Saudi Med J
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To evaluate the quality of an anticoagulation clinic in a tertiary hospital and identified factors affecting the time in the therapeutic range (TTR) and its relation to different complications. Methods: This single-center retrospective study conducted between March 2015 and June 2016 included 1914 patients receiving warfarin therapy. They were divided into 4 warfarin indication groups: non-valvular atrial fibrillation (AF) (n=403), valvular AF (n=227), prosthetic valves (n=700), and venous or pulmonary embolism (n=584). ⋯ Reflecting the real-life experience of anticoagulation control, our patients spend less than half the TTR within the INR. The low target TTR mandates the need to improve service quality and control factors affecting the TTR, including hemoglobin levels and regular visits for patients with VTE.
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To describe the patterns of cervical spine injuries in an adult population in a major trauma center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Methods: A retrospective cohort study including all adults with cervical spine injuries from 2014 to 2018 was conducted. All patient data with radiological evidence of injury involving the cervical spine were collected. Results: The final sample size realized as 257 patients. Majority of the sample (85.6%) were male and the age ranged from 14-90 years (mean of 36.6 years±18.5 SD). Motor vehicle accidents were the most frequent mechanism of injury (92.6%, n=238). Single level of injury of the cervical spine was encountered in 52.9% (n=136) and 2 or more levels of injury were encountered in 47.1% (n=122) of patients. In total, 442 cervical spine injury levels were identified. At these levels, 559 fractures were observable radiologically. Associated head injury was present in 125 patients (48.6%). Only a small proportion (22.2%, n=57) had neurological sequelae. ⋯ It reflects the impact of this injury on younger male patient population.
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To evaluate the accuracy and e cacy of ne-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) in diagnosing thyroid nodules, correlating it with the histopathological findings. ⋯ The findings for FNAC from our data set of 314 patients showed a sensitivity value of 79.8%, specificity of 82.1%, accuracy of 74.8%, positive predictive value of 74.8%, and negative predictive value of 85.9%. Conclusion: Our study showed that FNAC has high sensitivity and speci city in the initial evaluation of patients with thyroid nodules. When guided by ultrasonography, the accuracy can be markedly improved. Molecular markers once widely available can improve the diagnostic power of FNAC to be no less than the histopathologic evaluation of thyroid tissue.
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To validate and assess the reliability of the new version of an Arabic speech intelligibility rating among di erent raters. ⋯ The Arabic SIR demonstrated excellent reliability with strong consistency. It showed its clinical ability in distinguishing healthy subjects from patients along with follow up of speech development skills over time. The Arabic SIR can be used by parents to evaluate post-CI progress of their children.
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[No Abstract Available].