Introduction: Hoarseness of voice is a very common condition and is caused by recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy. Many possible causes of unilateral vocal cord paralysis are known, including malignant or less often benign tumors, iatrogenic injury, inflammation, or post radiation fibrosis causing nerve palsy due to encasement. Cardiovocal syndrome or Ortner’s syndrome is hoarseness due to left rec...

In many cases, redundant systems are beset by both independent and dependent failures. Ignoring dependent variables in MTBF evaluation of redundant systems hastens the occurrence of failure, causing it to take place before the expected time, hence decreasing safety and creating irreversible damages. Common cause failure (CCF) and cascading failure are two varieties of dependent failures, both l...

  Background and Objective: Bacterial meningitis is an important cause of mortality and long-term neural morbidity. Immediate diagnosis and treatment are necessary in appropriate time. This study was designed in Afzalipour Hospital in Kerman to evaluate meningitis causes, frequency and CSF laboratory changes. Patients and Methods: In this retrograde descriptive study from September 2003 to Se...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the nature of process failures in postoperative care, to assess their frequency and preventability, and to explore their relationship to adverse events. BACKGROUND Adverse events are common and are frequently caused by failures in the process of care. These processes are often evaluated independently using clinical audit. There is little understanding of process failu...