Qatar Medical Journal - Volume 2011, Issue 1

Rhinoscleroma is a chronic slowly progressive inflammatory condition of the upper airways mostly caused by infection with Klebsiella pneumoniae subspecies rhinoscleromatis and less frequently subspecies ozaenae. The disease is uncommon in developed countries but it still exists in Africa and South America. The disease usually takes a chronic course and diagnosis, which might be delayed, depends on the isolation of the organism from the tissue and the characteristic histopathologic features. We report here a case of rhinoscleroma of the upper airways that presented as a laryngeal mass in a young Egyptian man living in Qatar. The methods of diagnosis and treatment are discussed and the relevant literature reviewed.

Postpartum Endometritis (PPE) is one of the common causes of postpartum fever. PPE leading to decidual abscess has not been reported previously in the literature. Risk factors for PPE range from invasive fetal monitoring to maternal diabetes mellitus and anemia. Our patient had several risk factors for the development of PPE. Commonly PPE is a polymicrobial infection but in our case it was monobacterial. Ultrasonography, tissue histopathology and culture sensitivity are helpful in diagnosing PPE, as well as tailoring the antimicrobial therapy. PPE is a common etiology for postpartum fever and acute infection of decidua which may progress and lead to decidual abscess formation. Endometritis can be monobacterial from the genital tract organisms. Uterine curettage and endometrial tissue culture and sensitivity will guide in tailoring the antimicrobial therapy.

Congenital anomalies of the uterus are often asymptomatic and unrecognized but they may affect a woman's obstetric and gynecological health. A woman with uterus didelphys and a past history of two abortions, two abnormal fetal lie and two previous cesarean sections was admitted in labor to our Obstetrics department. Delivery was smooth and successful without complications. We review briefly the literature on diagnostic methods and complications of uterine anomalies.

A 31-year-old male presented with generalized new-onset tonic-clonic seizure related to severe hypocalcaemia (serum calcium 1.2 mmol/l) caused by idiopathic hypoparathyroidism (parathyroid hormone concentration 6pg;normal 15-65pg). Computerized tomographic scan showed bilateral, symmetrical, intracranial calcifications involving the basal ganglia and the cerebellum.There are few reports in clinical literature describing new-onset seizure caused by primary hypoparathyroidism in adulthood and hypoparathyroidism needs to be considered in the differential diagnosis of adult-onset seizure.

Background: Cellular and animal studies suggest that hypercholesterolemia contributes to Alzheimer disease (AD). However, the relationship between cholesterol and dementia at the population level is less clear and may vary over the lifespan.

Methods: The Prospective Population Study of Women, consisting of 1,462 women without dementia aged 38–60 years, was initiated in 1968–1969 in Gothenburg, Sweden. Follow-ups were conducted in 1974–1975, 1980–1981, 1992–1993, and 2000–2001. All-cause dementia was diagnosed according to DSM-III-R criteria and AD according to National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke, Alzheimer's Disease, and Related Disorders Association criteria. Cox proportional hazards regression examined baseline, time-dependent, and change in cholesterol levels in relation to incident dementia and AD among all participants. Analyses were repeated among participants who survived to the age of 70 years or older and participated in the 2000–2001 examination.

Background: Early detection and treatment of Hepatitis C can change the natural history of disease.

Aim: The primary aim of this study was to detect infection of hepatitis C using a rapid immunochromatographic assay in a community setting. The secondary aims included assessment of prevalence rate and disease characteristics; including liver function tests, viral load, grade and stage of disease on the liver biopsy.

Methods: Two cohorts of 4000 and 321 2 people (.004% of the population) were surveyed over a three week period each between December 2008 through August 2009. Qualitative detection of hepatitis C antibodies was done using a colloidal gold enhanced rapid immunochromatographic assay (Health Chem Diagnostics LLC, FL-USA).Viral load was calculated using RT PCR (Taqman) and those found positive underwent liver biopsy.28 and 33patients with proven chronic hepatitis C formed the controls for validation of the kit used in the first and the second cohort.