Substantial reduction in hospital stay of children and adolescents with diabetic ketoacidosis after implementation of Clinical Practice Guidelines in a university hospital in Saudi Arabia.

Rationale, Aims And Objectives: We aimed to determine the effect of Clinical Practice Guideline (CPG) implementation on length of hospital stay of children and adolescents with diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA).

Methods: This was a 6-year (2008-2014) case-control retrospective study conducted at King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, that compared patients with DKA managed using CPG with those treated before CPG implementation.

Results: There were 63 episodes of DKA in 41 patients managed using CPG compared with 40 episodes in 33 patients treated before implementation of CPG.

Association of the STAT-6 rs324011 (C2892T) variant but not rs324015 (G2964A), with atopic asthma in a Saudi Arabian population.

Background: The signal transducer and activator of transcription 6 (STAT6) transduces signals in response to IL-4 and IL-13 cytokine stimulations, resulting in many cell-specific responses. Some common STAT6 SNPs were associated with asthma predisposition and/or IgE levels, although discrepancies have also been reported.

Objective: To determine whether STAT6 rs324011 and rs324015 polymorphisms are associated with atopic asthma in Saudi Arabian patients.

Management of acute viral bronchiolitis in children: Evidence beyond guidelines.

Acute viral bronchiolitis is one of the leading causes of worldwide admission of children under 2 years of age during winter months. There is a lack of consensus regarding the clinical definition of acute viral bronchiolitis in children and hence the management varies across the globe. The purpose of this article is to review the epidemiology, etiology, risk factors, pathophysiology, clinical presentation, assessment and management of children with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) bronchiolitis.