2.9. Ethical consideration
The research followed the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki. This
study was approved by the ethic committee of Iran University of Medical
Sciences (ethical code: IR.IUMS.REC.1399.458). Moreover, the study
protocol was registered in the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials
(IRCT#IRCT20170809035597N2; https://en.irct.ir/trial/51927).
Accordingly, informed consents were obtained from all patients.