Establishment of an Accelerated Doctor of Family Medicine Program at Unaizah College of Medicine, Qassim University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Primary health care is well known to be the cornerstone for the health of the society. Furthermore, efficient health care at the secondary and tertiary levels is entirely dependent on effective primary health care. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is currently building up a rigorous primary health care system with a large number of well-equipped primary health care centers.

The need for national medical licensing examination in Saudi Arabia.

Background: Medical education in Saudi Arabia is facing multiple challenges, including the rapid increase in the number of medical schools over a short period of time, the influx of foreign medical graduates to work in Saudi Arabia, the award of scholarships to hundreds of students to study medicine in various countries, and the absence of published national guidelines for minimal acceptable competencies of a medical graduate.

Discussion: We are arguing for the need for a Saudi national medical licensing examination that consists of two parts: Part I (Written) which tests the basic science and clinical knowledge and Part II (Objective Structured Clinical Examination) which tests the clinical skills and attitudes. We propose this examination to be mandated as a licensure requirement for practicing medicine in Saudi Arabia.

Information disclosure and decision-making: the Middle East versus the Far East and the West.

Objectives: to assess physicians' and patients' views in Saudi Arabia (KSA) towards involving the patient versus the family in the process of diagnosis disclosure and decision-making, and to compare them with views from the USA and Japan.

Design: A self-completion questionnaire (used previously to study these issues in Japan and the USA) was translated to Arabic and validated.

Participants: Physicians (n = 321) from different specialties and ranks and patients (n = 264) in a hospital or attending outpatient clinics from 6 different regions in KSA.

Therapeutic efficacy of hysterosalpingography with special reference to application of hydrostatic pressure during the procedure.

Background: In the majority of infertile females, cause lies within the fallopian tubes. The causes for tubal obstruction include tuabal endometriosis, chlamydial and tuberculous infections, salpingitis, due to previous tubal approach, previous tubal pregnancy, peritubal adhesions due to previous appendicectomy, ovarian, uterine or adnexal operations. Other less important but easily treatable significant causes include tubal obstruction due to debris, fine adhesions or even unexplained tubal spasm.

Food signs in radiology.

Certain diseases show classic radiological signs that resemble various types of food items like fruits, meat, vegetables, eggs, bakery, grocery and confectionary items. In this article various food signs are discussed and correlated with the various food items in a pictorial way. The objective of this pictorial essay is to provide the information and learn the characteristic radiological signs resembling various food items.

Comparison of an integrated problem-based learning curriculum with the traditional discipline-based curriculum in KSA.

Objective: To compare the integrated problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum of the third year medical students of KSU at the Al-Qaseem campus with the traditional discipline-based teaching curriculum of students of Riyadh campus.

Design: A comparative cross-sectional study.

Place And Duration Of Study: Al-Qaseem and campuses of King Saud University (KSU).

Ultrasound guided fine needle aspiration using 25G needle as a new technique for a wide range of pathological conditions.

Objective: This study is to report on the use of 25 gauge (G) needle in ultrasound (US) guided fine needle aspiration (FNA), as a new technique for a wide range of pathological conditions, and to assess the yield of positive tissue material and the complications compared to those reported in the literature using larger needles.

Methods: One hundred and seventy-two patients presented consecutively at King Saud University Teaching Hospitals, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, during the period 2000 to 2002, with various pathological conditions, underwent US guided FNA using 25G needle. The adequacy of the tissue obtained, and the pathological outcome were tabulated.

Sonographic evaluation of plaque morphology in haemodynamic and non-haemodynamic symptomatic carotid artery stenoses.

A prospective duplex ultrasound and Colour Doppler imaging studies were performed on 52 consecutive patients with 63 carotid arteries (11 patients with bilateral carotid interrogation). The cases were classified into two study groups--non-haemodynamically (< 50%) and haemodynamically (= 50%) significant stenoses in relation to clinical events and carotid plaque echomorphology. Of the 63 carotid arteries that were evaluated, 36 (57.

Cigarette smoking behavior among male secondary school students in the Central region of Saudi Arabia.

Objective: This study was conducted to examine the smoking habits among male secondary school students in Al-Qassim, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and to assess their knowledge and attitudes towards smoking.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Al-Qassim region, KSA during March 2003. Randomly selected was 14 out of 110 government male secondary schools.

Post traumatic high-flow arterial priapism. The need for increased awareness among health care professionals.

