Assessment of Learning Curve in Phacoemulsification Surgery Among the Eastern Province Ophthalmology Program Residents.

Purpose: To assess residents' performance of phacoemulsification surgery and determine which steps of the procedure are most difficult to learn, and to measure rate of intraoperative complications.

Design: This was a prospective observational study.

Methods: Phacoemulsification surgery was divided into steps and each step was given a proficiency grade by the attending consultant.

Genetic background of psoriasis.

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory dermatosis that contributes to approximately 1-5% of all skin disorders in Saudi Arabia. The genetic basis of psoriasis is supported by family based investigations; population based epidemiological studies, association studies with human leucocyte antigens (HLAs), genome-wide linkage scans, and candidate gene studies within and outside the major histocompatibility complex. Psoriasis represents a complex disease at the cellular, genomic and genetic levels, with infiltration of many types of leukocytes into the skin, altered growth and differentiation of skin-resident cells, and altered expression of more than 1,300 genes in psoriatic lesions.