Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Journal

Pneumocephalus (PNC) is defined as a pathological air collection inside the skull in the epidural, subdural, subarachnoid, intraventricular, or intraparenchymal compartments. The rate at which the air accumulates inside the cranium could be acute (<72 h) or delayed (≥72 h). Tension PNC (TP) occurs...

Good primary care is an essential precondition for a decent healthcare system. In fact, primary health care is at the heart of Universal Health Coverage (UHC). UHC, in turn, is critical to achieve the sustainable development goals. While access to essential medicines is explicit in UHC, access to essential...

Abnormal pituitary function was linked to excessive height and acromegaly in the late 19th century. Harvey Cushing proposed a pituitary substance that regulated human linear growth. Chemical characterization of the Growth Hormone (GH) molecule by Li led to a demonstration of its species specificity with...

Solitary fibrous tumor of the pleura (SFTP) is one of those rare thoracic tumors, especially large tumors occupying most of the thoracic cavity. We report a case of a 45-year-old female who presented with progressive shortness of breath, cough, and palpitation with minimal exertion. The patient was diagnosed...

This study was undertaken to investigate the status of Soil-transmitted Helminths (STHs) in rural schools of Kogi East, Nigeria. The study was cross-sectional using stratified random cluster sampling procedure. Stool specimens were collected in a sterile specimen bottle from school pupils in five (5)...

The presentation of neonatal influenza B in neonates can vary from a mild self-limited disease to acute presentation carrying high morbidity and mortality. This report describes one case of influenza B in a neonate who presented with severe respiratory distress syndrome and acute renal failure.

Thrombocytopenia is a common finding in patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). This can be attributed to the wide spectrum of comorbidities that affect homeostasis in these patients. The aim of this study was to estimate the frequency of thrombocytopenia among patients admitted to the medical...

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) affects more adults than children worldwide, and infected children have low mortality rates; however, COVID-19 can be complicated by an inflammatory Kawasaki-like syndrome called multisystem inflammatory syndrome associated with COVID-19 (MIS-C). We report a case of...

To ascertain Neonatal Mortality Rate (NMR), Early NMR (ENMR), Late NMR (LNMR), Corrected NMR (cNMR), and causes of neonatal mortality in a major tertiary care private maternity and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) set up in Saudi Arabia. This was a retrospective analysis of hospital data. We ascertained...

Tuberculosis is a major global public health problem, which poses significant diagnostic and treatment challenges. Tuberculous meningitis is the most severe form of extrapulmonary tuberculosis, which approximately affects 1% of all patients with active tuberculosis. It is considered a medical emergency...

Urinary catheters act as a reservoir of resistant pathogens. Several factors (type, duration, procedural mistakes during insertion of catheter, associated diseases of patients, etc.) are responsible for the different catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) rates in different healthcare setups....

The main purpose of this grounded theory research was to explore Diabetic Patients’ (DPs) experiences related to their chronic illness in the light of the Health Belief Model (HBM). Diabetic mellitus II is a grave public health concern, and its management is the cornerstone to avoid life-threatening...

Sepsis remains an unmet medical need, and sustained attempts by intensivists have indeed yielded an incremental improvement in outcomes. However, despite many attempts to introduce novel therapeutic molecules, there has been no step change in survival rates. Precision (or personalised) medicine (PM)...

Community pharmacists are the most accessible healthcare professionals. Recently, the increasing trend of tramadol and gabapentinoids prescription has become a global problem, with a high risk of misuse and abuse. This study mainly assessed the knowledge and practice of Lebanese pharmacists regarding...

Neonatal sepsis is common; particularly in preterm babies. However, it is uncommon for neonatal sepsis to present as localized liver abscess. Since 1930, less than 150 cases of liver abscess have been reported in the literature. The majority of initially reported cases were in term babies; while over...

The aim of this study was to determine the risk factors associated with generalized anxiety, depression, and subjective sleep quality among university students during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Bangladesh. Data for this web-based cross-sectional study were collected from 1317...