High flow arterial priapism is a rare urological emergency. Presentation, diagnosis and institution of definitive management are often delayed. We describe our experience with this diagnostic entity and reviewed the literature to define possible reasons for the delayed diagnosis and management.

Fine needle aspiration of solitary pulmonary lesions.

A 2-year experience using 25G sized needles for transthoracic fine needle aspiration (FNA) for solitary lung lesions under computed tomography (CT) guidance is documented with the main objective of reducing the postoperative complications through the use of a needle smaller than that previously routinely used. This study, in the hospital experience, demonstrated that FNAs became complication-free with the use of a smaller needle; whilst the sensitivity of the procedure was not much compromised. The duration of the hospitalization for the patients was reduced to under 24 h.

Percutaneous obliteration of duodenal fistula.

High output external duodenal fistula is a difficult condition to treat and despite the advances in nutritional care, morbidity and mortality remain high. Although, non surgical methods (e.g.

Fine needle aspiration cytology of mesenchymal hamartoma of the liver. A case report.

Background: Mesenchymal hamartoma (MH) of the liver constitutes the third or fourth most common tumor of the liver in childhood and occurs most commonly in the first two years of life. MHs of the liver are seldom aspirated, and reports on the role of fine needle aspiration (FNA) in the diagnosis of MH are scarce. Clinically, cytologically and even histologically, MH can be mistaken for a number of reactive and neoplastic hepatic lesions that may occur in children under 2 years of age.

Budd-Chiari syndrome: a short radiological review.

A short review of Budd-Chiari syndrome (BCS) is given with detailed radiological findings from ultrasound, computed tomography (CT) and angiography and illustrated with two case reports. The cases had different clinical presentations: one antedated by Behçet's syndrome and complicated with aortic aneurysm, the other with a provisional diagnosis of a tuberculous abdomen. The radiological features of BCS, especially the changing appearance under dual-phase CT, are discussed.

Unnecessary x-rays: Occurrence, disadvantages and side effects.

Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version.

Predictive models for difficult laryngoscopy and intubation. A clinical, radiologic and three-dimensional computer imaging study.

Purpose: To identify the variables most useful in predicting difficult laryngoscopy and intubation from various clinical, skeletal (lateral x-rays) and soft tissue (three-dimensional computed tomography imaging) measurements.

Methods: Twenty-four adult patients in whom an unanticipated difficult tracheal intubation was identified according to established criteria were evaluated. Further, a control group of 32 patients in whom tracheal intubation was easily accomplished was studied.

Unnecessary x-rays: Occurrence, disadvantages and side effects.

Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version.

Radiological diagnosis and management of diverticulitis.

Thirteen (13) patients with proven diverticulitis are presented with the aim of demonstrating the current evaluation and management. Radiological evaluation were obtained with plain abdominal x-rays and computed tomography (CT) in all cases, abdominal ultrasonography (US) in 8 cases and contrast enema in 5 patients. Radiological percutaneous abscess drainage (PAD) were performed in 5 cases, two of which preceded surgery.

Congenital H-type anourethral fistula with severe urethral hypoplasia: case report and review of the literature.

Congenital H-type anourethral fistula with severe urethral hypoplasia and normal anus is an extremely rare variant of anorectal malformations among boys. The authors report a case of a 5-year-old boy who underwent successful management of severe urethral hypoplasia with progressive augmentation by dilating urethra anterior gently and achieving a functionally normal urethra with minimal morbidity. H-type anourethral fistula was excised subsequently through anterior perianal approach.

Moyamoya syndrome with unusual angiographic findings and protein C deficiency: review of the literature.

We describe the findings in a six-year-old female with typical clinical symptoms of Moyamoya phenomena, but with an unusual angiographic appearance. The vertebral artery showed segmented occlusion in the upper cervical region, with reconstitution via collateral circulation through muscular branches. The carotid circulation showed involvement of the external carotid artery (ECA) branches and marked narrowing of the internal carotid arteries (ICA) bilaterally, suggesting that this disease is systemic in nature.

Central vein stenosis in patients with prior subclavian vein catheterization for maintenance dialysis.

We evaluated the prevalence of central vein stenosis in patients with prior central vein catheterization for vascular access for hemodialysis. A total of 36 patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) who were referred to the division of vascular surgery at King Khalid University Hospital in Riyadh were evaluated. Bilateral ascending venogram was performed in all cases.