Saudi Med J
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Comparative Study
Implementation of the national asthma management guidelines in the emergency department.
The national protocol for asthma management was released in 1995. There has been no national investigation to compare the actual care delivered at the Emergency Department to those recommended by these guidelines: To compare the documented management of acute bronchial asthma at the Emergency Room (ER) with the Saudi National Guidelines ⋯ The documented treatment of patients with an acute asthmatic episode at the ER varies significantly from what is recommended by the National and International Asthma Management Guidelines. Failure to implement Asthma Guidelines probably results in an inadequate care of asthmatic patients and raises the urgent need for a National Physician Asthma Education Program.
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Decision making in cases of acute appendicitis may be difficult specially for junior surgeons. Radiological investigations do not appear to be helpful. In some studies, the Modified Alvarado Scoring System (MASS) was helpful in minimizing unnecessary appendicectomies. The aim this study was to evaluate the sensitivity of MASS in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis in adults. ⋯ From the results, the MASS is not sufficiently sensitive adopted as a method of diagnosing of acute appendicitis in adults in our environment. Further, requirements may be needed to improve its sensitivity and specificity.
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Comment Letter Comparative Study
Antimicrobial resistance of Gram-negative bacilli from an intensive care unit in Trinidad, West Indies.
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The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between serum concentration of cardiac troponin T (cTnT) and other cardiac markers and ischemic heart disease (IHD) in end stage renal disease (ESRD) patients on chronic hemodialysis (HD). ⋯ Dialysis may alter measured cTnT concentrations in ESRD patients undergoing chronic dialysis. Sporadic or persistently increased cTnT appear to be the most specific of the currently available biochemical markers to predict subclinical myocardial damage in ESRD patients.