Saudi Med J
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To determine the anthropometric features of Saudi knees compared with knees of other ethnicities and reveal mismatches among different knee implant systems. ⋯ The Saudi population has morphological features of knee bone anatomy that do not match with the widely available prostheses designed for Caucasian knees. As several studies of different ethnicities have documented considerable prosthesis mismatch; our study further indicates the need for new implant designs that take these variations into account.
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To determine the factors associated with the development of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), hospital stay and mortality, and early versus late MRSA infection. ⋯ Admission with sepsis (case: 46% vs. control: 2%, p less than 0.001) and having at least one comorbid condition (case: 95% vs. control: 46%, p less than 0.001) were significantly associated with the development of MRSA. Age (mean ±SD: case: 65±18, control: 64±18, p=0.7) and gender (% male, case: 52%, control: 56%, p=0.70) were not associated with the development of MRSA. Approximately 73% of all MRSA cases developed within the first 2 weeks of admission. Among the early cases, 44% died during their ICU stay; the corresponding percentage among the late cases was 42% (p=0.69). There was no difference between early and late MRSA cases in terms of non-sepsis admissions (50% vs. 67%, p=0.32) or comorbid status (at least one: 97% vs. 92%, p=0.17). Conclusion: Sepsis and comorbid conditions were significant risk factors for MRSA development among hospital patients.
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To determine the association between comorbidities and the severity of the disease among COVID-19 patients. ⋯ Comorbidities among COVID-19 patients may contribute to increasing their susceptibility to severe illness. The identification of these potential risk factors could help reduce mortality by identifying patients with poor prognosis at an early stage.
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Diagnostic processes typically rely on traditional and laborious methods, that are prone to human error, resulting in frequent misdiagnosis of diseases. Computational approaches are being increasingly used for more precise diagnosis of the clinical pathology, diagnosis of genetic and microbial diseases, and analysis of clinical chemistry data. These approaches are progressively used for improving the reliability of testing, resulting in reduced diagnostic errors. ⋯ However, the use of AI is associated with several ethical issues, including patient privacy and data ownership. The capacity of AI-based mathematical models to interpret complex clinical data frequently leads to data bias and reporting of erroneous results based on patient data. In order to improve the reliability of computational approaches in clinical diagnostics, strategies to reduce data bias and analyzing real-life patient data need to be further refined.
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Comparative Study
Effects of the Coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic on routine pediatric immunization coverage rates at the main University Hospital in Saudi Arabia.
To investigate whether the coronavirus disease-2019 pandemic has had any effects on pediatric vaccination rates at the main university hospital in Saudi Arabia. ⋯ The huge impact of the coronavirus disease-2019 pandemic on childhood vaccinations will require urgent vaccination recovery plans with innovative approaches and future action plans to maintain vaccination coverage during any subsequent pandemics.