Diagnosis and management of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries: consensus statement of the GCC countries' osteoporosis societies under the auspices of the European Society for Clinical and Economic Aspects of Osteoporosis and Osteoarthritis (ESCEO).

Unlabelled: A consensus platform is provided by the experts of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries' respective osteoporosis societies, on which specific guidelines can be developed further for regional use on the assessment and treatment of postmenopausal women at risk from fractures due to osteoporosis.

Introduction: Guidance is provided in a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) country setting on the assessment and treatment of postmenopausal women at risk from fractures due to osteoporosis, which is an adaptation of the European guidance by Kanis et al., jointly published by the International Osteoporosis Foundation and the European Society for Clinical and Economic Aspects of Osteoporosis and Osteoarthritis (ESCEO).

Pan Arab Osteoporosis Society Guidelines for Osteoporosis Management.

Osteoporosis is the most common bone disease in humans. With its related fragility fracture, it represents a major public health problem in our region, with a significant medical and socio-economic burden. The high prevalence rate of vitamin D deficiency, the increase in life expectancy, the low socioeconomic level and the significant restriction to access to health care in some countries represent the major causes for the increasing prevalence of osteoporosis and incidence of fragility fractures in the Arabic countries.

Modulation of the innate immune system in white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei following long-term low salinity exposure.

Immune parameters, haemocyte lifespan, and gene expressions of lipopolysaccharide and β-glucan-binding protein (LGBP), peroxinectin (PX), integrin β, and α2-macroglobulin (α2-M) were examined in white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei juveniles (0.48 ± 0.05 g) which had been reared at different salinity levels of 2.

Middle East and North Africa consensus on osteoporosis.

With the increasing life expectancy, osteoporosis is becoming a major worldwide health problem. The magnitude of the disease may become larger in developing countries, more particularly in the Middle East region where the prevalence of low bone mass is higher than in western countries. Although several local organizations and countries have developed guidelines for osteoporosis, no previous regional guidelines have been developed encompassing all Middle-Eastern and North African countries.

Predictors and relationships of serum 25 hydroxyvitamin D concentration with bone turnover markers, bone mineral density, and vitamin D receptor genotype in Emirati women.

Objectives: To determine factors influencing serum 25 hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) concentration and relationships between serum 25OHD concentration, bone turnover markers, bone mineral density (BMD), and vitamin D receptor (VDR) genotype in Emirati women.

Methods: Serum 25OHD, parathyroid hormone (PTH), osteocalcin (OC), vitamin D binding protein (VDBP), and urinary deoxypyrdinoline (UDPD) concentrations and VDR genotype were determined in Emirati women volunteers who were participating in a study aiming at establishing a reference database for BMD.

Results: Serum 25OHD concentration in the 259 women volunteers was 25.

Bone density estimates and risk factors for osteoporosis in young women.

The bone mineral density (BMD) of the calcaneus was estimated in 185 young women from the United Arab Emirates, using SAHARA ultrasound. All participants completed a questionnaire on factors potentially associated with osteoporosis. In all, 29 (15.

Correlation of quantitative ultrasound parameters of the calcaneus with bone density of the spine and hip in women with prevalent hypovitaminosis D.

Quantitative ultrasound (QUS) of the calcaneus correlates modestly with axial dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Because bone mineral density (BMD) might be influenced by vitamin D status, we assessed the correlation between both techniques in 56 Arabian women, a population with high prevalence of hypovitaminosis D. The speed of sound (SOS), broadband ultrasound attenuation (BUA), and estimated BMD of the right calcaneus were determined by QUS.

Cerebral blood flow in alcohol withdrawal: relation to severity of dependence and cognitive impairment.

Background: Alcohol dependence affects cerebral function in complex, still unsettled ways.

Methods: Thirty exclusively alcohol-dependent patients in various stages of withdrawal and 25 matched controls were examined for regional uptake of 99mTc-HMPAO in nine homologous regions of the cerebral cortex by single photon emission tomography (SPET). Image analysis reports regional uptake/uptake in homologous hemisphere.

Quantitative ultrasound of the calcaneus in Arabian women: relation to anthropometric and lifestyle factors.

Objectives: To determine factors influencing quantitative ultrasound (QUS) parameters of the calcaneus in a population-based sample of United Arab Emirates (UAE) women, and to compare QUS parameters of the calcaneus for healthy young UAE women with the manufacturer's reference ranges for other populations.

Methods: All subjects completed a questionnaire on reproductive and life style factors. Height and weight were measured, and body composition was determined by bioelectric impedence.

Single photon emission tomography with 99m Tc-HMPAO in Arab patients with depression.

Background: This study investigates the rate of cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in Arab patients wth depression.