This study aimed to identify the etiologies of sleep deprivation among patients in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Sleep deprivation is a common problem that patients face while they are in the ICU. Poor sleep quality has several consequences such as weakening the immune system, irregular sleep cycle,...

Schistosomiasis is a common parasitic infestation that affects 200 million people worldwide. There are more than 76 endemic countries that suffer from this infestation, leading to 200,000 deaths annually. Intestinal schistosomiasis is known to cause a variety of serious gastrointestinal complications....

To assess the prevalence of nonadherence to antihypertensive medications among adults attending Primary Healthcare Clinics (PHCs) in Al-Hasa Region. This cross-sectional study included participants from a variety of clinics in the region and each of them had been interviewed to complete the questionnaire....

Background: ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI) therapy in Saudi Arabia may have particular limitations because of geographic limitations, human resource distribution, and lack of an effective first response system. The aim of this study is to investigate the effective age of STEMI in...

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection is a major public health challenge worldwide. Evidence suggests that health-related behaviours are affected by the knowledge, attitude, and practice of individuals. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitude, and testing of HIV infection,...

Brain Computed Tomography (CT) is routinely requested before Lumbar Puncture (LP) to rule out increased intracranial pressure. However, normal brain radiography does not abate the risk of herniation and unnecessarily delays the course of treatment. Thus, the primary aims of this study were to evaluate...

Objective: Intestinal anastomosis is among the most commonly performed major abdominal procedures; however, leaks are an ongoing problem. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of Insulin-like Growth Factor (IGF-1) on colonic healing under hypoxia. Methods: Thirty-two Sprague–Dawley male...

This article discusses how the practice of open defecation influences the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations (UN) and accepted by all countries. Unfortunately, the practice of open defecation still exists. Public health is at stake because open defecation enables transmission...

The presentation of congenital intestinal stenosis in neonates can vary from mild intermittent feeding intolerance resulting in difficulty of clinical judgment to profound obstruction. This report describes one case of ileal stenosis whose radiological investigations were not favoring intestinal obstruction...

Cytokine storm is the major cause of death in patients with acute respiratory distress caused by COVID-19. Because cytokine storm is a life-threatening condition, it is important to treat patients with the most appropriate drugs depending on their infectious pathogen and medical status. In this short...

Background/Objective: Daytime sleepiness and poor sleep quality are common among medical students, and are expected to affect their academic performance. The common problems are duration of sleep, delayed onset of sleep, and daytime sleepiness. The objective of this study is to determine the prevalence...

Reliable information on causes of death is essential for an evidence-based health policy. There is a challenge in ascertaining the cause for deaths occurring without medical attention. This has been a persistent problem for Malaysia, where 50% of deaths are registered as “nonmedically certified” deaths...

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a major challenge for health systems worldwide. Molecular diagnosis is a cornerstone in the management of COVID-19. Clinicians should understand the various aspects of molecular testing that may influence their judgment and management. Cycle threshold, viral shedding,...

Self-medication (SM), practiced globally, is an important public health problem. This is the first study aiming to determine the prevalence of inappropriate usage of drugs among Lebanese patients, assess their knowledge, and identify predicting factors of potentially inappropriate drug intake. This cross-sectional...

Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) is a proliferative retinal vascular disease affecting the retina of premature infants and is considered the major cause of blindness in children and the most common cause of retinal vasculopathy in premature and in low-birth-weight infants. The clinical spectrum of ROP...

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disorder affecting the central nervous system, characterized by demyelination of the neurons with limited remyelination. There has been a rising trend toward associating a history of allergy with MS. Both MS and type 1 allergies are developed by a hyper-reactive...

Tick-borne Encephalitis (TBE) is an arboviral infection widespread in Europe and northern parts of Asia. Ticks transmit the associated flavivirus usually between March and November to people with outdoor activities in the countryside, in gardens or, rarely, in urban parks. The clinical picture of TBE...

