Prediction of Arterial Blood Gas Factors from Venous Blood Gas Factors in Intensive Care Unit Admitted Patients.

BACKGROUND: Blood gas analysis is very important in the patients with respiratory problems. Arterial puncture may cause complications such as pain, local hematoma, infection and nerve injury. The procedure itself can be technically difficult. In contrast, venous sampling is an easier procedure with fewer complications. Therefore, this study aims to determine the possibility of replacement of venous blood gas (VBG) values by ABG values in ICU wards admitted patients. METHODS: In this study, 155 paired blood gas samples collected from patients admitted to ICU wards in Motahari hospital, Marvdasht, Fars, Iran. Statistical means of blood gas parameters, including PO2, PCO2, HCO3 and PH have been compared in both, arterial and venous, blood samples in parallel using paired t-test. RESULTS: Mean difference of arterial and venous gas parameters, PO2, PCO2 and HCO3 , was significantly differ. All paired gas parameters in arterial and venous blood samples were significantly correlated, while this correlation was stronger between PCO2 and HCO3. CONCLUSION: To predict the arterial blood gas parameters from VBG parameters, single regression models are of more statistical value compared to multiple regression models. Defined single regression prediction models could be used to predict arterial PCO2 and HCO3 , which may reduce arterial sampling in ICU wards.

Ecological study and risk mapping of visceral leishmaniasis in an endemic area of Iran based on a geographical information systems approach.

Between 1998 and 2001, a total of 1,062 human cases of visceral leishmaniasis were reported from the rural district of Meshkin-Shahr in the mountainous, north-western Iranian province of Ardabil. In the summer of 2008, a cross-sectional study of dogs was conducted in this endemic area by randomly selecting 384 animals from 21 villages and testing them serologically for leishmaniasis. Villages, in which more than 10% of investigated dogs showed anti- Leishmania titres ≥ 1/320, were considered to be high-risk environments. Regression analysis showed no statistically significant correlation between topographic conditions and the prevalence of positive cases. However, when the results were compared with past meteorological records, a statistically significant positive correlation (P = 0.007) was found between the number of infected dogs with anti-Leishmania titres ≥ 1/640 and the number of days in a year with temperatures below 0 °C. While humidity showed an inverse correlation (P = 0.009) with the anti-Leishmania titres, a positive correlation (P <0.001) was found in relation to the amount of rainfall. Mapping of the areas at risk for kala-azar in the Meshkin-Shahr district supports the impression that the low temperatures prevalent in the Ardebil province constitute an important factor influencing the distribution of leishmaniasis there.