Clinical, Radiological Features and Treatment Outcomes of Tuberculosis in Patients Aged 75 Years and Older.

Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB) is a significant contributor to morbidity and mortality. With a progressively aging population, TB is increasingly encountered in older adults. Understanding the clinical presentation and optimal treatment strategies for TB in this population is essential.

Association and correlation of patient symptom perception and asthma control - a rapid literature review.

Background: Several studies suggest that patients often under-estimate their asthma symptoms and over-estimate their level of asthma control, potentially putting them at risk of undertreatment with inhaled corticosteroids.

Objective: To determine the association and correlation between patient symptom perception and asthma control.

Methods: A rapid literature review comprising searches in MEDLINE, Embase and Cochrane Library identified English language articles published between 2011-2021 that included a statistical measure of the association or correlation between perceptions of symptoms and asthma control in patients with asthma (adults and/or children).

Disseminated tuberculosis: Clinical presentation, diagnosis, and outcomes in a tertiary-care hospital in Saudi Arabia.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is the primary infectious cause of mortality worldwide. Although TB incidence and prevalence are declining, the use of immunosuppressive drugs and the growing prevalence of immunocompromising conditions such as comorbidities, malignancies, and the use of immunosuppressive agents are risk factors for disseminated TB (DTB). This study aims to identify the relevant clinical, laboratory, radiological, and histopathological features of DTB, as well as to assess the typical anatomical distributions and treatment outcomes of patients diagnosed with the disease at King Abdulaziz Medical City (KAMC).

Role of Multidisciplinary Team Meetings in the Diagnosis and Management of Diffuse Parenchymal Lung Diseases in a Tertiary Care Hospital.

 Decisions on the management of interstitial lung diseases (ILD) and prognostication require an accurate diagnosis. It has been proposed that multidisciplinary team (MDT) meetings for ILD (ILD-MDT) improve these decisions in challenging cases of ILD. However, most studies in this field have been based on the decisions of individual clinicians and there are few reports on the outcomes of the ILD-MDT approach.

The most common pulmonary diseases length of stay, and characteristics of patients admitted to pulmonary service.

Background: Although chronic respiratory diseases are prevalent in Saudi Arabia, there are limited data on the patient burden and associated factors. The aim of this study is to identify the chronic respiratory diseases frequently admitted to pulmonary services and to determine the patient's characteristics, associated comorbidities readmission rate, and reason for a more extended stay in hospital.

Methods: A prospective study was conducted over a 5-year period at King Abdulaziz Medical City-Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in the Pulmonary Division, between March 2015 and December 2019.

A survival analysis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in the context of antifibrotic therapy in Saudi Arabia.

Background: The prognosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) can be predicted by the gender, age, and physiology (GAP) index. However, antifibrotic therapy (i.e.

The consequences of sleep deprivation on cognitive performance.

Although not fully understood, sleep is accepted as a vital and organized sequence of events that follows a regular cyclic program each night to ensure the human body can perform at its optimum. A lack of sleep, or sleep deprivation (SD), is a widespread phenomenon that can induce adverse changes in cognitive performance. This review focused on the biological explanation as well as the research investigating the numerous effects that SD can have on cognition.

Nintedanib and pirfenidone for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh: Real-life data.

Background: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic progressive age-related lung disease causing relentless fibrosis of the lung parenchyma. Currently, pirfenidone and nintedanib are the two antifibrotic drugs, approved for the treatment of IPF. Both are shown to slow progression by preserving lung functions from rapid decline compared to a placebo.

Overprescription of short-acting β -agonists among patients with asthma in Saudi Arabia: Results from the SABINA III cohort study.

Despite near-universal health care and timely updates to treatment guidelines in Saudi Arabia, asthma control remains suboptimal, warranting deeper exploration of its management practices. This study describes asthma characteristics and prescription patterns of short-acting β -agonists (SABAs) in the Saudi Arabia cohort of the SABA use IN Asthma (SABINA) III study. Patients with asthma (aged ≥12 years) from seven sites across Saudi Arabia participated in this cross-sectional study.

Comorbidities in Clinical and Polysomnographic Features of Obstructive Sleep Apnea: A Single Tertiary Care Center Experience.

Background: Research on obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is inadequate in Saudi Arabia, particularly among patients with comorbidities. This study investigates comorbidities in patients with different severity of apnea based on the Apnea-Hypopnea Index (AHI).

Methods: The retrospective charts review that included a cohort of 4391 patients who underwent polysomnography (PSG) between 2003 and 2019.

Curriculum development for the Saudi sleep medicine fellowship program.

Objectives: Given the rapid global development of sleep medicine, well-qualified sleep medicine physicians are necessary to meet the demand. Although sleep medicine was accredited as an independent specialty in KSA in 2012, national data suggest that the number of trained and accredited sleep medicine specialists remains comparatively low. A structured sleep medicine fellowship programme was established in KSA in 2009.

Overprescription of short-acting β-agonists is associated with poor asthma symptom control: results from five Middle Eastern countries included in the SABINA International (III) study.

Background: Although short-acting β-agonist (SABA) overuse is associated with poor treatment outcomes, data on SABA use in the Middle East are lacking.

Research Design And Methods: In this cross-sectional study in patients (aged ≥12 years) with asthma, data on disease characteristics and asthma treatments were collected from the Middle Eastern cohort of the SABA use IN Asthma (SABINA) III study. Patients were classified by investigator-defined asthma severity and practice type.