Methods: Forty-four patients with DSM-III-R major depressive disorders were studied at rest using single photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT) with 99m Tc-HMPAO in comparison with 20 normal controls. All patients were assessed using the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD).

Cortical hypoperfusion in symptomatic West syndrome. A SPECT study.

Diffuse and focal changes in glucose utilization and abnormal cerebral cortical perfusion were found in West syndrome by PET and SPECT investigations. In this study 99mTc-HMPAO SPECT was performed on seven patients with symptomatic West syndrome several months after the onset of the spasms. Regions of interest of the cerebral cortex and cerebellum were delineated by an automated computer program and cortical/cerebellar ratios of the HMPAO uptake in the patients were compared to those of controls.

Agyria-pachygyria: cerebral perfusion studies by 99mTc-HMPAO SPECT [corrected].

Cerebral perfusion was investigated in three patients with agyria-pachygyria by using 99mTc-HMPAO SPECT in order to study the distribution of blood flow. Diffuse cortical hypoperfusion was found in all three infants. The visual cortex was not identifiable in two of the cases.

Regional cerebral blood perfusion in children with hemiplegia: A SPECT study.

Fourteen children with spastic hemiplegia of various etiology: cerebral palsy (seven cases, five with porencephalic cyst); stroke with small deep infarcts (two); hemiconvulsion-hemiplegia-epilepsy syndrome (three); traumatic brain injury (two), were investigated by 99mTc-HMPAO SPECT. Localized and remote perfusion abnormalities were studied. Hypoperfusion corresponding to CT abnormalities was found in each group, but the perfusion deficit extended beyond the boundaries of anatomical defects, most prominently in cases with widespread unilateral epileptic discharges.

Adrenoleukodystrophy: cortical hypoperfusion demonstrated with 99mTc-HMPAO SPECT.

Regional cerebral blood flow was investigated in an 8-year-old boy with adrenoleukodystrophy by single photon emission computed tomography. The use of 99mTc-hexamethylpropylene amine oxime revealed markedly reduced blood flow in the occipital, parietal, and temporal cortical gray matter, in addition to the anticipated reduction in white matter. The area with a decreased blood flow was more extensive than that detected by x-ray computed tomography.

Short-term effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor enalapril in incipient diabetic nephropathy.

The short-term effect (2 weeks) of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (enalapril) on renal hemodynamics and urinary albumin excretion was investigated in eleven normotensive patients with incipient diabetic nephropathy (IDN). Six patients had had elevated baseline glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and each responded to enalapril with a decline in the GFR, from a mean of 160.7 to 134 ml/min/1.

Intrathyroidal parathyroid adenoma: preoperative identification and localization by parathyroid imaging.

The authors report, probably for the first time, a successful pre-operative localization of 7 mm intrathyroidal parathyroid adenoma which was successfully removed by using parathyroid imaging using a dual tracer (T1-201 and Tc-99m) and subtraction technique.

Posthemorrhage glycogen and lactate metabolism in the liver: an experimental study with postprandial rats.

Glycogen and lactate metabolism was studied in livers from three groups of postprandial rats sustaining 70 mm Hg hemorrhagic hypotension for variable periods, 60 min (60H group), 120 min (120H group), and nonbled controls. The donor livers were investigated after completed hemorrhage using an in vitro perfusion system with L-lactate as substrate, together with U-C14-lactate. The residual glycogen stores were determined after perfusions.

Acute intrahepatic biliary obstruction caused by hydatid cysts. Correlation between various imaging techniques.

An 18-year-old male was evaluated for recurrent attacks of right abdominal pain and intermittent jaundice caused by hydatid cysts of the liver. The case illustrates the value of dynamic functional information provided by Tc-99m-HIDA imaging over noninvasive modalities that demonstrate structural changes, such as ultrasound, computed tomography, and tin colloid liver imaging.

Brucellosis: appearance on skeletal imaging.

Brucellosis is an endemic disease in the Middle East. Its incidence in Kuwait has increased during the last 5 years. Bone and joint involvement causes major symptoms and disabilities.

Gallium-67 scintigraphy in acute pancreatitis.

Acute pancreatitis is a serious surgical problem with a high incidence of mortality. Both ultrasound and X-ray CT have problems in identifying the extent and severity of the disease and the response to therapy. 67Ga-citrate has been used in 21 patients with clinically diagnosed acute pancreatitis: 9 patients had X-ray CT and 15 had US examination.

Upper gastrointestinal bleeding from the biliary tract (hematobilia). Detection by technetium-99m DTPA.

A case of hematobilia causing upper gastrointestinal bleeding is demonstrated by Tc-99m DTPA. The advantages of Tc-99m DTPA over Tc-99m sulfur colloid and RBCs are discussed.