Introduction: E-learning is the use of the internet and associated devices for educational purposes without geographical constraints. This study aims to assess the perception of students at King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, about E-learning as a teaching...

Proponents of the Sub-Vastus (SV) approach in primary Total Knee Arthroplasty (TKA) claim superior extensor mechanism function which results in earlier recovery after surgery. We performed a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials comparing the SV and standard Medial Parapatellar (MPP) approaches...

Among the diverse clinical manifestations of Disorders of Sex Development (DSD), the ambiguous look of genitalia is the most typical disorder. In this condition, the sex of the newborn cannot be readily differentiated because of atypical appearance of the external genitalia. Thus, the treatment of such...

Glucose-6-phosphate Dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency is an X-linked disorder that mainly affects red blood cells resulting in its lysis manifesting as hemolytic anemia. The purpose of this study is to measure the burden of this genetic disorder in patients presenting to a tertiary care health setting...

Recurrent Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs) are a common issue in females owing mostly to the anatomy of their urinary tract. It can also hint at a pathology pertaining to the pelvic organs like tumors or infections that infiltrate the urinary bladder. We report the case of a 45-year-old woman who initially...

Background: Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) positive patients are likely to be at risk of other infectious pathogens such as Hepatitis B Virus (HBV). HIV and HBV are blood-borne pathogens and are transmitted via intravenous drug use, sexual contact, or mother to child during pregnancy or birth. Objective:...

Acute endotracheal tube (ETT) obstruction is not an uncommon event during surgery, but under certain circumstances, it can be life-threatening. It can arise for a variety of reasons. In this case study, we present an event of endotracheal tube obstruction in a pediatric surgery case during anesthesia...

Background and Objectives: The emerging concept of safety culture has been increasingly recognized as an issue of global importance. Measuring the Patient Safety Culture (PSC) of healthcare facilities helps in highlighting areas requiring improvement as well as tracking changes over time. Our study aimed...

The combination of the superomedial pedicle with the traditional Wise-pattern skin resection has gained increasing popularity for its versatility and ability to achieve significant reduction of breast parenchyma and skin envelope. In this report, a reproducible new dermal suspension technique is described...

Thanks to the high vaccination rates posted in Israel and the United Arab Emirates since mid-December 2020, by end of March 2021 a significant portion of the population has been vaccinated. This adds to the percentage of those who have been infected and have recovered, protected to a different extent...

Milk Curd Syndrome (MCS) is a known iatrogenic disease and an unusual and uncommon cause of neonatal intestinal obstruction, particularly in premature babies. MCS is caused by feeding infant formula rich in calcium and fat. The disease is known for its morbidity and death rate particularly when the disorder...

Most medical students perceive neurology as a difficult subject. Therefore, this results in students developing neurophobia. This study aimed to provide a national data source on the perceptions and satisfaction of Saudi medical students with neurology education. In 2018, an exploratory cross-sectional...

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) continues to spread worldwide since its emergence in December 2019 in Wuhan, China, and as of January 3, 2021 more than 84.4 million cases and 1.8 million deaths have been reported. To predict COVID-19 cases in Algeria, we applied two models—the logistic growth model...

The first case of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was reported in the Eastern Province (Qatif City) on March 2, 2020 (Saudi Arabia Ministry of Health, https://www.moh.gov.sa/Pages/Default.aspx). Since then, a cluster of cases continued to expand and spread throughout...

We describe the first four coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in Kerala—the Indian state that reported the first COVID-19 case on January 30, 2020—who developed acute respiratory distress syndrome despite lopinavir/ritonavir and methyl prednisolone treatment. All four patients received convalescent...

Despite the availability of plasmapheresis and intravenous immunoglobulin, the mortality and long-term morbidity from Guillain–Barré Syndrome (GBS) remains significant. This study aimed to determine the short-term outcomes in patients with GBS admitted to an intensive care unit. A total of 27 patients...

