Qatar Medical Journal - Volume 2000, Issue 2

Ibn Zuhr, known in the West as Avenzoar, was one of the greatest physicians, clini-cians and parasitologists of the Middle Ages. Some historians of science have declared him as the greatest of the Muslim phy-sicians since Al Razi (Rhazes) of Baghdad. Some of his con-temporaries called him the greatest physician since Galen.

Papers considered for publication in Qatar Medical Journal are those reporting original work, review articles and case reports that are particularly relevant to medicine in the broad sense. Editorials and Review articles are by invitation.

Advances in molecular genetics have now established that Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is due to DNA variations which modify the sequence, structure, function and/or expression of the CF transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene. To date over 885 such variations have been described. However, worldwide 65% of all CFTR gene mutations are a result of the DF508 mutation.

Al Razi was the first physician in history to describe in detail the symptoms and signs of smallpox and measles based upon clinical examination. He was the first to dis-tinguish between the two diseases by what is called now ’the differential diagnosis'in “The Book on Smallpox and Measles”. A manuscript of this book is kept now in Lieden University, Netherlands (manuscript #656) and a micro-film copy is in our institute at Aleppo. This book of f Read More

Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a common problem in males. About half of all men over 40 years of age suffer from some degree of ED and in half of them the dysfunction is moderate or complete. More than 90% of men with ED do not seek treatment either because they are not comfortable with the subject or because, until very recently, the effective treatments available were invasive. Recent publicity about male sexual health and the av Read More

In order to compare one-stage versus multiple-stage pull-through for Hirschsprung disease (HD) and comment on transanal pull-through without laparotomy, we reviewed 35 patients operated on for HD in the last six years. Ages ranged from 1 week to 14 years with 16 patients presenting neonatally. Sixteen patients had multiple-stage and 19 single-stage pull-through. Twenty-one patients had the Swenson procedure, five the Du Read More

This was a retrospective study analyzing surgical treat-ment of rigid, non-teratologic talipes equinovarus (club foot deformity) in Qatar in the ten year period from 1990 to 1999. Treatment started early (as soon as the patient was referred, usually during the first two - three weeks of de-livery) with serial manipulation and adhesive strapping or plaster of paris casting. When clinically indicated, soft tis-sue release was performed. One hundred a Read More

Fifty-six needle liver biopsies from 28 patients with viral hepatitis B (15 cases) and hepatitis C (13 cases) treated with Interferon alpha for a minimum of six months were studied with the aim of determining the role of MGP-positive lymphoid cell infiltrates in the response to treatment with interferon. Besides assessing the MGP-positive cells, the following parameters were assessed and graded: (i) Inflammation in and around the portal tract Read More

A prospective study of 34 Type 2 diabetic patients was carried out to determine the effect of Ramadan fasting on the lipid profiles; serum cholesterol, triglycerides, HDLcholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, Apo A-1, Apo B, Lp (a), and HbAjc. The comparison analysis of the pre-fasting with fasting and post-fasting samples did not reveal any statistically significant changes in the value of the lipid profiles. In the biochemical profile there was a slight chang Read More

There is great concern about the risks inflicted by intubation of patients with a potential instability of the cervical spine, as in trauma cases and in patients scheduled for elective cervical spine surgery. Some of these patients may have neurological manifestations of cord compression and limited neck movement, which can range from severe to mild. Intubation requires flexion and extension of the head and neck “Sniffing Position” to a Read More

Four hundred and thirty three patients with various types of fractures of facial bones were studied and analysed together with statistics related to the etiology, site, age and sex. Sixty per cent of the cases were below 30 years of age. The male to female ratio was 5.5:1. Sixty four per cent had fracture of the mandible alone, with fracture of the body of the mandible accounting for a quarter of the total number of cases. Only twenty per cent Read More

Between September 1996 and May 1999 twenty six pa-tients with a pancreatic mass were studied. In 24 patients (92.3%) the masses could be detected by ultrasound but were not detectable in the other two cases. In the 24 pa-tients percutaneous FN AC under u/s guidance produced only one complication. The accuracy of this test in diagnosing pancreatic ma-lignant tumours was 90.4%. Laparotomy was not neces-sary in three cas Read More

In order to study the specificity and the sensitivity of a locally produced scoring system to differentiate between septic arthritis and transient synovitis at initial presentation, the records of 33 cases of irritable hip, 24 males and nine females, in the Pediatric departments of King Hussein Medical Center and Prince Rashid Military Hospital, Jordan, were reviewed retrospectively. Septic arthritis was diagnosed in nine patients all of whom scored nine Read More

This prospective study was carried out in Basrah ma-ternity hospital (Basrah-Iraq) during the eight months of Dec.1997-Aug.1998 to study the obstetrical performance and outcome of pregnancy in 20 (>90kg) obese patients compared to 20 non-obese controls. The incidence of obesity in their infants was also com-pared. There was no significant increase in the incidence of urinary tract infection, diabetes, caesarean section and forceps deliver Read More

Forty five patients with liver cirrhosis were compared with 60 other chronically ill patients in an attempt to evaluate the use of leading symptoms, leading signs, laboratory tests and various combinations of the three, in the accurate diagnosis of liver cirrhosis. It was found that a combination of leading symptoms and leading signs gave a high sensitivity rate but with an increased likelihood of false positives which needed to be mitigated by ce Read More

Purpose: To assess the local experience with the percutaneous fluoroscopic gastrostomy (PG) with regard to indications, outcome, limitations and complications of the procedure. Method: Retrospective analysis of 33 patients in whom PG was requested and performed over a period of 6 years. Results: All 33 patients had successful catheter placement. Six patients had their catheters advanced to the jejunum (transgastric jejunostom Read More

Between November 1998 and May 1999 a prospective study for HCV antibodies was conducted on 200 patients (113 males and 87 females), with B-thalassemia major and sickle cell-thalassemia, who were attending the thalassemia center at Basrah Maternity and Children Hospital. Their ages ranged from 1-18 years with a mean age of 9 years. Nineteen patients (9.5%) were found to have antibodies in comparison to only one (0.5%) amon Read More