Can saline be an alternative to aesthetic surgery in extended breast quadrantectomy?

Objective: To explore other simpler options sparing the patients the morbidity and cost in extended breast quadrantectomy.

Methods: This prospective study was undertaken at King Fahd Hospital of the University, Al-Khobar, Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia between 1999-2005. Factors considered for patients undergoing breast-conserving surgery were based on age, tumor size, pathological characteristics, and patient's preference.

Bilateral paravertebral block in advanced schistosomal liver disease: a prospective study.

Background: Surgery in patients with schistosomal liver disease is usually associated with high risks of morbidity and mortality. Bilateral paravertebral block (BPVB) has been advocated as a useful technique for ventral abdominal hernias' repairs.

Aim Of The Study: To compare the efficacy of BPVB with general anesthesia (GA) for anterior abdominal wall hernias in advanced schistosomal liver disease patients.

Thyroid tuberculosis mimicking carcinoma: report of two cases.

Among 527 patients with thyroid disease who underwent surgery at our hospital during a 20-year period, 2 (0.4%) had tuberculous thyroiditis mimicking carcinoma. The first patient was a 44-year-old man with a solitary thyroid nodule and the second was a 24-year old man with a thyroid abscess.

BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations in breast cancer patients from Saudi Arabia.

Objective: The aim of this pilot study was to screen the major segments of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes for disease-associated mutations in Arab and Asian women with breast cancer from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Methods: Deoxyribonucleic acid samples from 29 Arab women and 11 Asian women, with unilateral breast cancer were investigated for BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations. For this purpose single strand conformation polymorphism and direct nucleotide sequencing techniques were employed.