Background: Persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN) occurs in post-term neonates with an incidence of 1 in 500 -1,500 live births. The survival rate is approximately 69% after conventional management of infants suffering from PPHN. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) therapy improves survival up to 86%. Methods: A total of 32 neonates with PPHN participated in this study. These neonates were randomly assigned into two 16-case groups: group A received tadalafil while group B received sildenafil. A random simple sampling method was used for the selection of subjects. The severity of tricuspid regurgitation (TR), main pulmonary artery (MPA) diameter, mean pulmonary artery pressure (MPAP), and right ventricular end-diastolic diameter (RVEDD) were assessed by echocardiography before and 6 months after treatment. Results: MPAP decreased after treatment in both groups, but the mean of changes in PAP in the two groups was not significantly different (P = 0.48). Both tadalafil and sildenafil significantly reduced the TR severity, RVEDD, and MPA diameter (P < 0.05), but the mean of the changes in TR, RVEDD, and MPA in both groups was similar (P = 0.05). Conclusions: Tadalafil and sildenafil can similarly reduce MPAP, TR severity, RVEDD, and MPA diameter.

Background: Therapeutic abortion is defined as intentional termination of pregnancy in order to save the mother’s life and health or when the fetus has an abnormality incompatible with normal life.The aim of this study was to evaluate causes of issuance of therapeutic abortion in women referred to the Yazd province Legal Medicine Organization to terminate the pregnancy.   Methods: In this cross sectional study, all the applications for therapeutic abortions from March 2014 to March 2016 approved by the legal medicine organization of Yazd province were included and recorded. The data was analyzed by SPSS software.   Results: From 333 permissions for abortion during three years ,299 cases (89.8%) were issued for the reason of fetal indications and 34 cases (10.2%) for maternalindications. The most prevalent fetal abnormalities indicated for abortion were central nervous system disorders (especially Anencephaly and Spina Bifida); Hydrops Fetalis and Down syndrome, respectively and the most frequent maternal disorders were cardiovascular diseases.   Conclusion: The current study shows that therapeutic abortions due to fetal abnormalities are increasing. It seems that educating health professionals and people and increasing their awareness about preventing fetal abnormalities and also contraception in women with maternal diseases indicated for abortion could be an effective way to reduce the rate of abortion.