Discrimination of breast cancer from benign tumours using Raman spectroscopy.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women worldwide, with an estimated 1.7 million cases and 522,000 deaths in 2012. Breast cancer is diagnosed by histopathological examination of breast biopsy material but this is subjective and relies on morphological changes in the tissue.

Surgical site infection following elective nonspinal paediatric orthopaedic surgery: a prospective review.

The aim of this study was to determine the rate of surgical site infection (SSI) and the factors that predispose to it in children undergoing nonspinal orthopaedic surgery. Over a 6-month period, 326 children who underwent 334 nonspinal elective orthopaedic surgical procedures were prospectively reviewed for the development of surgical site infections. A total of 14 sites became infected, with an overall infection rate of 4.

Training for awareness of one's own spirituality: A key factor in overcoming barriers to the provision of spiritual care to advanced cancer patients by doctors and nurses.

Objective: When patients feel spiritually supported by staff, we find increased use of hospice and reduced use of aggressive treatments at end of life, yet substantial barriers to staff spiritual care provision still exist. We aimed to study these barriers in a new cultural context and analyzed a new subgroup with "unrealized potential" for improved spiritual care provision: those who are positively inclined toward spiritual care yet do not themselves provide it.

Method: We distributed the Religion and Spirituality in Cancer Care Study via the Middle East Cancer Consortium to physicians and nurses caring for advanced cancer patients.

Transection of the appendix and omentum following a seat belt injury; case report and literature review.

Introduction: Appendiceal injuries following a blunt abdominal trauma are rare. Upon literature review, several cases have been reported to develop appendicitis following blunt abdominal trauma, but total transection of the appendix is extremely rare.

Case Presentation: Our case involves a 24-year-old male restrained driver who was involved in a motor vehicle accident.

Using spectral imaging for the analysis of abnormalities for colorectal cancer: When is it helpful?

The spectral imaging technique has been shown to provide more discriminative information than the RGB images and has been proposed for a range of problems. There are many studies demonstrating its potential for the analysis of histopathology images for abnormality detection but there have been discrepancies among previous studies as well. Many multispectral based methods have been proposed for histopathology images but the significance of the use of whole multispectral cube versus a subset of bands or a single band is still arguable.

Cost-effectiveness of colchicine treatment on post-operative atrial fibrillation events in patients of major cardiac surgery.

Aims: Post-operative atrial fibrillation (POAF) occurs in 20-50% of patients amid post-operative stay after Cardiac Surgery. We intend to determine whether colchicine therapy in patients undergoing cardiac surgery is a cost-effective strategy for prevention of POAF. To undertake cost utility analysis and calculate incremental cost utility ratio (ICUR) for colchicine therapy in these subgroup of patients.

Colchicine for primary prevention of atrial fibrillation after open-heart surgery: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Atrial fibrillation occurs frequently after open-heart surgery. It is associated with increased morbidity and mortality, longer hospital stays, and increased healthcare costs. Prophylactic administration of colchicine may mitigate post-operative atrial fibrillation (POAF).

Pattern of benign ovarian cysts in Qatari women.

To study the age distribution, histopathological types, lateral distribution and surgical interventions performed for benign ovarian cysts in Qatari women undergoing surgical intervention for an ovarian cyst. A retrospective descriptive study. Obstetrics and Gynecology Department, Al-Ahli Hospital, Doha, Qatar.

Quality of Life in relation to neuropsychiatric symptoms in Alzheimer's disease: 5-year prospective ALSOVA cohort study.

Objective: To examine the association between neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) with self- and caregiver-rated Quality of Life (QoL) for patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) during a 5-year follow-up.

Methods: The ALSOVA 5-year follow-up study included, at baseline, 236 patients with either very mild (Clinical Dementia Rating Scale (CDR) 0.5), or mild (CDR 1) AD, together with their caregivers from three Finnish hospital districts.

Proarrhythmic Effects Of Antiarrhythmic Drugs: Case Study Of Flecainide Induced Ventricular Arrhythmias During Treatment Of Atrial Fibrillation.

Purpose: Flecainide is a class 1C antiarrhythmic drug especially used for the management of supraventricular arrhythmia. Flecainide also has a recognized proarrhythmic effect in patients treated for ventricular tachycardia. It is used to treat a variety of cardiac arrhythmias including paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia and ventricular tachycardia.

The Use of MoCA and Other Cognitive Tests in Evaluation of Cognitive Impairment in Elderly Patients Undergoing Arthroplasty.

Objective: To examine the prevalence and effect of cognitive impairment on treatment outcomes in elderly patients undergoing arthroplasty and to describe the feasibility of cognitive tests.

Materials And Methods: The participants were 52 patients with a mean age of 78 years 11 months (SD: 3.3), waiting for primary arthroplasty.

Mesenchymal stem cell therapy for refractory scleroderma: a report of 2 cases.

We treated 2 patients with progressive, refractory scleroderma with a combined immunotherapy approach using plasmapheresis followed by rituximab and then intravenous umbilical-cord-derived allogeneic mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Both patients improved subjectively and objectively for over a year. Upon recurrence of their symptoms, the patients were treated again with allogeneic MSCs alone with a very good response.

Atrial Fibrillation in Patients with Transient Ischemic Attack in Accordance with the Tissue-Based Definition.

