Qatar Medical Journal - Volume 2008, Issue 2

“Abul Abbas Ahmad Ibn Muhammad Ibn Kathir A1 Farghani, a Muslim Scientist who was one of the most prominent astronomers and philosophers of the 9th Century. Born in Farghana, Transoxiana (now part of Uzbekistan) he moved to Egypt where he eventually died.

Papers considered for publication in Qatar Medical Journal are those reporting original work, review articles and case reports that are particularly

We read with interest reports in Al Jazeera News(1) and Reuters News(2) of a new tuberculosis vaccine trial in South Africa and are pleased to learn that the Phase IIMVA85 A trial will begin shortly in the Western Cape, South Africa. The vaccine was developed by researchers at Oxford University and it works in tandem with BCG and acts as a booster to the older vaccine. Previous tests have already shown it produces a very high immune res Read More

To determine whether morbid obesity increased morbidity in abdominoplasty 200 mostly female patients (100 patients morbidly obese and 100 overweight and obese) were studied but showed no statistically significant difference in the complication rate between the two categories nor between them and the international rate of complication of dermolipectomy in non-obese patients although co-morbid diseases did increase the risk o Read More

In a prospective study at the Surgical Specialty HospitalMedical City Teaching Hospital, Baghdad30 immunocompromised patients with oral candidiasis (thrush) of the tongue were treated with diode laser irradiation, antifungal antibiotics or ordinary light irradiation as a placebo. A fungicidal effect was achieved in those treated by irradiation with 805 nm wavelength semiconductor diode laser using a power of 1W and continuous working mo Read More

To evaluate invasive (biopsy related) tests and noninvasive (serological) tests in the diagnosis of H.pylori, ninety-two adults (54 male, 38 female) presenting with dyspepsia were studied after classification into two groups on the basis of endoscopical diagnosis; 46 patients with erosive diseases (gastroduodenal ulcers or gastroduodenal erosions) and 46patients with non-erosive diseases (gastritis or gastroduodenitis). Sera were teste Read More

Thumb hypoplasia and aplasia are disabling congenital deformities and in the more severe cases (Grades IV and V) the only possibility is pollicisation Some Grade III hypoplasia cases are more severe with absence of the trapezio-metacarpal joint and most of the first metacarpal These cases are best treated by amputation and pollicisation. The authors describe in detail pollicisation of the index and its pitfalls.

Hepatitis C is a major and increasing health problem in Egypt. To assess the awareness, knowledge, and attitudes of the general public towards Hepatitis C a KAP crosssectional study was conducted in Port Said between May and November 2005 on 395 randomly selected individuals over 18 years of age. A structured questionnaire collected data for the assessment ofpersonal characteristics, general knowledge about Hepatitis C, awareness abou Read More

A prospective! descriptive! non-comparative pilot study was used to evaluate the efficacy of intravitreal injection of triamcinolone acetonide (TA) for the treatment of patients with refractory diabetic macular edema that had not responded to laser treatment. Forty eyes of 35 patients with visual acuity (VA) < 6/12 were infected with TA 4 mgl 0.1 cc under topical anesthesia. Results were assessed and analyzed using changes in visual acuity ( Read More

Objectives: To describe the clinical features of prolactin-producing pituitary adenoma (prolactinoma) in adult patients. Methods: In a prospective hospital-based study, adult patients with prolactinoma presenting to the National Center for Neurological diseases and the National Center for cancer in Khartoum, Sudan were enrolled in the period from January 2001 to February 2005. The diagnosis was based on finding a pituitary adenoma o Read More

To assess the effect of an insulin pump on the glycemic control as well as the body mass index (BMI) of children with type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM1), 23 patients under the age of 18 years were monitored for one year or more. HbAlc concentration decreased from 9.36+/- 2.02% to 8.54+/-1.149%. The BMI increased significantly from 17.12+/- 2.236 to 20.4+1- 2.93. No hypoglycemia was reported in any of the patients after using the pump. Read More

The internal concealment of highly profitable illicit drugs such as cocaine and heroin, by means of body packing is an important means of international drug trafficking. This phenomenon is apparently uncommon in Qatar, with only one reported case thus far. Here, we present a case of body packer who was transiting Doha and was found to be carrying 90 internalized packets of heroin. Regardless of whether this is another isolated case or an Read More

Background of the Study: The clinical experience that there is a great variability in the ease of performing lumbar microdiscectomy, in particular while instructing the trainee surgeons. Objective: To determine the role of the pre operative symptoms, it is duration and the radiological findings on influencing the procedure of lumbar microdiscectomy for a single lumbar disc prolapse. Method: A prospective study of 82 patients with a sin Read More

Arterio-venous hemangiomas (also called vascular malformations) are uncommon lesions in general and very rarely reported as solitary lung tumors with no evidence of fistula formation or clinical evidence of shunting. We report the case of a 49 year old Indian male who presented to our institution with a right hilar lung mass which was histologically proven to be a classical arteriovenous hemangioma (vascular malformation). The patient Read More

A 34-year-old male presented with a pulsatile lesion of the left external ear. Previous attempts at excision had resulted in uncontrollable bleeding. This time, under general anesthesia and a hypotensive technique, the lesion was approached distally and anteriorly through the conchal cartilage, the feeder vessels were ligated and the lesion was removed successfully with no resultant deformity to the external ear

Thiamine-responsive megaloblastic anemia (TRMA) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder including megaloblastic anemia, thrombocytopaenia, diabetes mellitus and progressive sensorineural deafness. We report cases of two infants, aged respectively four and five months, hospitalized for diabetic-acido-ketosis requiring insulin therapy. Laboratory tests revealed megaloblasic anemia, thrombocytopenia and normal thiamine-levels. Neurosenso Read More

A 46-year-old female presented with a 20-day history of right pleuritic chest pain and progressive shortness of breath. She was found to have a right pleural based malignancy initially thought to be a malignant mesothelioma but staining with the mesothelioma tumor markers calretinin, HBME-1 and CK5/6, was negative. Some epithelial markers were positive and microscopically it was consistent with a poorly differentiated large-cell carcin Read More