The Libyan journal of medicine
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Doing research when resources are severely limited will always be challenging. But by sharing resources, collaborating internationally as well as locally, developing sustainable research lines and optimizing study concept and design, researchers can significantly increase their research output and enhance its quality.
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This study was conducted to evaluate the characteristics, treatment outcome and risk factors associated with 223 drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) cases in the State of Qatar. A descriptive records-based retrospective study was conducted on patients registered at Communicable Disease Centre (CDC), Qatar to all consecutive microbiologically confirmed tuberculosis cases for the period January 2010 - March 2015. Demographic, clinical data, drug-resistance pattern of isolated mycobacteria and treatment outcome was assessed for the patient who completed their treatment in Qatar. ⋯ Cure and relapse rates were 97.6%, and 2.4%, respectively. Drug-resistant TB in Qatar is influenced by migration where the patients were probably infected. Rapid sputum sampling performed in the early stages of the disease, patient isolation, and drug-susceptibility testing should be the standard of care.
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There is an extensive body of research about chronic pain and treatment in developed countries. In contrast there is a lack of research on this topic in developing countries including China. This study was aimed to estimate the prevalence of chronic pain in different regions of China. ⋯ The location of pain was focused on back and upper limb. There has been a lack of proper treatment. Patients with pain had obvious economic burden, and their quality of life and psychology were significantly affected.
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Introduction: Paediatric cardiomyopathies are rare but serious and often life-threatening conditions. In the absence of cardiac transplant and ventricular assist device as treatment options in our region, it is very important to identify patients at higher risk. The aim of this study was to determine the outcome of patients diagnosed with cardiomyopathies and their prognostic indicators. ⋯ Assisted mechanical ventilation was used on 15 patients (16.3%). Twenty-three patients (25.0%) died during the 7-year study period. Conclusions Conclusions The occurrence of hypotension, abnormally high liver enzymes, the need for mechanical ventilation and the need for multiple inotropic drugs were found to be statistically significant predictors of mortality, while age, sex, fractional shortening, ejection fraction, presence of mitral regurgitation, mural thrombus, electrolyte disturbance and arrhythmias did not predict or affect patients' outcomes.
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The American Association of Endodontists (AAE) released a case difficulty assessment form to help general dentists and students treat cases within their expertise or refer advanced cases to reduce the risk of iatrogenic errors. The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence of iatrogenic complications after the use of the case difficulty assessment form. Arandom sample of 1000 cases that received root canal treatment in undergraduate clinics during the academicyear (2016-2017) was selected. ⋯ Underfilling accounted for the highestpercent of errors detected (8.4%), followed by ledge formation (4.2%). Molar teeth had the highest frequency of errors, and mesio-buccal roots of maxillary molars showed the highest percentage of errors. The AAE developed asignificantly useful tool to determine the difficulty of each case treated in undergraduate clinics, and following their recommendations will minimize the risk of iatrogenic errors.