bibliometric study of epidural anesthesia: a 24-year review

After introduction of epidural anesthesia [EA] in the early 20[th] century, it has become an essential technique in anesthesiology and many physicians consider it the gold standard analgesic technique for major surgeries. As EA has improved anesthesia methods dramatically and aimed to perform a scientometric analysis on this topic. Cross-sectional study Mashad University of Medical Sciences, Iran Articles were retrieved from the Web of Science [ISI] from 1990 to 2013. Intervention[s]: The total number of published items was 4612; subsequent analysis was performed on results considering published items per year, country, funding agency, institution, journal, publication language, and author and subject area. The results were analyzed considering published items per year, country, funding agency and institution, journal, publication language and author. Additionally, subject areas under which the articles were published were evaluated. The primary search yielded 4612 publications; out of these 3200 [69.38%] were original articles. More than half of articles [2466] were published under "anesthesiology" subject. The USA was the leading country in producing articles under this topic and engaged highest collaboration rate with 64 collaborations. It seems that there is an overall increase in total number of articles, citations and highly cited articles about EA during these two decades

Immunological analysis of aerobic bioreactor bovine theileriosis vaccine

In this study, the pilot production of aerobic bioreactor tropical theileriosis vaccine was optimized with the aim of immunological assays for further mass production. We have shown earlier the delayed type hypersensitivity [DTH] assay could be used for evaluating the immunity and memory cells against specific Theileria antigen in vaccinated animals. In addition, TNF-alpha is the principle cytokine in modulating the cytotoxic activity of cytotoxic T-lymphocytes [CTL]. Immunological analysis of the vaccine was performed by using two cell mediated immunity [CMI] in vitro and in vivo DTH test [Theilerin] and TNF-alpha assay. The results of immune responses of susceptible immunized cattle by bioreactor vaccine in comparison with conventional flask vaccine revealed a significant stimulation of immune cells by transcription of high level of TNF-alpha and positive reaction against Theileria antigen in Theilerin skin test [DTH]. The equal immunological results achieved in both above mentioned vaccines verified the satisfactory immunity for aerobic bioreactor theileriosis vaccine for advance mass vaccination in the field on a large scale

An overview and mapping of childhood tuberculosis: Prevalence, scientific production and citation analysis.

Aim: The study aimed to analyze publications in the field of “pediatric tuberculosis” and associate them with regional Tuberculosis (TB) profile. Methods: A schematic analysis of scientific production in the field of pediatric tuberculosis between 1990 and 2010 using ISI web of science was carried out. Terms used for searches were each as a combination of “Mycobacterium Tuberculosis”, or “Tuberculos*” and “Child”, or “Infant”, or “New born”, or “Neonatal”, or “Adolescent”, or “Pediatric”. Features including year of publication, citation per year, country of origin, funding state, contributing university, language, leading journals and authors, and highly cited articles, main journal publishing these articles were taken into account. Results: The search retrieved 3417 articles (of 4559 total) with an almost gradual annually progressive pattern from 20 (in 1990) to 302 (in 2009) which have been cited totally 48459 times and 14.18 times per article. The greatest contribution originated from United States of America (25.11%) followed by South Africa (12.17%), and England (11.18%). Interestingly, 82.4% of all South African articles were from Stellenbosch University and Cape Town University on contrary. Conclusions: International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease ranked as the first with regard to the number of articles and Lancet with regard to the number of highly cited articles. Developing countries excluding South Africa despite their high prevalence scarcely contribute to the field and USA is the leading country in the field.

A Scientometric Analysis of 20 Years of Research on Breast Reconstruction Surgery: A Guide for Research Design and Journal Selection

BACKGROUND: Breast reconstruction refers to the rebuilding of a woman's breast using autologous tissue or prosthetic material to form a natural-looking breast. It is increasingly offered to women undergoing mastectomy for breast cancer. However, there is no systematic analysis available for the expanding area of research on breast reconstruction. METHODS: A bibliometric method was used to obtain a view of the scientific production about breast reconstruction by data extracted from the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI). Specific parameters were retrieved from the ISI. Articles about breast reconstruction were analyzed to obtain a view of the topic's structure, history, and document relationships using HistCite software. Trends in the most influential publications and authors were analyzed. RESULTS: The number of articles was constantly increasing. Most highly cited articles described the methods of flap construction in the surgery. Other highly cited articles discussed the psychological or emotional aspects of breast reconstruction, skin sparing mastectomy, and breast reconstruction in the irradiated breast. CONCLUSIONS: This was the first breast reconstruction scientometric analysis, representing the characteristics of papers and the trends of scientific production. A constant increase in the number of breast reconstruction papers and also the increasing number of citations shows that there is an increasing interest in this area of medical science. It seems that most of the research in this field is focused on the technical aspects of surgery.

Clinical characteristics of Buerger's disease in Iran

To determine the clinical course of Buerger's disease as observed in two vascular surgery centers located in the capital of Iran. Case series. Sina and Imam Hospitals, Tehran, Iran, during the years 1997 to 2002. The records of all the patients admitted with Buerger's disease diagnosed on the basis of Shionoya's clinical criteria were studied. Their clinical characteristics, treatment offered and short-term follow-up results are described as frequencies and percentages. A total of 116 patients, aged 41.1 +/- 11.3 years, were enrolled. All patients were males; 99% of them were smokers with an average of 22.9 pack-years of tobacco use. Lower-extremity was affected in 102 [87.9%] patients, upper-extremity in 3 [2.6%] patients and both in 11 [9.5%]. The most frequent reasons for being referred to hospital were ischemic ulcers [90.5%], claudication [87.9%], paresthesia [75.9%], rest pain [66.4%], gangrene [60.3%], Raynaud's phenomenon [23.3%] and thrombophlebitis [9.5%]. Diagnostic arteriography, vascular bypass surgery and sympathectomy were performed in 60%, 24% and 83% of the patients, respectively. Sixty-eight patients [58.6%] had one of the following amputations: toe 36 [52.9%], transmetatarsal 3 [4.4%], below knee 25 [36.8%], finger 3 [4.4%] and above knee one [1.5%] patient. Since the studied hospitals are the referral centers for vascular surgery in Iran admitting patients with severe symptoms; therefore, a higher number of complications and amputations was found in the present study. Upper extremity involvement as well as the occurrence of thrombophlebitis and Raynaud's phenomenon was rather infrequent among the studied cases

Laser prostatectomy versus transurethral resection of prostate in the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia

To assess the effectiveness of laser-prostatectomy compared with transurethral resection of prostate [TURP]. This randomized clinical trial with one year follow-up, was conducted on 87 patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia [BPH] at Shohada-e-Tajrish Hospital, Tehran, Iran, from 1999 to 2003. Fifty-two patients underwent TURP and 35 patients were treated by non-contact laser prostatectomy using ND: YAG laser at 40-60 watt power and 13000-29000 jules energy settings. Comparing variables of urinary maximum flow and residue, changes of urine volume and severity of symptoms during consequent periods of 3, 6 and 12 months after the operation in 3 groups revealed that differences in maximum urinary flow changes were significant only in the sixth month [p<0.05]. Also, changes in the severity of symptoms before and after the operation showed more decrease in the TURP group during all 3 periods of follow-up [p=0.01]. In the laser prostatectomy group duration of operation [p=0.01], amount of fluid used during the operation [p<0.001] and duration of bed rest [p<0.001] were less than those of the TURP group. Laser prostatectomy can decrease duration of operation, duration of bed rest and pathogenesis following the operation in patients. Although changes in the severity of symptoms are more pronounced in TURP patients, changes in urodynamic indexes are similar in both groups