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Background: Opioid poisoning is the most common type of poisoning in intensive care units (ICUs). This group usually includes patients who have been drug abusers for a long time and now require hospitalization either because of acute overdose or due to side effects of routine opioid use. This study aimed to compare the severity and prognosis of patients using common mortality predictors Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA), Simplified Acute Physiology Score (SAPS II), Acute Physiology And Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE II, APACHE IV) on different days of hospitalization. Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on all patients with opioid poisoning admitted to the ICU, Imam Reza Hospital, Mashhad, Iran, from the beginning of April 2016 to March 2017 (Persian Calendar). For all poisoned patients enrolled in the study, the four mortality predicting tools were filled daily in the first three days of hospitalization and then every other day until discharge from the ICU or patientchr('39')s death. Results: Overall, 57 patients were evaluated of whom 72% (41 patients) were male. The mean age was 49.9±19.8 (median 53, range 18-94) years. The mean length of stay in the ICU was 13.5±17.5 (median 7, range: 75-75) days. The mortality rate was 17.5% (10 patients). The scores of SOFA, SAPS II, APACHE II, and APACHE IV were significantly higher in deceased patients than in discharged ones. The highest diagnostic accuracy (area under the curve) for all four predicting tools was observed in the second week of hospitalization. On the other hand, SAPS II (74%) on the first day, APACHE-II (76%) on the second day, APACHE-II (82%) on the third day, SOFA (77%) on day 4-5, and SAPS II (82%) on day 6-7 had the highest diagnostic accuracy. Conclusion: In the present study scores of all four mortality predicting tools at admission were significantly associated with mortality. The accuracy of SAPS II, APACHE IV, and APACHE II are appropriate for estimating prognosis, especially after the second week of admission.

Background: Increasing the number of complaints against medical staff emphasizes the need for physicians to be more familiar with legal issues before and during providing medical services to the patient. Signing the informed consent form before medical practices and informing the patient of all possible outcomes can cause mental health and better collaboration of patients as well as increase the physician's self-confidence to provide better services. The current study aimed at determining the status of standard informed consent in medical cases related to different surgical fields referring to Tehran's Commission of Forensic Medicine during the first quarter of 2017. Materials and Methods: In the current descriptive, cross-sectional study, the cases of medical malpractice related to different surgical fields referring to Tehran's Commission of Forensic Medicine in the first quarter of 2017 were investigated. Data were analyzed with SPSS version 16. Results: In the current study, 124 cases of complaints against the medical staff of the surgical fields were examined. Based on the obtained data, the age and specialty of physicians, faculty status, and type of treatment center were effective in obtaining standard informed consent, and the highest percentage of allegations against the charge was related to cases attempted to obtain informed consent. Conclusion: Obtaining the standard consent can significantly improve the patient-physician relationships and reduce the rate of medical malpractice complaints.

Background: Botulism is mostly caused by Clostridium botulinum neurotoxin which has been described as a bilateral symmetric descending flaccid paralysis. Preventing and responding to botulism outbreaks is a public health emergency. In this study, the disease is reported in a family. Methods: In a case series study, during an outbreak, four members of a family with symptoms including paralysis, ptosis, blurred vision, diplopia, weakness, dysphagia, dry mouth, respiratory problems, vertigo, and lethargy, referred to Loghman Hospital of Tehran. Among the patients was an elderly woman and a pregnant woman. All clinical signs and symptoms of the patients were recorded daily in a researcher-made questionnaire from 27 August to 3 September 2018. At the time of admission, vital signs (pulse rate, respiration rate, and body temperature) of patients were stable and within normal limits. Following clinical suspicion of food-borne botulism in these patients, samples of the first two patients, including serum, stool, gastric secretions, and homemade whey were sent to the Botulism Laboratory of Microbiology Department of Pasteur Institute of Iran for the mouse bioassay. Results: Type A neurotoxin was detected in homemade whey after the mouse bioassay. Therefore, foodborne botulism was confirmed in patients with laboratory results. Patients included two men and two women with a mean age of 52.7 years old. The length of hospitalized days was between 2 and 6 days. Two of the patients were admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). Patients under study were fully recovered with timely diagnosis of the disease, treatment with antitoxin, and supportive care. Conclusion: When conscious patients referred to the hospital with symptoms of paralysis, foodborne botulism is an important differential diagnosis. On-time diagnosis and antitoxin treatment can prevent serious complications.

Background: The clinical and laboratory manifestations of methanol poisoning and Diabetic Ketoacidosis (DKA) might be very similar. Case Presentation: A 15-year-old male, who lived in Mashhad, Iran, was referred to a medical toxicology center because of the loss of consciousness following the consumption of homemade alcohol. Laboratory tests revealed metabolic acidosis, the high blood levels of methanol, and ketonuria and glucosuria in urine analysis. The treatment of DKA and methanol poisoning was started simultaneously. Conclusion: Methanol poisoning, as physical stress or because of pancreatitis as a complication, could be a trigger for diabetes in susceptible individuals, and physicians should be aware of the similarity of presentation of these situations.

