Annals of Saudi medicine
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Annals of Saudi medicine · May 2013
Observational StudyThe burden of Rotavirus gastroenteritis among hospitalized pediatric patients in a tertiary referral hospital in Jeddah.
To evaluate the burden of Rotavirus gastroenteritis (GE) among pediatric hospital admissions. ⋯ Rotavirus infection is the most important causative organism of GE in our community that accounted for 42.9% of children hospitalized for GE in our study, either alone or with other infections. Among our patients, vaccination against Rotavirus appeared to be protective against Rotavirus GE. In view of the high disease prevalence among children, locally and worldwide, we recommend routine Rotavirus vaccination as the most effective available means of control despite improvement in sanitation and hygiene.
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Taste or gustation is one of the 5 traditional senses including hearing, sight, touch, and smell. The sense of taste has classically been limited to the 5 basic taste qualities: sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami or savory. Advances from the Human Genome Project and others have allowed the identification and determination of many of the genes and molecular mechanisms involved in taste biology. ⋯ Although less clear in humans, transient receptor potential ion channels are thought to mediate salty and sour taste; however, other targets have been identified. Furthermore, taste receptors have been located throughout the body and appear to be involved in many regulatory processes. An emerging interplay is revealed between chemical sensing in the periphery, cortical processing, performance, and physiology and likely the pathophysiology of diseases such as diabetes.
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Annals of Saudi medicine · May 2013
Case ReportsHeterosexual precocity: rare manifestation of virilizing adrenocortical oncocytoma.
Adrenocortical oncocytomas are extremely rare, and most of the tumors are benign and nonfunctioning. To our knowledge, only 30 cases have been reported in English published studies, and most patients are 40 to 60 years of age. ⋯ We report a case of functioning adrenocortical oncocytoma in a 3 1/2-year-old female child who presented with premature pubarche, clitoromegaly, and increased serum dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate and testosterone. She was managed successfully with right adrenalectomy, and the tumor histology was consistent with adrenal oncocytoma.
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Annals of Saudi medicine · Mar 2013
Factors affecting bowel gangrene development in patients with sigmoid volvulus.
Sigmoid gangrene develops in 6.1% to 93.4% of sigmoid volvulus (SV) cases, and increases the mortality rate from 0% to 40% without bowel gangrene to 3.7% to 80%. This study aimed to investigate factors that induce bowel gangrene development in SV patients. ⋯ An inverse correlation between pregnancy and sigmoid gangrene was observed. On the other hand, a positive correlation was noted between bowel gangrene and comorbid diseases, shock, prolonged duration of symptoms, overrotation, and associated ileosigmoid knotting.
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Annals of Saudi medicine · Mar 2013
Historical ArticleMirrors and reflections: the evolution of indirect laryngoscopy.
Indirect laryngoscopy traditionally entails the use of both a head mirror and laryngeal mirror. It is the first and most basic successful technique for viewing the larynx, and arguably remains the most commonly used diagnostic method for laryngoscopy today. This article reviews its evolution, from Albucasis' early applications of reflection and succeeding experiments with refraction, to Hoffman's design of the head mirror and subsequent modifications with illumination, culminating in Manuel Garcia's description of mirror laryngoscopy in 1854 and its refinement by Türck and Czermak.