Saudi Medical Journal

OBJECTIVES: To determine the efficacy of the 3-Minute Nutrition Screening (3-MinNS) tool in adults hospitalized for cardiovascular diseases. METHODS: In this descriptive cross-sectional study of 759 cardiovascular disease patients in Erciyes University Cardiology Clinic, anthropometric measurements and some routine biochemical parameters were recorded, and nutrition screening tools were used to determine malnutrition status. The power of 3-MinNS to detect malnutrition in cardiovascular diseases patients was calculated...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the referral practices across different medical specialties and identify possible barriers to hand surgery referral. Rheumatoid hand deformities (RHDs) and thumb carpometacarpal (CMC) arthritis may require surgery once deformities occur. However, in Saudi Arabia, the rate of referrals to hand surgeons remains low. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study that included 102 consultants of family medicine, rheumatology, and orthopedics across various regions of Saudi Arabia...

OBJECTIVES: To analyze the performance of a leading institution in implementing newborn hearing screening and address two key areas: the knowledge gap in screening practice and the prevalence of permanent sensorineural hearing loss in Saudi Arabia. METHODS: We analyzed the prevalence of hearing impairment in all live births at King Fahad Hospital of the University, Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia, from September 2018 to June 2022. Automated auditory brainstem response was used for both initial screening and rescreening...

OBJECTIVES: To determine the diagnostic efficiencies of multiple diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) techniques for hepatic fibrosis (HF) staging under the premise of high inter-examiner reliability. METHODS: Participants with biopsy-confirmed HF were recruited and divided into the early HF (EHF) and advanced HF (AHF) groups; healthy volunteers (HVs) served as controls. Two examiners analyzed intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) using the IVIM-DWI and diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) models...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

OBJECTIVES: Surgeons may encounter a grossly normal appearing appendix in a patient with clinically suspected appendicitis. The purpose of this study is to determine the practice of pediatric surgeons in Saudi Arabia when this is encountered, and determine the reasons behind their decision making. METHODS: An electronic survey was sent to all pediatric surgeons in Saudi Arabia. Data points collected included demographics, peri-operative imaging preference, and personal practice when managing an intra-operative grossly normal appendix in symptomatic children...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the potency of Manuka honey UMF +15 against Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE). Bacterial resistance is a worldwide problem that is increasing year by year, especially Carbapenem resistance. Alternatives to antibiotics are needed to both reduce costs, and to reduce the spread of antibiotic resistance, with the ultimate goal of saving lives. METHODS: The efficacy of Manuka honey UMF +15 was tested by 2 methods; Well diffusion assay and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) against twenty Carbapenem-resistant isolates which collected from Makkah city hospitals during three months of study from 1st of September 2023 up to 1st of December 2023...

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OBJECTIVES: To analyze the fertility rate trends in the GCC countries and their association with socioeconomic factors so that policymakers may use the study findings for future healthcare plans. METHODS: Total population, crude death rate, life expectancy, literacy rate, human development index (HDI), female employment, unemployment rate, urbanisation, gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and inflation were chosen as possible predictors of TFR trends. The data were collected for the Global Burden of Disease 2021 study and other official databases such as the World Bank, the United Nations Development Program and Our World in Data for the 6 Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries...

OBJECTIVES: To review current evidence on using the geriatric nutritional risk index (GNRI) in predicting postoperative delirium (POD) in elderly patients. METHODS: The literature search was performed in core databases to include all the cohort studies on the association between GNRI and risk of POD for further meta-analysis. RESULTS: A total of 6 studies with 4242 patients underwent this meta-analysis, which showed that the risk of POD was higher in patients with moderate and high GNRI than the ones with low GNRI (odds ratio [OR]=2...

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Pulmonary agenesis is a very rare congenital abnormality that can be missed in a routine radiographic examination, which delays diagnosis until adulthood. It can be associated with other congenital malformations, such as valvular heart disease and gastrointestinal organ abnormalities. Computed tomography (CT) is a useful modality for its better delineation of pulmonary and vascular structures. The reported case here is for an adult male who presented with dextroposition of the heart and was found to have a unilobed right lung associated with polysplenia...

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the outcomes of adjuvant radiotherapy in patients with esophageal cancer (EC) who underwent esophagectomy following neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (NCRT). METHODS: The data of EC patients who received adjuvant therapy after NCRT between 2004 to 2019 was retrieved from the SEER database. The patients were split into the adjuvant radiotherapy with or without chemotherapy (RT±CT) and the adjuvant chemotherapy (CT) groups. The process of propensity score matching (PSM) was employed...

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To maintain a clean and hygienic environment in the intensive care unit (ICU) is crucial for ensuring patient safety, preventing infections, and reducing healthcare-associated complications. With the increasing prevalence of infections and the emergence of viral and bacterial resistance to standard antiseptics, there is a pressing need for innovative antiseptic solutions. Nanotechnology is increasingly being employed in medicine, particularly focusing on mitigating the activities of various pathogens, including those associated with hospital-acquired infections...

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the various skin conditions diagnosed in intensive care unit (ICU) patients. METHODS: This is a descriptive retrospective study of all adults, pediatric, and neonatal patients who were admitted to the ICU and had a dermatological manifestation during hospital stay or patients who had dermatological condition that requires ICU admission. All skin conditions were categorized and analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 344 ICU patients with 365 different dermatological conditions were included in the study...

OBJECTIVES: To identify biomarkers that can discriminated small cell lung cancer (SCLC) from non-SCLC (NSCLC), and explore their association with the prognosis of SCLC under chemoradiotherapy. METHODS: The GSE40275 dataset was used to identify potential targets in SCLC. There were 196 patients of lung cancer (LC) in cohort 1 of this study. MTHFD1 levels in tissues were determined by immunohistochemistry assay in cohort 1. Lung cancer patients who were all underwent local chemoradiotherapy (CRT) were included in cohort 2, and the association of MTHFD1 levels with CRT treatment outcome were determined in cohort 2...

OBJECTIVES: To assess the impact of autogenous graft materials, including autogenous bone graft (ABG) and injectable platelet-rich fibrin (I-PRF) clots, on bone defect regeneration in ovariectomized osteoporotic rats. METHODS: Wistar rats (6-8 weeks old) were ovariectomized, and surgery began after 8 weeks. A 5-mm defect was created bilaterally in the parietal bones of 16 rats, which were divided into 4 groups. Group A (blank) had untreated defects; group B had defects filled with 0...