RESUMO
Advances in perinatal medicine have increased the survival rate of infants admitted to neonatal intensive care unit [NICU]. Many perinatal conditions may also cause hearing impairment. Early detection of hearing loss by screening and appropriate intervention are critical to speech, language and cognitive development. The aim of this study was to determine the rate of hearing damage in neonates admitted to NICU in Amirkola Children's Hospital, Babol, Iran. This is a prospective cross-sectional, descriptive analytic study, carried out from March 2003 to April 2004. 330 neonates were screened first by Transient Evoked Otoacoustic Emissions [TEOAE] [Echocheck, Otodynamics Ltd, England], and if failed, by Auditory brainstem response [ABR] [Bera 2 Hortman Version, Beyer Dynamic Dt-48, Germany]. ABR was performed with 40 db hearing level click stimulus to each ear. Data was analyzed by SPSS software using T-test and Fisher exact test. 58% of 330 NICU patients were born preterm and the rest in term. 24 neonates [7.3%] failed on TEOTE test and were referred for ABR. Before ABR testing 8 neonates died and 4 neonates had conductive hearing loss [otitis media]. Finally 7 [2.1%] developed permanent hearing loss. Findings of this study showed that 7.3% of NICU patients failed on TEOTE and 2.1% had permanent hearing loss on ABR examination. Based on these findings, we recommend hearing screening of high risk neonates admitted to NICU
RESUMO
Varicocele is one of the infertility factors in men and has negative effects on sperm parameters. Using varicocelectomy that is the most effective method for treatment of varicocele, there will be significant improvement in sperm parameters. The purpose of this study was to survey sperm parameters before and after varicocelectomy and fertility rate after surgery. This interventional study was done on 118 infertile couples from 2003 to 2004 that referred with male factor and varicoceles disease to Fatemeh Zahra infertility center. The sperm parameters were compared before and after varicocelectomy and the pregnancy results were compared with each other. The type of varicoceles was unilateral in 72 persons [61%] and bilateral in 46 [39%]. The mean number [ +/- SD] of sperm reached from 42.3 +/- 26.9 millions before surgery to 48.4 +/- 27.1 million after surgery. Also, sperm motility reached from 50.8 +/- 18 percent to 54.8 +/- 17.9 percent and round cells reached from 1.9 +/- 4.7 to 0.6 +/- 3.3 percent that this process is meaningful in each three cases [p<0.007]. The mean normal morphology of sperms showed an increase after surgery but wasn't meaningful. After varicocelectomy, the rate of pregnancy was seen in 42% of persons that increased to 48.3% in persons who used different methods of ART. According to the results of this study, varicocelectomy can increase sperm parameters. Also, with increasing normal sperm morphology, almost half of the operated persons experienced their fertility