Knowledge of blood transfusion practices among medical students and residents.

A study was conducted to assess and compare the knowledge of blood transfusion practices among medical students and residents in Lebanese and Saudi medical institutions. The online survey consisted of 26 questions: 4 about personal data and experience with transfusion and 22 about knowledge on transfusion practices in the areas of blood donation and donor selection, production and storage of blood components, selection of appropriate blood components, administration of blood components, transfusion reactions, and complications. One hundred and twenty-six students from Saudi Arabia, 84 students from Lebanon, 31 residents from Saudi Arabia, and 23 residents from Lebanon participated in the survey.

Management of massive haemorrhage in transfusion medicine services in the Middle East and North Africa.

Background And Objectives: Massive transfusion protocols (MTPs) are critical in managing haemorrhage, yet their utilization varies. There is lack of data on the utilization of MTPs in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. This study aims to assess the degree of utilization of MTPs in the region.

Verification of 2021 IDF-DAR risk assessment tool for fasting Ramadan in patients with diabetes attending primary health care in The Kingdom of Bahrain: The DAR-BAH study.

Background: There is a high prevalence of diabetes mellitus among Muslim adult patients. Those Muslims are required to fast the holy month of Ramadan. However, the Islam religion exempted some people with medical issues.

Meningoencephalitis in a novel mutation in MNGIE (mitochondrial neurogastrointestinal encephalomyopathy) ending a familial diagnostic odyssey: A case series report.

MNGIE (Mitochondrial Neurogastrointestinal Encephalomyopathy) is an ultra-rare autosomal recessive disorder that leads to mutations in the nuclear genes encoding thymidine phosphorylase. Symptoms include gastrointestinal dysmotility, cachexia, ptosis, external ophthalmoplegia, sensorimotor neuropathy and asymptomatic leukoencephalopathy. We describe the first case of MNGIE with meningoencephalitis that ultimately led to a familial diagnosis ending a diagnostic odyssey.

Things are not what they seem neurologically and radiologically: An apt descriptor for spinal dural arteriovenous fistula (SDAVF).

Spinal dural arteriovenous fistulas (SDAVF) are the most common vascular malformations affecting the spinal cord. It is infrequently encountered in clinical practice and is believed to be acquired, predominantly affecting middle-aged and elderly men with unknown etiology. It is usually misdiagnosed despite presenting with conventional clinical findings and radiological features.

Assessment of Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice Towards Migraine Among the General Population in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Objective:  The primary objective of this research is to assess the general population's knowledge, attitude, and practice towards migraine.

Method:  A cross-sectional study was conducted on a total sample of 255 participants. The data were obtained from a self-administered electronic questionnaire (Appendix) distributed through social media.

Stroke services in the Middle East and adjacent region: A survey of 34 hospital-based stroke services.

Background: Acute stroke care is complex and requires multidisciplinary networking. There are insufficient data on stroke care in the Middle East and adjacent regions in Asia and Africa.

Objective: Evaluate the state of readiness of stroke programs in the Middle East North Africa and surrounding regions (MENA+) to treat acute stroke.

Seroprevalence of COVID-19 infection in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: a population-based cross-sectional study.

Background: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) was the first country in the Middle East to report severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Serosurveys are essential to understanding the extent of virus transmission. This cross-sectional study aims to assess the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.

Early and late effects of therapeutic plasma exchange in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis: A single-center experience.

Therapeutic plasma exchanges (TPE) is considered as one of the treatment modalities that is used in systemic autoimmune diseases. This study aimed to describe the early and late effect of TPE in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis (AAV) presented with acute kidney injury (AKI). Retrospective study comprised patients with SLE and AAV with AKI seen between January 2000 and June 2014 at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center in Riyadh.

Waiting for a miracle or best medical practice? End-of-life medical ethical dilemmas in Bahrain.

Background And Objectives: In Bahrain, maintaining life support at all costs is a cultural value considered to be embedded in the Islamic religion. We explore end-of-life decision making for brain dead patients in an Arab country where medical cultures are dominated by Western ideas and the lay culture is Eastern.

Methods: In-depth interviews were conducted from February to April 2018 with 12 Western-educated Bahraini doctors whose medical practice often included end-of-life decision making.

Methylation of BRCA1 and MGMT genes in white blood cells are transmitted from mothers to daughters.

Background: Constitutive methylation of tumor suppressor genes are associated with increased cancer risk. However, to date, the question of epimutational transmission of these genes remains unresolved. Here, we studied the potential transmission of BRCA1 and MGMT promoter methylations in mother-newborn pairs.

Airplane stroke syndrome.