Background: QT dispersion means the difference between the minimum and maximum QT interval in a standard twelve standard electrocardiogram, which indicates ventricular repolarization and electrical instability of the heart. In this study, we try to find a link between methadone poisoning and the change in QT dispersion, so that we can accurately assess the patient's condition and medical needs in the future. Methods: In a descriptive, randomized/ cross-sectional study in the poisoning ward of Imam Reza Hospital in Mashhad from October 2013 to April 2015, all patients who referred to the emergency department because of their methadone toxicity or symptoms, had an ECG with 12 leads taken from them, at the time of the arrival. QT dispersion was calculated manually in comparison to other parameters. Also their blood sample were taken to the lab in order to measure different electrolytes (Mg, K, Ca). To ensure the accuracy of study, patient’s urine samples were taken and tested for methadone. There was no intervention in this study. The control group was also not considered QT scattering and dispersion was compared with normal reference in this study. Results: In this study, 100 patients were studied, 65 of them males (65%) and 35 females (35%). Mean age of subjects entering the study was 33.87±14.5. The average dose of methadone in these cases was 35.5±35.7 mg. However, their usual dose was 1.11±4.85 mg prior to overdoses, and the average duration of use mentioned in patients who had a history of usage was 5.1 months, but 90% of the subjects did not mention any history. The average measured potassium was 3.99±0.5 meq/l, calcium was 8.94±0.5 meq/l, and magnesium was 1.98±0.26 mg/dl. Average measured oxygen saturation at the time of admission was 94.43±5.6%. Mean QT dispersion was 0.041±0.018 millisecond. Conclusion: In our study, no significant correlation was found between QT dispersion and methadone poisoning.

The electrical injury is a common cause of death needing forensic assessments. In these cases, the histopathological assessment is a routine practice. The aim of this study was to determine the pathological results in cadavers suspected to electrical injury referred to the Forensic Medicine Center of Tehran, Iran. In this observational descriptive-comparative study, 745 consecutive cadavers suspected to electrical injury referred to the Forensic Medicine Center of Tehran from 2006 to 2016 were enrolled; also, the histopathological findings among them were determined and compared according to other variables. The results of this study demonstrated that 44 patients (86.3%) of those suspected to have an electrical injury and 101 patients (92.7%) of those with definite electrical injury had positive pathological results, showing a statistically significant difference (P

Background: Methotrexate is an anti-metabolite drug and one of the folic acid analog that it can play an important and functional role in the treatment of many malignancies and inflammatory diseases. However, the development of petechiae (maculopapular rash) is a very rare complication. Case Presentation: The patient was a 77 years old woman, Aryan race, who was known a case of severe and progressive rheumatoid arthritis. She previously was treated by multiple drugs such as salicylates, gold, corticosteroids, because of unresponsiveness to these drugs, physician prescribed methotrexate once a day, but patient misunderstands and use three times per day for days. Patient with this history referred to a poisoning emergency. In a physical exam, she had oral and throat erythema and swelling of mucosa. In the funduscopy of eyes, bottom of the eyes was normal and conjunctival eyes were prurient she had multiple petechiae at the upper part of chest and base of neck and shoulders and arms with no swelling around petechiae. The lesion had no itching. She had no other sign besides laboratory analysis showed a high level of creatinine, leukopenia, decreased the level of platelets, patient with high suspicious of methotrexate poisoning underwent to granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and folic acid treatment. After treatment all of her signs recovered and laboratory tests became normal. Conclusion: At the time of taking methotrexate by the patient, even with appointment of a specialist physician, with any skin signs such as maculopapular rash without itching, we should consider poisoning with methotrexate, and think appropriately about it. This suggests that methotrexate can cause side effects even at low doses.

Background: Amphetamines constitute a group of central nervous system stimulators with an increasing frequency of usage and destructive outcomes on the metabolism, perfusion, and structure of the brain. This study aimed at evaluating the structural brain changes following amphetamines abuse, using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted on the individuals, who were admitted to the toxicology Emergency Room (ER) with continuous amphetamines abuse for at least six months and a positive methamphetamine urine test. Positive Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) criteria for dependency and addiction to methamphetamine were also considered as the inclusion criteria. Following informed consent, the demographic information, and data on methamphetamine use were collected. An MRI was performed for all participants as soon as relative recovery. A matched control group also underwent MRI simultaneously. Results: Forty male (20 cases of methamphetamine addicts and 20 healthy individuals) with a Mean±SD age of 28.1±5.11 years were investigated. The Mean±SD age of starting methamphetamine abuse was 25.6±10 years. About (75%), (n=15) of the patients abused methamphetamine 6-9 months, while others had abused it for more than 10 months. All cases used to abuse methamphetamine at least once a week, with (85%) of them inhaling it. The results showed that the only change in the brain MRI of methamphetamine abusers was hyperintensities increase in deep and periventricular white matter (only positive MRI in 3 cases, P=0.231). Oral consumption and higher doses had induced greater changes in the brain structure. Conclusion: Methamphetamine dependency may increase deep and periventricular white matter hyperintensities.

