Antibacterial effect of an herbal toothpaste containing Bamboo salt: a randomized double-blinded controlled clinical trial.

BACKGROUND: The inclusion of herbal antibacterial agents in the composition of toothpastes is becoming increasingly popular, due to lower side effects. The present study intended to investigate the antibacterial efficacy of a herbal toothpaste containing Bamboo salt on cariogenic oral bacteria. METHODS: The present double-blinded parallel randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted on 60 dental students (age range: 18-30). Following the baseline saliva sampling, the participants were randomly assigned into the case and control groups, to use the Bamboo salt herbal toothpaste and conventional non-herbal toothpaste, respectively. They were instructed to brush their teeth twice a day using the Bass technique. Saliva sampling was repeated after four weeks. The salivary counts of Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacillus at baseline and 4-week follow-up were determined and presented as the logarithm of colony-forming units per milliliter (log CFU/mL). RESULTS: A significant decrease in salivary Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacillus was observed using both toothpastes (*P < 0.001). The difference between the antibacterial efficacy of two toothpaste types on Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacillus was not statistically significant (P = 0.530, and P = 0.137, respectively). CONCLUSION: Due to the comparable efficacy of the investigated herbal toothpaste with conventional toothpaste, it potentially qualifies as a complementary agent for self-care oral hygiene procedures. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This trial was registered in the "Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials" (IRCT20210414050964N1) on 21/06/2021.

Establishing a liver transplantation program at Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran: a report of ten years of experience.

In 2001, a Liver Transplantation (LT) program was commenced in Imam Khomeini Hospital Complex as the first one in the capital city of Tehran which is the second liver transplantation center in Iran. This study presents the results of our 10-year experience with LT.

Breast cancer research in Iran; essential data to organize research.

BACKGROUND: Considering that breast cancer is one of the most burdensome diseases our societies are facing, and given our lack of knowledge in the research field of the important disease, it is essential that we strategize research policies by identifying defects in research systems in each country. The goal of this study was to explore the published articles in this field and present the data required for the policy makers to re-organize the breast cancer research in Iran. METHODS: In this descriptive study, Pubmed searches were performed to find all the articles published on the title of breast "cancer", "tumor", "malignancy" and "Iran" from the beginning up to the end of January 2010. Different research categories of the articles were defined and validated by an expert panel. The abstracts of all 180 articles were reviewed and each article was put into the relevant category. RESULTS: Based on the available evidence the majority of articles have focused on molecular science (21%) and genetics (19%), while the remainder belonged to other categories like quality of life (9%), screening protocols (8%), epidemiology (7%), risk factor studies (6%), pathology (6%), patient knowledge and behavior (5%) and other clinical research fields (19%). The most used methodologies are cross-sectional (39%) and case-control (25%). The other articles are designed in formats such as experimental (8%), cohort (6%), case-report (6%), review article (4%) and others methodologies (12%). CONCLUSION: Despite the increasing body of literature under the title of breast cancer since 2000 from Iran, still there are limited published articles in some important categories with strong levels of evidence of relevance, which calls for extra efforts to reassess the research system policies and budgeting standards.

A novel approach for repairing of intestinal fistula using chitosan hydrogel.

Intestinal fistula is associated with high morbidity and difficult to manage. Many fistulas require surgical treatment, which usually consists of segmental resection. In this study, using a rat model, the effectiveness of chitosan hydrogel as an intestinal fistula repair agent was investigated. Twenty rats underwent laparotomy under general anesthesia. The antimesentric portion of the cecum was incised (1 cm) and sutured to the abdominal wall. Chitosan hydrogel was applied daily to the fistula until it was completely closed. Blood samples taken from all animals were analyzed. After sacrifice, the cecum was removed and histopathologic investigation was performed. Spontaneous closure of the intestinal fistula was observed in all animals for both the control and chitosan hydrogel groups. Healing in the chitosan hydrogel group healing was faster than that in the control group. Blood analysis revealed significant differences between the chitosan hydrogel and control groups with regard to the total protein, albumin, total cholesterol and HDL before the surgery versus that on the day of sacrifice. Pathologic investigation also showed greater healing in the chitosan hydrogel group than the control group. This preliminary study showed the potential of chitosan hydrogel for repair of intestinal fistula. However further studies must be performed before we can approve testing chitosan hydrogel for intestinal fistula repair in humans.

Comparison of carbon dioxide laser and scalpel for breast lumpectomy: a randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether the CO2 laser is superior to conventional surgical techniques for minor breast surgery in a randomized clinical trial. BACKGROUND DATA: It has been suggested in the literature that application of CO2 laser in breast surgery might be superior to conventional surgery in some aspects. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Sixty women whose breast masses were suitable for excisional biopsy were randomly allocated to laser and control (conventional surgical technique with scalpel) groups. Perioperative and postoperative variables were recorded and analyzed. RESULTS: The patients' ages ranged from 16-63 y. There were no significant differences between the two groups in total operative time (17.4 min with laser and 17.5 min with scalpel). There was a significant decrease in the required dose of lidocaine in the laser group (9.3 mL) compared to the scalpel group (12.4 mL; p = 0.01). In addition, hemorrhage was significantly lower in the laser group (6.6 mL) compared to the control group (11.9 mL; p = 0.006). There was no difference in the grade of the scar or postoperative pain between the two groups. CONCLUSION: Use of the CO2 laser in breast mass biopsy has some advantages, including a lower requirement for local anesthetic and a lower rate of intraoperative bleeding. Furthermore, using the laser does not prolong the operative time.

Obturator bypass as an alternative technique for revascularization in patients with infected femoral pseudoaneurysms.

BACKGROUND: Management of the infected femoral artery pseudoaneurysm has remained controversial. Although common femoral artery ligation and local debridement is an acceptable approach, some patients need revascularization for the treatment of leg ischemia or intermittent claudication. In this study, we report obturator bypass as an alternative technique that has been done at Sina Hospital, Tehran, Iran during a 10-year period. METHODS: This was a retrospective study and the data were obtained from the patients' medical records. RESULTS: Ten obturator bypasses were done on nine patients. Two cases had previous history of ligation of the femoral artery branches. One death and two forefoot amputations occurred. CONCLUSION: Femoral artery ligation has been suggested as the treatment of choice for the management of infected femoral artery pseudoaneurysms. Among the extra-anatomic bypasses, the obturator bypass is an acceptable alternative with favorable results.

Application of "Trauma and Injury Severity Score" and "A Severity Characterization of Trauma" score to trauma patients in a setting different from "Major Trauma Outcome Study".

To evaluate the processes of care and outcomes of injured patients, many different models have been devised and "Trauma and Injury Severity Score" and "A Severity Characterization of Trauma" score have been among the most widely used models. We conducted this study to determine the effectiveness of these systems of evaluation to our setting in Iran, which is substantially different from the North American trauma centers, where these models were developed. Using our data registry on trauma patients, we derived new coefficients for Trauma and Injury Severity Score and A Severity Characterization of Trauma scoring systems to calculate the probability of survival of patients. Finally, we determined the calibration and discrimination of the models by calculating the Hosmer-Lemeshow statistic and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve. In our study, TRISS and A Severity Characterization of Trauma provided an adequate estimation of the survival probability and both models showed better discrimination in penetrating trauma. Discrimination in blunt injuries was a little lower, yet satisfactory. In pediatric patients the discrimination was also good and A Severity Characterization of Trauma had a better performance. Both models can be used reliably to predict outcome of trauma patients in our setting.