Only 37 cases of stroke during or soon after long-haul flights have been published to our knowledge. In this retrospective observational study, we searched the Royal Melbourne Hospital prospective stroke database and all discharge summaries from 1 September 2003 to 30 September 2014 for flight-related strokes, defined as patients presenting with stroke within 14days of air travel. We hypothesised that a patent foramen ovale (PFO) is an important, but not the only mechanism, of flight-related stroke.

Stroke in Bahrain: rising incidence, multiple risk factors, and suboptimal care.

The incidence of stroke in Bahrain is rising in the Bahraini population and has nearly doubled over the last 16 years, while the incidence in the non-Bahraini population has not changed. Incidence of stroke in the Bahraini population (110/100,000) is now much greater than in the non-Bahraini population (27/100,000). The Bahraini stroke population is 10 years younger than Western comparators with a much higher prevalence of many of the risk factors for stroke, including diabetes (54%), hypertension (75%) and hyperlipidemia (34%).

Differential marker expression by cultures rich in mesenchymal stem cells.

Background: Mesenchymal stem cells have properties that make them amenable to therapeutic use. However, the acceptance of mesenchymal stem cells in clinical practice requires standardized techniques for their specific isolation. To date, there are no conclusive marker (s) for the exclusive isolation of mesenchymal stem cells.

Outcome of desensitization in human leukocyte antigen- and ABO-incompatible living donor kidney transplantation: a single-center experience in more than 100 patients.

Background: Antibody-mediated rejection (AMR) and inferior graft outcome remain the 2 most important obstacles to successful kidney transplantation in human leukocyte antigen (HLA)- and ABO-incompatible recipients. We report a single-center experience in the outcome of desensitized living donor HLA- and ABO-incompatible kidney transplantation.

Methods: Since 2007 we included 2 groups in our desensitization program.

Single nucleotide polymorphisms in CXCR1 gene and its association with hepatitis B infected patients in Saudi Arabia.

Background/aim: This study aims to investigate whether the SNPs of CXCR1 gene, could predict the likelihood of viral persistence and/or disease progression.

Material And Methods: We investigated the association of two different SNPs (rs2234671, and rs142978743) in 598 normal healthy controls and 662 HBV patients from a Saudi ethnic population. The HBV patients were categorized into inactive carriers (n = 428), active carriers (n = 162), cirrhosis (n = 54) and Cirrhosis-HCC (n = 18) sub-groups.

Toll-like receptor 3 polymorphism and its association with hepatitis B virus infection in Saudi Arabian patients.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is the major causative agent of chronic liver complications including cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Individuals infected with HBV show a wide spectrum of disease manifestations ranging from asymptomatic carriers to HCC. TLR3 is part of the innate immune system that recognizes double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) and provides early immune response to exogenous antigens.

RANTES gene polymorphisms (-403G>A and -28C>G) associated with hepatitis B virus infection in a Saudi population.

Besides the host immune response, genetic and environmental factors play crucial roles in the manifestation of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. "Regulated on activation normal T-cell expressed and secreted" factor (RANTES) plays a vital role in CD4(+), CD8(+) T-lymphocyte and dendritic cell activation and proliferation in inflammation. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the RANTES gene are associated with several viral and non-viral diseases.

The value and practicality of granulocyte transfusion: a single oncology centre experience.

There is an increased risk of infection in patients with neutropaenia, especially in those with neutrophil counts of less than 0.5 x 10(9)/L, and neutropaenia-associated infection remains a limiting factor in treating malignancy especially of haematopoietic origin. Transfusing donor neutrophils is a logical approach to these problems, but granulocyte transfusion (GTx), a practice first advocated in the 1960s, is underused and although now enjoying resurgence, remains controversial.

Unrelated cord blood transplantation in pediatric patients: a report from Saudi Arabia.

In unrelated cord blood (UCB) transplantation, survival has been shown to correlate with the degree of HLA matching. Thus, to extend transplant access to different ethnic backgrounds, many western UCB transplantation banks now encourage donation from non-Caucasians. Until recently, Saudi Arabia did not have a national UCB bank.

Enhancement of lytic activity of leukemic cells by CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes generated against a WT1 peptide analogue.

The Wilms tumor antigen 1 (WT1) antigen is over-expressed in human leukemias, making it an attractive target for immunotherapy. Most WT1-specific Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes (CTLs) described so far displayed low avidity, limiting its function. To improve the immunogenicity of CTL epitopes, we replaced the first-amino-acid of two known immunogenic WT1-peptides (126 and 187) with a tyrosine.

Factors affecting autologous peripheral blood stem cell collection in patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large cell lymphoma and Hodgkin lymphoma: a single institution result of 168 patients.

From 1996 to April 2006, 174 consecutive patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large cell lymphoma (DLCL) and Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) received ESHAP as salvage and for mobilisation. Males 92, females 76. DLCL 64: HL 104, prior radiation in 35%.