Background: Trauma is one of the main causes of maternal mortality and morbidity in societies, which annually causes millions of deaths worldwide and imposes a high financial burden on health facilities, the purpose of this study was to determine the frequency of physical trauma and its associated factors during pregnancy. Methods: All data for this cross-sectional study were collected from medical records of pregnant women, who referred to the Mahdeeyeh Hospital in Tehran, Iran, as a result of trauma through 2015. Information related to the pregnant women with trauma was extracted from their medical records based on a researcher-made collection form. All patients who meet criteria for entering the study (based on entry and exit criteria from the study) were selected as samples. The significance level of the tests was considered as P

Background: A major challenge in medicine is patients’ dissatisfaction and complaints against doctors. Medical complaints in Iran, similar to the other countries, have a growing trend. Over the past two decades, the implementation of laparoscopic surgery rapidly grew in many countries. The current study aimed to investigate complaints against surgeons in laparoscopic surgeries, compared to open surgeries. Methods: The current cross-sectional study was conducted on all laparotomy and laparoscopic surgery complaint cases. The medical records were extracted based on the study variables, using a researcher-made questionnaire. To analyze the obtained data, frequency tables were used and to investigate the relationship between variables, Chi-Squared and Fisher’s Exact tests were employed. Results: A total of 369 medical complaint cases were brought to the Department of Tehran Legal Medical Committee, Tehran, Iran, from 2011 to 1016. The Mean±SD age of studied patients was 45.8±13.4 years. The most frequent medical complaint cases were against physicians working at private hospitals. In addition, most complaints were after laparotomy cases. More than half of the cases were voted on the malpractice of physicians. The frequency of postoperative infections was significantly higher in laparoscopic surgeries. The frequency of sentence for malpractice was significantly higher in laparoscopic surgeons, compared to laparotomy ones. Conclusion: Physicians’ knowledge about legal medical issues and building intimate and trustful relationship with patients along with the provision of desirable healthcare services can be effective in reducing medical error complaints.

Aluminum Phosphide (AIP) poisoning is one of the major causes of mortality among toxic substances. The symptoms and signs of toxicity are nonspecific and related to dose and route of exposure. A 20-year-old woman was admitted to the emergency department due to the consumption of one AIP tablet. ECG was normal at 2 hours post-ingestion and echocardiography revealed LVEF of 55-60% at 4 hours post admission. ECG abnormalities in this patient included VT and VF on the second night. She experienced an unusual rhythm disturbance in term of LBBB and Brugada pattern besides low ejection fraction of left ventricue (about 20-25%) on the third day. The main emphasis for AIP poisoning cases is on a timely, precise and prompt symptomatic treatment.

Background: Filicide is the term to describe the homicide of the child performed by one of the parents or both. Many different methods and devices may be used for these types of murders, for example, asphyxia, planned car accidents, stabbing by knife, battering, electricity, and so on. Most deaths due to electrocution are categorized as accidental in domestic and industrial environments. Murder by electrocution is reported very rarely. This case presents the murder of the child by his father in the way which is not usually applied in either filicide or homicide. Case Presentation: The body of a dead eight-year-old boy was brought to the Legal Medicine Organization center for autopsy with the history of separated parents and father with bipolar disorder. The coroner noticed the boy`s toes wired directly to an electric socket at the scene of the crime so the deceased was referred for further evaluation. Conclusion: Although filicide by electrocution is a rare method, especially for familicide according to literature, it should be considered in such murders.

