Publications by authors named "Alsawas M"
Article Synopsis
- Poromas are benign skin tumors originating from sweat glands, often appearing as pink or red bumps primarily on hairless areas like palms and soles.
- A 70-year-old woman had a poroma on her abdomen that showed some histological features similar to another neoplasm, syringocystadenoma papilliferum (SCAP), but lacked certain defining characteristics of SCAP.
- This case, showing rare SCAP-like features within a poroma, emphasizes the need for careful diagnosis as it may simply reflect a variation of poromas, rather than representing two different tumors.
Glioblastoma, IDH-wild type, the most common malignant primary central nervous system tumor, represents a formidable challenge in clinical management due to its poor prognosis and limited therapeutic responses. With an evolving understanding of its underlying biology, there is an urgent need to identify prognostic molecular groups that can be subject to targeted therapy. This study established a cohort of 124 sequential glioblastomas from a tertiary hospital and aimed to find correlations between molecular features and survival outcomes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Red blood cell exchange is often used prophylactically in patients with sickle cell disease, with the goal to maintain hemoglobin S (HbS) below a target threshold level. We reviewed whether the daily "rate of rise" (RoR) in HbS that occurs between procedures can be used for patient management. For some patients not achieving their HbS goals despite efficient exchanges, the post-procedure hematocrit (Hct) target is increased to potentially suppress HbS production.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Aims: Transient elastography (TE), shear wave elastography, and/or magnetic resonance elastography (MRE), each providing liver stiffness measurement (LSM), are the most studied imaging-based noninvasive liver disease assessment (NILDA) techniques. To support the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases guidelines on NILDA, we summarized the evidence on the accuracy of these LSM methods to stage liver fibrosis (F).
Approach And Results: A comprehensive search for studies assessing LSM by TE, shear wave elastography, or MRE for the identification of significant fibrosis (F2-4), advanced fibrosis (F3-4), or cirrhosis (F4), using histopathology as the standard of reference by liver disease etiology in adults or children from inception to April 2022 was performed.
Background And Aims: Blood-based biomarkers have been proposed as an alternative to liver biopsy for noninvasive liver disease assessment in chronic liver disease. Our aims for this systematic review were to evaluate the diagnostic utility of selected blood-based tests either alone, or in combination, for identifying significant fibrosis (F2-4), advanced fibrosis (F3-4), and cirrhosis (F4), as compared to biopsy in chronic liver disease.
Approach And Results: We included a comprehensive search of databases including Ovid MEDLINE(R), EMBASE, Cochrane Database, and Scopus through to April 2022.
Background And Aims: Portal hypertension is a serious complication of cirrhosis, which leads to life-threatening complications. HVPG, a surrogate of portal pressure, is the reference standard test to assess the severity of portal hypertension. However, since HVPG is limited by its invasiveness and availability, noninvasive liver disease assessments to assess portal pressure, especially clinically significant portal hypertension (CSPH), are needed.
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- IgG4-related disease (IgG4-RD) is a recently identified condition affecting multiple systems, and IgG4-related skin disease (IgG4-RSD) can present with various skin symptoms that resemble other conditions.
- This study evaluated the specificity of diagnostic criteria for IgG4-RSD by examining 69 cases of conditions that can mimic IgG4-RSD, looking specifically at histopathologic and immunohistochemical features.
- Results showed that while there were many cases with lymphoplasmacytic infiltrates, few met the specific thresholds for IgG4-RSD, suggesting that the criteria may not be very specific when distinguishing between IgG4-RSD
Acting on the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE-Is) and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) are mechanisms of some of the most prescribed medications in the world. In addition to their routine use for the treatment of hypertension, such agents have gained attention for their influence on the angiotensin receptor pathway in fibrotic skin disorders, including scars and keloids. To evaluate the current level of evidence supporting the use of these agents, a systematic review related to ACE-Is/ARBs and cutaneous scarring was conducted.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Dermatofibromas are common skin tumors that typically occur on the extremities and trunk and demonstrate benign behavior, frequent recurrences, and very rare metastasis. Facial dermatofibromas are rare and not well studied . We analyzed clinicopathologic features of facial dermatofibromas.
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- - The study systematically reviewed and performed a meta-analysis on the effectiveness of mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) for managing ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV), specifically focusing on its role in remission induction and maintenance.
- - Out of 565 articles, 10 trials were included, indicating no significant differences in remission induction across various patient subgroups, with the overall success rate for remission maintenance ranging from 51% to 91%.
- - The results suggested that MMF use led to significantly higher remission rates in patients with kidney involvement, potentially impacting clinical practice regarding AAV treatment strategies.
Remote simulation training provides a unique opportunity to captivate providers despite language, distance, and cultural barriers. Previously we developed a novel electronic decision support and rounding tool, the Checklist for Early Recognition and Treatment of Acute Illness in Pediatrics (CERTAINp). This study was conducted to determine the feasibility and impact of remote simulation training of international PICU providers using CERTAINp.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLifestyle interventions are pivotal for successful management of type 2 diabetes (T2D), however, the proportion of people with T2D adhering to physical activity advice has not been thoroughly studied. The purpose of this systematic review was to summarise the evidence on adherence to exercise or physical activity components in lifestyle interventions in those with T2D. We searched MEDLINE EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and Scopus on 12 November 2019.
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- - The study aimed to identify risk factors leading to unplanned readmissions to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) within 48 hours of discharge, highlighting it as a quality metric in critical care.
- - Out of 11 observational studies involving 128,974 children, it was found that complex chronic diseases and significant disabilities were the strongest predictors of early readmission, with other notable factors being unplanned admissions and seasonality.
- - The findings suggest that many identified risk factors are not changeable, raising concerns about the effectiveness of using early unplanned readmissions as a quality measure in pediatric critical care.
Article Synopsis
- The study looked at how different treatments affect patients with glioblastoma (a type of brain cancer) based on whether their tumors have certain characteristics.
- It found that patients with unmethylated glioblastoma who received a treatment called RT/TMZ lived for about 14 months, while those with methylated tumors lived for about 25 months with the same treatment.
- The study suggests that more research is needed to decide if the drug TMZ should be used in unmethylated glioblastoma patients who aren't in clinical trials.
Introduction: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is widely prevalent, associated with morbidity and mortality, but may be lessened with timely implementation of evidence-based strategies including blood pressure (BP) control. Nonetheless, an evidence-practice gap persists. We synthesize the evidence for clinician-facing interventions to improve hypertension management in CKD patients in primary care.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Lymphocytic duodenosis (LD) defined as increased intraepithelial lymphocytes >25 intraepithelial lymphocytes (IELs) per 100 epithelial cells with normal villous architecture is associated with many gastrointestinal (GI) disorders. We aim to assess the rate and outcome of LD in children and perform a systematic review.
Method: We reviewed all children (<18 years) who underwent esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) with duodenal biopsy between January 2000 and June 2019 to identify LD cases and control group.