude that exposure to SM causes pulmonary complications resulting in disability in the affected patients; however, HRCT in inspiration is normal in most of the affected patients. Expiratory HRCT showed patchy air trapping as the most common finding, which is suggestive of small air way diseases such as bronchiolitis obliterans; therefore it is recommended to do HRCT both in deep inspiration and full expiration in patients with a history of CWA exposure.     

Diagnostic accuracy of CT scan in abdominal blunt trauma

Obiective: To evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of CT scan findings in Patients ith blunt abdominal trauma admitted to the university hospital.Methods: All the atients ith blunt abdominal trauma admitted at a tertiary teaching trauma center in Iran between 2005 and 2007 were enrolled in this study.In the absence of any clinical anifestations,he patients underwent a diagnostic CT scan.Laparatomy was performed in those with positive CT results.Others were observed for 48 hours and discharged in case no problem as reported;otherwise they underwent laparatomy.Information on patients'demographic ata,mechanism of trauma,indication for CT scan,CT scan findings,results of laparotomy ere gathered.The sensitivity,specificity and accuracy of the CT-scan images in regard ith the organ injured were calculated.The sensitivity,specificity and accuracy of the T scan were calculated in each case.Results: CT Scan had the highest sensitivity for etecting the injuries to liver (100%) and spleen (86.6%).The specificity of the method or detecting retroperitoneal hematoma (100%) and injuries to kidney (93.5%) was higher han other organs.The accuracy of CT images to detect the injuries to spleen,liver,idney and retroperitoneal hematoma was reported to be 96.1%,94.4%,91.6% and 91.6% espectively.Conclusion: The findings of the present study reveal that CT scan could econsidered as a good choice,especially for patients with blunt abdominal trauma in eaching hospitals where the radiologic academic staff is not present in the hospital in the night shifts.     

Inspiratory and expiratory high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) in patients with chemical warfare agents exposure

Chemical warfare agents (CWA) including sulfur mustard (SM) were commonly used in Iran-Iraq war. Respiratory problems are the greatest cause of long-term disability among people who had combat exposure to SM. High-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) has been accepted as the imaging modality of choice in these patients. We used expiratory HRCT findings in comparison to inspiratory HRCT for demonstration of pulmonary damage in these patients. HRCT in deep inspiration as well as full expiration was performed in 473 patients with a history of chemical gas exposure during the war and the results were compared. The study was prospective during 1 yr. Of 473 patients, 366 (77.38%) showed normal HRCT in deep inspiration; however, on corresponding expiratory cuts, 263 (71.86%) had abnormalities. The most frequent abnormal finding in expiration was patchy air trapping (77.77%). We conclude that exposure to SM causes pulmonary complications resulting in disability in the affected patients; however, HRCT in inspiration is normal in most of the affected patients. Expiratory HRCT showed patchy air trapping as the most common finding, which is suggestive of small air way diseases such as bronchiolitis obliterans; therefore it is recommended to do HRCT both in deep inspiration and full expiration in patients with a history of CWA exposure.