Right and left ventricular function and pulmonary artery pressure in patients with bronchiectasis.

Background: Bronchiectasis may have deleterious effects on cardiac function secondary to pulmonary hypertension (PH). This study was designed to assess cardiac function and determine the prevalence of PH in patients with cystic and cylindrical bronchiectasis.

Methods: A cross-sectional study of patients with bronchiectasis diagnosed by CT scan was conducted at King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia between December 2005 and January 2007.

Validation of three noninvasive laboratory variables to predict significant fibrosis and cirrhosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C in Saudi Arabia.

Background: We tested the clinical utility of the platelet count, the aspartate aminotransferase/alanine aminotransferase (AST/ALT) ratio, and the AST to platelet ratio index (APRI) score in predicting the presence or absence of advanced fibrosis and cirrhosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C in Saudi Arabia.

Methods: Liver biopsy procedures performed on chronic hepatitis C patients in our gastroenterology unit at King Khalid University Hospital were traced from records between the years 1998 to 2003. The hospital computer database was then accessed and detailed laboratory parameters obtained.