Increased expression of tumor necrosis factor-α is associated with advanced colorectal cancer stages.

Aim: To detect the expression of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in colorectal cancer (CRC) cells among Saudi patients, and correlate its expression with clinical stages of cancer.

Methods: Archival tissue specimens were collected from 30 patients with CRC who had undergone surgical intervention at King Khalid University Hospital. Patient demographic information, including age and gender, tumor sites, and histological type of CRC, was recorded.

Vanishing bile duct syndrome in a Hodgkin's lymphoma patient with fatal outcome despite lymphoma remission.

Vanishing bile duct syndrome (VBDS) is a condition resulting from severe bile duct injury, progressive destruction, and disappearance of intrahepatic bile ducts (ductopenia) leading to cholestasis, biliary cirrhosis, and liver failure. VBDS can be associated with a variety of disorders, including Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL). We describe a 33-year-old male patient who presented with lymphadenopathy and jaundice, and was diagnosed to have HL.

Monopolar electrosurgery through single-port laparoscopy: a potential hidden hazard for bowel burns.

Background: Surveys indicate that up to 90% of general surgeons and gynecologists use monopolar radiofrequency during laparoscopy and 18% have experienced visceral burns. Monopolar electrosurgery compared with other energy sources is associated with unique characteristics and inherent risks and complications caused by inadvertent direct or capacitive coupling or insulation failure of instruments. These dangers become particularly important with the reemergence of single-port laparoscopy, which requires close proximity and crossing of multiple intraabdominal instruments outside the surgeon's field of view.

Prevalence and impact of hepatic steatosis on the response to antiviral therapy in Saudi patients with genotypes 1 and 4 chronic hepatitis C.

Background: Hepatic steatosis in hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected patients has been shown to enhance the progression of liver fibrosis and decrease the response to antiviral therapy.

Aims: We aimed to determine the role of HCV genotype 4 (HCV-G4) in the prevalence of hepatic steatosis, its impact on antiviral therapy, and its associations and predictive factors in comparison to HCV-G1-infected patients.

Methods: Treatment-naïve HCV patients who were started on pegylated interferon a-2b plus ribavirin therapy in two centers in Saudi Arabia were included.

Clinicopathologic profile of Becker's melanosis with atypical features.

Becker's melanosis (BM) is an uncommon cutaneous hamartoma. The classical descriptionof the lesion is of a macular, pigmented patch found on the upper trunk, with onset at or around adolescence. The aim of this study is to describe the clinicopathologic features of cases of BM which do not fit this typical description.