Developing countries such as Belize have been facing profound challenges in their quest to effectively track cases of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and contain the pandemic within their own territory. We assume that at the heights of a COVID-19 wave the number of daily reported cases are substantially...

Filgrastim, a granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF), is used in patients with neutropenia caused by chemotherapy, bone marrow transplant, radiation poisoning, or any unknown etiology. It stimulates the bone marrow to increase the production of neutrophils. Although it has a good safety and efficacy...

Thoracic Endovascular Aortic Repair (TEVAR) became the standard treatment for patients with Blunt Thoracic Aortic Injury (BTAI) because it is a minimally invasive intervention, with proven lower morbidity and mortality compared with open surgery, especially in multiple trauma patients. However, there...

Vitamin D Deficiency (VDD) is reported to be more frequent with serious clinical outcomes in patients with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD). There is a wide disparity in data in the existing literature regarding the prevalence and risk of VDD in patients with SCD. These data require further summary and analyses...

Neonatal Hemochromatosis (NH) is a rare phenotype of severe fetal/neonatal liver injury that is accompanied by extrahepatic siderosis. Current clinical evidence shows that NH is not a disease per se, but is the consequence of fetal liver injury. Gestational alloimmune liver disease is the cause of nearly...

Background: Many factors may impede faculty development programs. These barriers can be categorized according to the source of their possible origin: faculty level and institutional level. It is of paramount importance to know these barriers to determine the appropriate ways to solve them so as to make...

A drug repurposing approach for Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved drugs and preclinical entity by using cheminformatics and chemical transformational method, with the objective of discovering safer novel potent inhibitors that are selective for COVID-19, is reported. We examined the action...

Medical cannabis legalization in Lebanon has been a controversial issue. No research has been done to study the aspects of knowledge and attitudes toward its prescription in Lebanon. The primary objective of this study was to assess the level of knowledge and attitude of Lebanese community pharmacists...

Hospital-acquired Respiratory-Tract Infections (HARTIs) are identified as the most frequent type of hospital-acquired infections. They can engender significant morbidity and mortality rates, generating a heavy economic burden, especially in the limited resources countries. In this perspective, this study...

Cancer places a considerable burden on society that is reflected in both economic and humanitarian costs. We aimed to estimate the disease burden of cancers in Tunisia using the Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) as a health measure. We performed the methodology suggested in the Global Burden of...

The prediction of bony involvement of the mandible in oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma (SCC) by taking imaging scans prior to surgery is an important issue. The objective of our study was to determine the diagnostic accuracy of Multiple Detector Computed Tomography (MDCT) in detecting mandibular involvement...

Carbamazepine and sodium valproate are one of the most common antiepileptic medications used in clinical practice. The period of treatment is commonly associated with benign alternation of the liver enzymes due to drug metabolism. Evaluation of asymptomatic enzymatic changes could be challenging to the...

Although several guidelines for Stress Ulcer Prophylaxis (SUP) have been published, Acid-Suppressive Therapy (AST) remains largely prescribed in hospitalized patients. Thus, our study aimed to evaluate the current practice surrounding SUP in Soba University Hospital (Khartoum, Sudan). This descriptive...

Scorpion envenomation is a serious public health problem in tropical regions due to its high frequency and severity. This research aimed to estimate the prevalence of human cases of scorpion stings reported at Cura D’ars Hospital, Machacalis, Brazil, between 2016 and 2017, in addition to identifying...

Background: A systematic review with meta-analysis was conducted to assess the association of glucocorticoids use with the likelihood of all-cause mortality in cases with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Methods: Databases and cross-referencing were searched for observational studies about patients...

The current global Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is compounding on populations susceptible to tropical illnesses such as dengue in different developing countries such as Bangladesh. The growing concern is that Bangladesh is a dengue-endemic zone and the peak transmission occurs in the...

Background: Prader–Willi syndrome (PWS) is a genetic disorder with multisystem involvement. Bariatric laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy (SG) surgery has been proposed as a means of weight control in PWS patients. There is some controversy around sleeve gastrectomy as a management strategy in PWS to control...