Background: Transient ischemic attack (TIA) management requires a cardiac evaluation with a Holter electrocardiogram (ECG), preferably a long-term (24 h) electrocardiogram (LT-ECG), to detect atrial fibrillation (AF), which places patients at higher risk of cerebrovascular events. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of AF using ECG and LT-ECG in patients with tissue-based TIA.

Methods: During a three-year period (starting in 2011), all consecutive patients with tissue-based TIA (no evidence of infarction by brain imaging) were included and prospectively evaluated.

Long-term Resolution of Blinding Polypoidal Choroidal Vasculopathy with Recurrent Bilateral Central Involvement by Low-dose Oral Eplerenone Treatment.

A 55-year-old male presented with serous retinal detachment over 3 months in his right eye. His left eye was blind due to retinal pigment epithelium detachment since 1997 with atrophy of the neurosensory retina. Fluorescein angiography had previously shown bilateral polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV).

Study protocol: Mother and Infant Nutritional Assessment (MINA) cohort study in Qatar and Lebanon.

Background: The Middle East and North Africa region harbors significant proportions of stunting and wasting coupled with surging rates of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Recent evidence identified nutrition during the first 1000 days of life as a common denominator not only for optimal growth but also for curbing the risk of NCDs later in life. The main objective of this manuscript is to describe the protocol of the first cohort in the region to investigate the association of nutrition imbalances early in life with birth outcomes, growth patterns, as well as early determinants of non-communicable diseases.

Self-Rated and Caregiver-Rated Quality of Life in Alzheimer Disease with a Focus on Evolving Patient Ability to Respond to Questionnaires: 5-Year Prospective ALSOVA Cohort Study.

Objective: To examine and compare self-rated and caregiver-rated measures of quality of life (QoL) in relation to disease progression in patients with very mild or mild Alzheimer disease (AD) and at what disease stage patient's ability to respond to QoL questionnaires with or without assistance begins to diminish.

Methods: 236 patients with very mild or mild AD and their family caregivers from three Finnish hospital districts participated in this prospective, longitudinal study with 5 years of follow-up. Three patient-reported instruments were used to assess QoL (the generic 15D, the Quality of Life in Alzheimer Disease [QoL-AD] questionnaire, and a visual analogue scale) as well as one caregiver-rated assessment of patient QoL (QoL-AD).

Common and Rare Genetic Variants Associated With Alzheimer's Disease.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is one of the most devastating disorders. Despite the continuing increase of its incidence among aging populations, no effective cure has been developed mainly due to difficulties in early diagnosis of the disease before damaging of the brain, and the failure to explore its complex underlying molecular mechanisms. Recent technological advances in genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and high throughput next generation whole genome, and exome sequencing had deciphered many of AD-related loci, and discovered single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that are associated with altered AD molecular pathways.

Morbidity associated with anterior iliac crest bone graft harvesting in children undergoing orthopaedic surgery: a prospective review.

Purpose: Autologous iliac crest bone grafting is an integral part of many orthopaedic surgical procedures. Several studies have documented morbidity and prolonged pain following iliac crest bone graft harvesting in adults; however, in children there is a paucity of information. The purpose of the present study was to quantify the degree of pain and morbidity associated with anterior iliac crest graft harvesting in children undergoing non-spinal orthopaedic surgery.

Determinants of depression and somatisation symptoms in low back pain patients and its treatment: global burden of diseases.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of Low Back Pain in primary care setting population and to examine its association with symptoms of depression and somatisation.

Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted at 13 Primary Healthcare Centres (throughout Qatar from March to December, 2012. A General Health Questionnaire was used to identify the probable cases.

Typical asthmatic presentation of congenital vascular ring can masquerade a general physician.

A 24-year-old woman was referred to pulmonologist with worsening breathlessness and wheeze. During childhood, she was diagnosed with asthma and subsequent exacerbations were treated with bronchodilators for many years. The chest X-ray and a spirometry testing raised a doubt of extrinsic tracheal compression and a subsequent enhanced chest CT (computerized tomogram) scan confirmed a right-sided aortic arch and a vascular ring anomaly compressing the trachea.

Adenosine-induced worsening of supraventricular tachycardia.

An approximately 20-year-old to 30-year-old patient presented with a haemodynamically stable supraventricular tachycardia . The patient was managed with intravenous adenosine primarily, with two bolus doses of 6 and 12 mg. This, however, caused a rare paradoxical surge of tachycardia with mild haemodynamic compromise.

Postpartum multivessel coronary artery dissection treated with coronary artery bypass grafting.

Spontaneous coronary artery dissection is a rare but potentially life-threatening event associated with the peripartum period. We present a case of acute anterolateral ST elevation myocardial infarction in the postpartum period in a young woman. Thrombolytic therapy was successful, but later the patient required emergent coronary artery bypass grafting due to another acute inferolateral myocardial infarction that developed 4 h after cardiac catheterization which showed multivessel spontaneous coronary artery dissection.

Combined parecoxib and I.V. paracetamol provides additional analgesic effect with better postoperative satisfaction in patients undergoing anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.

Background: Adequacy of postoperative analgesia is one of the most important factors that determine early hospital discharge and patients' ability to resume their normal activities postoperatively. The optimal non-opioid analgesic technique for postoperative pain management would reduce pain and enhance patient satisfaction, and it also facilitates earlier mobilization and rehabilitation by reducing pain-related complications after surgery. The aim of this study was to evaluate the analgesic efficacy of intravenous paracetamol and parecoxib when used alone, or in combination.