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Introduction: Hemothorax is one of the most prevalent injuries caused by thoracic traumas. Early detection and treatment of this injury is of utmost importance in prognosis of the patient, but there are still controversial debates on the diagnostic value of imaging techniques in detection of hemothorax. Therefore, the present study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic value of chest ultrasonography and radiography in detection of hemothorax through a systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods: Two independent reviewers performed an extended systematic search in databases of Medline, EMBASE, ISI Web of Knowledge, Scopus, Cochrane Library, and ProQuest. Data were extract and quality of the relevant studies were assessed. The number of true positive, false positive, true negative and false negative cases were extracted and screening performance characteristics of two imaging techniques were calculated using a mixed-effects binary regression model. Results: Data from 12 studies were extracted and included in the meta-analysis (7361 patients, 77.1% male). Pooled sensitivity and specificity of ultrasonography in detection of hemothorax were 0.67 (95% CI: 0.41-0.86; I2= 68.38, pConclusion: The results of this study showed that although the sensitivity of ultrasonography in detection of hemothorax is relatively higher than radiography, but it is still at a moderate level (0.67%). The specificity of both imaging modalities were found to be at an excellent level in this regard. The screening characteristics of ultrasonography was found to be influenced of the operator and frequency of transducer.

Introduction: The potential benefit of ultrasonography for detection of thoracic bone fractures has been proven in various surveys but no comprehensive conclusion has been drawn yet; therefore, the present study aimed to conduct a thorough meta-analytic systematic review on this subject. Methods: Two reviewers independently carried out a comprehensive systematic search in Medline, EMBASE, ISI Web of Knowledge, Scopus, Cochrane Library, and ProQuest databases. Data were summarized as true positive, false positive, true negative and false negative and were analyzed via STATA 11.0 software using a mixed-effects binary regression model. Sources of heterogeneity were further assessed through subgroup analysis. Results: Data on 1667 patients (807 subjects with and 860 cases without thoracic fractures), whose age ranged from 0 to 92 years, were extracted from 17 surveys. Pooled sensitivity and specificity of ultrasonography in detection of thoracic bone fractures were 0.97 (95% CI: 0.90-0.99; I2= 88.88, pConclusion: Base on the findings of the present meta-analysis, screening performance characteristic of ultrasonography in detection of thoracic bone fractures was found to be higher than radiography. However, these characteristics were more prominent in detection of rib fractures and in cases where was performed by a radiologist.

Introduction: The role of ultrasonography in detection of pleural effusion has long been a subject of interest but controversial results have been reported. Accordingly, this study aims to conduct a systematic review of the available literature on diagnostic value of ultrasonography and radiography in detection of pleural effusion through a meta-analytic approach. Methods: An extended search was done in databases of Medline, EMBASE, ISI Web of Knowledge, Scopus, Cochrane Library, and ProQuest. Two reviewers independently extracted the data and assessed the quality of the articles. Meta-analysis was performed using a mixed-effects binary regression model. Finally, subgroup analysis was carried out in order to find the sources of heterogeneity between the included studies. Results: 12 studies were included in this meta-analysis (1554 subjects, 58.6% male). Pooled sensitivity of ultrasonography in detection of pleural effusion was 0.94 (95% CI: 0.88-0.97; I2= 84.23, pConclusion: Chest ultrasonography, as a screening tool, has a higher diagnostic accuracy in identification of plural effusion compared to radiography. The sensitivity of this imaging modality was found to be higher when performed by a radiologist or an intensivist and using 5-10MHz probes.

Introduction: Health care providers and health policy managers need updated and valid information regarding causes of death (COD) for development the health care facilities, directing primary prevention, assigning funds, and promoting public health. The major causes of death and its burden have not been yet appropriately identified in Iran. Although several studies had been carried out in this area, most of them were local or performed in the past years and need to be update. Thus, the present study aimed to address the major causes of death and its burden in Iran. Methods: The present cross-sectional study was performed on graduate students and their families from February to March 2014. Through a two-stage random sampling procedure, data on 11315 subjects were obtained. The corresponding age of death, gender, and calendar year of death were inquired. All causes of death were categorized in nine groups including major cardiovascular disease, cancers, motor vehicle accidents, unintentional injuries, intentional injuries, stroke, lower respiratory infections, diabetes, and other reasons. Years of life lost (YLL) and person years of life lost were computed as the burden of diseases. Results: Totally, 11315 (50.4% male) subjects were studied. The results regarding death of relatives revealed that 360 deaths occurred (66.9% male). COD in 95 cases (26.4%) was cardiovascular diseases, 64 (17.8%) motor vehicle accidents, 41 (11.4%) cancers, 23 (6.4%) unintentional injuries, 22 (6.1%) intentional injuries, 10 (2.8%) stroke, 8 (2.2%) lower respiratory infections, 6 (1.8%) diabetes, and 91 (25.3%) other reasons. The average YLL due to all COD was 34.4±18.5. YLL for motor vehicle accidents and injuries (unintentional and intentional) were higher than cardiovascular diseases (pConclusion: Based on the findings, it seems that cardiovascular diseases, motor vehicle accidents, cancers, intentional and unintentional injuries are the major causes of death in Iranian population. Most of years of life lost were due to motor vehicle accidents, cardiovascular diseases and cancers, intentional and unintentional injuries, respectively.