Background: The current status of medical malpractice in Tehran medical centers is unclear, while understanding the situation may help the authorities carefully plan, continuously monitor and, consequently, be sensitive to eliminate the weaknesses. Hence, the present study aimed at investigating the existing problems. Methods: In the present Descriptive and cross-sectional study, all patients complaining of the medical staff of public hospitals affiliated to three medical sciences universities (i e, Tehran, Iran, Shahid Beheshti, and Baqiyatallah) were evaluated in terms of demographic characteristics, physicians gender, the type of hospital, the type of specialty, the type of staff, and reason for complaint (disability, death) using a data collection form, and the results were analyzed in SPSS version 18 using the Chi-square and Fisher tests. P-value

Background: Determining the cause of death among drug addicts in Residential Rehab Campuses (RRCs) is of paramount importance, since it may prevent and reduce morbidity and mortality rates. Therefore, the present study was done to investigate the cause of death among drug addicts in RRCs in Kahrizak Dissection Hall, Tehran Province, Iran, from September 2011 to September 2019. Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, a total number of 166 drug addicts, who had died in the RRCs located in Tehran, Iran were examined, and the findings were analyzed using the SPSS v. 26. Moreover, the Chi-square test was utilized to compare the results. Results: In this study, the most important causes of death, were infections, drug side effects, Myocardial Infarction (MI), and drowning, respectively. The highest frequency of death had occurred in the 31-40-year-old age group and was mostly observed in unmarried individuals. The most common causes of death were infection among the single and divorced ones and were MI for married cases. Toxicological results were generally negative in 60.84% of the cases. Also, 86.74% of the cases were non-pathological with regard to the brain tissue samples and 65.66% of the individuals had no pathological cardiac lesions. Besides, the most common microscopic findings of the lungs were associated with pulmonary edema. In the trauma group and also drug side effects and drowning groups, the most frequent pathological findings were pulmonary hemorrhage and pulmonary edema, respectively. As a whole, 69.87% of the deaths had occurred in the RRCs and 55.42% of them were assumed natural in terms of mode of occurrence. Conclusion: The majority of the deaths in the RRCs should not have occurred if the given centers were authorized and the illegal centers were closed. Moreover, these centers should have proper management with the presence of resident physicians and trained medical staff as well as necessary medical equipment, proper nutrition, no access to drugs and other illicit substances, along with adherence to hygienic principles to minimize mortality rates among the drug addicts living in the RRCs.

Background: The death certificate is a document consisting of the deceased individual’s basic information and identification which is filled out, registered and signed by a doctor. the World health organization’s policies in their health planning, provide a suitable database with knowledge of the required elements for planners and other authorized information demanders. During a multi-year cooperation between various organizations, the first uniformed death certificate according the ICD-10 standard got published in the country in the year 2004. Methods: This is a retrospective study which is about all of the deceased individuals in Tajrish and Modares Tehran hospitals from april 2013 until the march 2014 who had death certificates. In this study the data related to 777 individual’s death certificates and medical files was analyzed. The sampling method was census and all the cases in the study’s time period who had death certificates were studied. The cases that had a gap in their required information were ruled out of the study. The data that included age, sex, place of death, issuing doctor’s expertise, general information and the cause of death was extracted from the archived files. Results: The cases studied, 421 people died in Tajrish Hospital and 356 in Modarres Hospital. The highest number of deaths in both hospitals were in the internal wards (336 cases) and surgery (168 people). 45.6% of death certificates have been issued by a forensic expert. 64.8% cases correctly inserted ICD-10 code. Conclusion: Training of physicians for the importance of death certificate and how it should be completed is very important. This research showed that in the cases which the death certificates were completed by the hospital forensic medicine specialists were more useful and accurate.

Background: Cancer is among the leading causes of mortality in India. Studies have reported antineoplastic agents as the common class of drugs causing Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs). The present study aimed to conduct active surveillance of ADRs of anticancer drugs in the hematology department. Methods: A prospective observational study was conducted in 136 patients with cancer and the incidence and frequency of ADRs were assessed. The study was conducted in 6 months in a multispecialty hospital. Results: Among 136 cancer patients, All was more prevalent (39.70%); CLL, Non- Hodgkin’s Lymphoma were less prevalent (0.73%). ADRs were more prevalent in the Pediatrics department, i.e., 18.53% of ADRs were observed in patients aged

Background: The development of clinical teaching necessitates the use of novel and appropriate clinical evaluation methods. In the meantime, the use of new evaluation approaches that enhance learning at the same time has been recommended. This study aimed to compare the effect of the two new evaluation methods of direct observation of procedural skills (DOPS) and short clinical evaluation exercise (Mini-CEX) with the conventional evaluation method on clinical skills of forensic medicine residents. Methods: This is a randomized trial performed among forensic medicine residents. Using Cochran's formula, the minimum sample size was calculated to be 25 individuals per group. All the residents were randomly divided into either the experimental or the control groups. After training and evaluation, the experimental group was tested using the DOPS and Mini-CEX methods three times during the course, and the control group was evaluated using the conventional method. The basis for the evaluation of the procedures (physical examination and autopsy) in both groups was the valid and reliable checklists prepared by the researchers. The results were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics (e.g., the Chi-square and independent t-test). Results: There was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of demographic variables such as age, sex, and grade point average (GPA) (P>0.06). The means of total scores were significantly higher in the experimental group (using the Mini-CEX and DOPS methods) than the control group (conventional method) (P