The rising incidence of type 1 diabetes mellitus and the role of environmental factors--three decade experience in a primary care health center in Saudi Arabia.

Background: The incidence of type 1 diabetes has been increasing all over the world including Saudi Arabia and environmental factors have been suggested to play an important role in its etiology.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate if there are any contributory roles of various environmental factors in the rising incidence of type 1 diabetes in children in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective study of Saudi Arab subjects (n = 119) diagnosed between 1980 and 2009 with type 1 diabetes and these subjects were classified to six groups on the basis of the onset of diabetes.

Clinical spectrum of Bardet-Biedl syndrome among four Saudi Arabian families.

Bardet-Biedl syndrome is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by rod-cone dystrophy, postaxial polydactyly, obesity, hypogenitalism, mental retardation, and renal dysfunction. It has both interfamilial and intrafamilial clinical variation. We have studied the clinical spectrum of 11 Saudi Arabian patients from four consanguineous families.

Hydrometrocolpos and acute renal failure: a rare neonatal presentation of Bardet-Biedl syndrome.

The presence of hydrometrocolpos and postaxial polydactyly in a neonate can be caused by two genetic conditions; namely, McKusick-Kaufman syndrome and Bardet-Biedl syndrome. There are no distinct clinical features that allow discrimination between the two syndromes, as the cardinal features of rod-cone dystrophy, obesity, learning disability and renal dysfunction in Bardet-Biedl syndrome are age dependent. McKusick-Kaufman syndrome is characterized by vaginal atresia with hydrometrocolpos, postaxial polydactyly and congenital heart defect.

Persistent hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia of infancy (PHHI): Long-term outcome following 95% pancreatectomy.

Objective: To evaluate the outcome of neonates and infants with persistent hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia of infancy (PHHI) who had undergone 95% pancreatectomy, with special emphasis on development of diabetes mellitus (DM).

Methods: Ten infants diagnosed according to the established criteria of PHHI, and who had undergone 95% pancreatectomy, were followed for a period ranging from 1-20 years (mean 13(4/12) years). A retrospective analysis of their data was carried out with special emphasis on growth and development, glycemic control, neurological status and school performance.