Large vessel involvement and arterial aneurysms are not typically encountered in Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis (GPA), which is a small vessel disease. We report the case of a 70-year-old male presenting with a ruptured hepatic artery aneurysm and elevated Antineutrophil Cytoplasmic Autoantibody, Cytoplasmic...

Soil-transmitted helminths are among the neglected tropical diseases, although some 1.5 billion individuals are affected. Traveling to endemic regions, global immigration, and increase of immunocompromised cases, in addition to other factors, have an influence on global susceptibility to these parasites....

Congenital cutaneous candidiasis is a rare disease that is usually misdiagnosed as a type of benign neonatal eruption. We report on a preterm infant born with diffuse skin rashes that evolved into various forms and misleading the diagnosis. The persistence of respiratory distress and worsening of chest...

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has critically struck healthcare systems and burdened emergency services. To date, there is no accurate and rapid point-of-care diagnostic test. This study aimed to investigate Lung Ultrasound (LUS) against Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction...

Cancer is the second most frequent cause of death worldwide after ischemic heart disease. Early detection of cancer is a cornerstone of cancer survival. The aim of this review is to summarize the current knowledge, awareness, attitude, and practice of cancer screening programs in Saudi Arabia. A literature...

Under-five mortality is a substantial indicator of children’s health, well-being, and consequently, socioeconomic development of a country. The primary focus of this study was to estimate the prevalence and identify the factors associated with under-5 mortality in Nigeria. This research utilized the...

Low Birth Weight (LBW) is a major risk factor for neonatal and infant mortality worldwide. In 2015, the LBW rate was 22.6% in Bangladesh. The present study was conducted to estimate the rate of LBW in urban Dhaka and to observe its association with maternal age and socioeconomic status. This retrospective...

This study sought to examine the relationship between knowledge, attitude, and acceptance of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine among students in selected universities in Nigeria. An anonymous survey was conducted online among Nigeria students. The questionnaire collected demographic characteristics,...

The satisfaction of the patients and its importance in modern medicine cannot be emphasized enough. It is a potential tool that can invariably give a look-in into the performance of a hospital itself and health professionals (either directly or indirectly). The purpose of this study was to evaluate patient...

The SARS-CoV-2-induced novel coronavirus disease has become a global pandemic. As the latest coronavirus variants are even more infectious and deadly, its treatment is very difficult. Currently used drugs such as remdesivir, saquinavir, and chloroquine have several drawbacks. Recent studies have reported...

The objective of this study was to assess the patients’ perceptions of the communication skills of obstetrics and gynecology residents, highlighting areas where these skills could be improved, and comparing the patient perceptions with the residents’ self-evaluation. This was a cross-sectional study,...

Objective: The aim of this study is to assess the level of knowledge and acceptance for biosimilars and nonmedical switching in Arab rheumatologists. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted during the Arab League Against Rheumatism conference using a structured questionnaire consisting of 17...

Infection by the emerging, potentially zoonotic Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) presents a severe health hazard to humans and is often fatal. Given the lack of particular medicines against MERS-CoV, drug discovery studies are needed to bridge this knowledge gap. In this study,...

The proper diagnostic approach for acute bronchiolitis is one of the significant controversial aspects among clinicians in the pediatric field. The radiographic evaluation of the classic presentation has a limited role and may expose patients to unnecessary procedures. Despite the presence of evidence-based...

This study was aimed to determine the risk factors associated with COVID-19 infection among contacts of index cases in Saudi Arabia. This unmatched case–control study was conducted among contacts of confirmed COVID-19 cases in April and May 2020 in Al-Madinah, Saudi Arabia. A total of 118 cases and 115...

Brucellosis may present with a broad spectrum of clinical manifestations. Neurobrucellosis (NB), an uncommon but a serious complication, may occur at any stage of the disease. We aimed to evaluate the clinical, diagnostic, therapeutic, and evolutionary features of NB. We conducted a retrospective study...