Clinical features and prognostic factors of intensive and non-intensive 1014 COVID-19 patients: an experience cohort from Alahsa, Saudi Arabia.

Background: COVID-19 is a worldwide pandemic and has placed significant demand for acute and critical care services on hospitals in many countries.

Objectives: To determine the predictors of severe COVID-19 disease requiring admission to an ICU by comparing patients who were ICU admitted to non-ICU groups.

Methods: A cohort study was conducted for the laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 patients who were admitted to six Saudi Ministry of Health's hospitals in Alahsa, between March 1, 2020, and July 30, 2020, by reviewing patient's medical records retrospectively.

Effect of enteral erythropoietin on feeding-related complications in preterm newborns: A pilot randomized controlled study.

Background And Study Aims: To evaluate the effects of enteral administration of recombinant human erythropoietin (rhEPO) on feeding-related complications in preterm infants.

Patients And Methods: This double-blind, randomized controlled pilot study enrolled 120 preterm infants born ≤ 32 weeks' gestation who were admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit in a tertiary hospital; 60 patients randomly received recombinant human erythropoietin while the other 60 received placebo. Newborns who underwent cardiopulmonary resuscitation, infants with genetic syndromes, infants with inborn errors of metabolism, infants with major congenital or acquired gastrointestinal tract malformations, infants with previous use of parenteral growth factors such as recombinant human erythropoietin and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimuating factor (GM-CSF) and infants previously treated with intravenous immunoglobulin were excluded.