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Background and Objective: Magnesium (Mg) ion has possible role in protecting neurons and glia from ischemic damage through the cerebral blood flow and neuronal action. This study was done to evaluate the correlation of total serum Mg level with clinical outcomes in stroke patients. Materials and Methods: This cross sectional study was done on 316 patients whom diagnosed with stroke in Imam Hossein hospital, Tehran, Iran during 2010-11. Mg levels in all patients were measured. Also, recurrent transient ischemic attack (TIA), recurrent myocardial infarction or stroke, unstable angina and death as clinical outcomes were follow-up for period of 3 and 6 months after admission. Data were analyzed using SPSS-18, Chi-Square, Fisher and Pearson correlation tests. Results: The mean age of patients was 65±15.8 year. Limb weakness (69.9%) and haemoplasia with 63.6% were the most common clinical complaints. Death was the most common finding in 3 month (16.8%) and recurrent stroke was the most common finding in 6 month follow up (2.5%). There was no significant difference between the total serum Mg and the first and second three-months follow up of clinical outcomes. Conclusion: This study can not show a significant correlation between total serum Mg levels and clinical outcomes after 3 and 6 month follow up in stroke patients.

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Background and Objective: Triage is the most important and the first stage of patient’s management at the time of arrival to hospital emergency department. Emergency severity index (ESI) is a common triage system worldwide. This study was aimed to evaluate the accuracy of ESI in emergency department of Imam Hossein hospital in Tehran, Iran. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive study the result of patients’ triage based on ESI were gathered for all patients referred to emergency department of Imam Hossein Hospital from January to April 2011. A questioner was filled for each patient by the nurse and a emergency specialist independently. The l for the degree of agreement of triage between nurse and clinician was 81% (95% CI: 0.79-0.83). The sensivity of triage for step I, II, III, IV and V were 100%, 53.2%, 90.7%, 67.1% and 98% respectively. The specificity of triage for step I, II, III, IV and V were 99.8%, 97.5%, 93.7%, 98.3% and 94% respectively. There was a significant overlapping between the triage step and the patient clinical outcome. Conclusion: This study showed that five steps triage contain a high accuracy and estimation of patient outcomes.

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Background and Objective: The causes of non traumatic abdominal pain are varied from mild to severe onset. This study was carried out to assess the outcome of the patients with non-specific abdominal pain discharged from the emergency department. Methods: This cohort study was carried out on 247 patients (68.4% female, 31.6% male) with non-specific abdominal pain which referred to the emergency department of Imam Hossain hospital in Tehran, Iran during 2010-11. The existence or improvement of pain, readmission to hospital and possible subsequent complications diagnose and death was recorded after four-week through telephone follow-up. Results: 247 patients with non-specific abdominal pain were enrolled. Out of 158 patients with recurrence pain, 71 (45%) patients were admitted to the hospital again that finally, cause of pain was diagnosed in 45 (28.5%) patients. The most common cause of abdominal pain was irritable bowel syndrome (3.2%). History of similar pain (OR=4.04, P<0.05), abnormal findings in abdominal ultrasonography (OR=8.2, P<0.05), abnormal urine analysis (OR=7.4, P<0.05) and abdominal pain persisted for more than 2 days (OR=4.04, P<0.05) were independent factors to identifying the causes of abdominal pain. Conclusion: Nonspecific abdominal pain will not lead to appropriate recognition and most of them recover without any complication.