Prevalence of eosinophilic, atopic, and overlap phenotypes among patients with severe asthma in Saudi Arabia: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Eosinophilia is a significant factor in asthma severity; however, the prevalence of severe eosinophilic asthma in Saudi Arabia is largely unknown. We aimed to determine the prevalence of the eosinophilic (defined in this study as ≥ 300 cells/mm in blood), atopic (atopic phenotype 1, defined in this study as > 100 IU/mL total serum IgE; atopic phenotype 2, defined in this study as > 150 IU/mL), and overlap phenotypes among patients with severe asthma in Saudi Arabia.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in centers specialized in severe asthma management.

Prevalence of Insomnia Among Patients with Bronchial Asthma.

Background: Insomnia is commonly reported in patients with asthma. However, the prevalence of insomnia and its relationship to asthma control have not been established.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of insomnia in adults with asthma and to evaluate the association between insomnia and level of asthma control.

Prevalence of asthma symptoms and associated risk factors among adults in Saudi Arabia: A national survey from Global Asthma Network Phase Ⅰ.

Purpose: Estimating the prevalence and severity of asthma symptoms with standardized methods of population-based surveys is a critical step in reducing asthma burden. However, no sufficient surveys have been conducted in most countries of the Middle East especially at the national level. In this survey, we applied sound measures to estimate the prevalence and severity of asthma symptoms and related risk factors in adults in Saudi Arabia.

The diagnostic yield and safety of sputum induction in suspected pulmonary tuberculosis: The experience of a single tertiary care center in Saudi Arabia.

Background: Sputum smear microscopy examination and culture for tuberculosis (TB) remain a fundamental tool of diagnosis but may be negative up to 50% case of active pulmonary TB. Bronchoscopy to obtain sputum is invasive and not readily available. Alternative methods of obtaining sputum specimens are crucial in suspected pulmonary TB cases who are unable to expectorate.

The effects of the COVID-19 lockdown on severe asthma in patients taking biologic therapy and air pollution in Riyadh.

Background: The curfews and lockdowns imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic may decreased the volume of traffic and reduced air pollution. In addition, social distancing measures may contribute to reducing infection and asthma exacerbation.

Objective: The objective of this study was to assess asthma control and asthma medication use among severe asthmatics on biologics before and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Severe Asthma Patients Experience and Satisfaction with Virtual Clinics during COVID-19 Period.

Enforced social distancing (i.e., lockdowns) greatly facilitated control of coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19).

Do ward rounds offer effective teaching and training? Obstacles to learning and what makes good teaching in a large tertiary care hospital from trainee doctor's perspective.

Ward rounds (WR) have been integral to the process of teaching and learning medicine and also provides a vital opportunity to communicate with the patient, their relatives, and other healthcare professionals. Yet in recent years trainees' perception of the educational value of WRs seems to have declined. The aim of this study to assess trainees' perception of the educational value of WRs at King Abdulaziz Medical City(KAMC), Riyadh, a 1500 bed academic hospital in Saudi Arabia.

Managing critical care during COVID-19 pandemic: The experience of an ICU of a tertiary care hospital.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has strained ICUs worldwide. To learn from our experience, we described the critical care response to the outbreak.

Methods: This is a case study of the response of the Intensive Care Department (75-bed capacity) at a tertiary-care hospital to COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in a high number of critically ill patients.

Criteria and definitions for the radiological and clinical diagnosis of bronchiectasis in adults for use in clinical trials: international consensus recommendations.

Bronchiectasis refers to both a clinical disease and a radiological appearance that has multiple causes and can be associated with a range of conditions. Disease heterogeneity and the absence of standardised definitions have hampered clinical trials of treatments for bronchiectasis and are important challenges in clinical practice. In view of the need for new therapies for non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis to reduce the disease burden, we established an international taskforce of experts to develop recommendations and definitions for clinically significant bronchiectasis in adults to facilitate the standardisation of terminology for clinical trials.

Pulmonary vasculitis in Hughes-Stovin syndrome (HSS): a reference atlas and computed tomography pulmonary angiography guide-a report by the HSS International Study Group.

Introduction: Hughes-Stovin syndrome (HSS) is a systemic vasculitis characterized by widespread venous/arterial thrombosis and pulmonary artery aneurysms (PAAs), which is associated with serious morbidity and mortality. All fatalities reported in HSS resulted from unpredictable fatal suffocating hemoptysis. Therefore, it is necessary to recognize pulmonary complications at an early stage of the disease.

Prognostic utility of various multidimensional grading scales among Saudi patients with bronchiectasis.

Introduction: A number of multidimensional scoring systems, including the Bronchiectasis Severity Index (BSI), the FACED score, and the Exacerbation-FACED (Exa-FACED, a derivative of FACED), have been proposed and validated to assess the severity and prognosis in patients with bronchiectasis. Although these metrics have been validated through large multicenter efforts in Europe and Latin America, there have been no attempts at external validation in other populations.

Ojectives: The aim of this study was to validate specific multidimensional grading scales (BSI, FACED, and Exa-FACED) in predicting mortality, future exacerbations, and hospitalizations among Saudi patients with bronchiectasis.

Sleep quality and insomnia during the COVID-19 lockdown among the Saudi public: A cross-sectional study.

Objectives: To measure the Saudi population's sleep quality during the lockdown of COVID-19.

Methods: An internet-based questionnaire that was performed during the lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic among the Saudi population over 2 weeks from April 1 to April 15, 2020. We used the instant messaging application WhatsApp and Twitter to reach the targeted population.