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General Dentistry

Occupational asthma is usually characterized by airway hyperresponsiveness, airway obstruction, and airway inflammation that usually result from exposure to specific irritants in the workplace and is not usually associated with any evidence of exacerbation outside the workplace. Occupational asthma can be associated with complicated long-term outcomes because affected patients are not usually aware of the hazards of the condition. Therefore, applying adequate diagnostic and management approaches is essential to enhance the outcomes among high-risk workers. In the present literature review, we have discussed the causes, diagnosis, and management of occupational asthma based on the evidence obtained from the current studies in the literature. Our findings indicated the presence of various environmental triggers that can lead to the development of asthma in the workplace, including HMW and LMW compounds. The diagnosis of asthma is based on obtaining a thorough personal and clinical history from the affected patient. However, such approaches have been reported to have low specificity rates, and therefore, the diagnosis should be established by other measures as lung function tests. The management of asthma is hugely dependent on the clinical phenotypes of occupational asthma. Nevertheless, applying adequate interventions can significantly enhance the outcomes in the affected patients, in addition to the other measures that have been adequately discussed in the manuscript.

General Medicine, Otorhinolaryngology, and Surgery

General Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics and Pharmacy

Clinical Neurology and Neurology

Introduction The aim of this study was to evaluate the change in the healthcare providers' perceptions regarding the World Health Organization Surgical Safety Checklist (WHO SSC) and patient safety in the operating room (OR) at a tertiary hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted at King Abdulaziz Medical City. Data were collected from two years (2011 and 2019) for comparison. The co-investigators distributed a self-administered Likert scale questionnaire in the various operating areas (35 ORs). Results The total sample was 461. Number of participants enrolled from both years was 235 (51%) and 226 (49%), respectively. The results indicated a statistically significant difference in the attitude of the participants regarding all aspects of patient safety in the OR when the two periods were compared (p < 0.001). Similarly, healthcare providers' perceptions regarding the importance of the WHO SSC increased from 50% (2011) excellent to 68% excellent (2019) (p < 0.001). Conclusions Currently, more healthcare providers recognize the importance of the WHO SSC, and more have a positive attitude toward teamwork, communication, and feeling free to speak out when surgical safety is compromised. All of these cultural changes have positive impact on the overall safety of the OR; however, there are still aspects requiring improvement to provide a safer OR and surgery. Educational interventions regarding the importance of communication and teamwork would improve the safety of surgical care in the OR.

AcademicSubjects/MED00910, jscrep/070, and Case Report

The frontal sinus is the most common site for paranasal mucoceles, resulting in potentially threatening intraorbital or intracranial complications. Surgical drainage of mucoceles is the mainstay of treatment, which can be achieved usually through open or endoscopic transnasal approaches. Transorbital endoscopic surgery is a relatively novel approach to selective skull base lesions with limited data in the literature. It could be utilized as a safe and effective alternative approach in managing frontal sinus lesions when the endoscopic transnasal access alone is insufficient or inadequate. Here, we present a case of an isolated lateral left frontal mucocele that was managed successfully using an endoscopic transorbital approach alone with complete resolution of symptoms during a 10-month follow-up period.

Computer Science Applications and Education

General Medicine

Background Epilepsy, a serious chronic neurological condition effecting up to 100 million people globally, has clear genetic underpinnings including common and rare variants. In Saudi Arabia the prevalence of epilepsy is high and caused mainly by perinatal and genetic factors. No whole-exome sequencing (WES) studies have been performed to date in Saudi Arabian Epilepsy cohorts. This offers a unique opportunity for the discovery of rare genetic variants impacting this disease as there is a high rate of consanguinity amongst large tribal pedigrees. Results We performed WES on 144 individuals diagnosed with epilepsy, to interrogate known Epilepsy related genes for known and functional novel variants. We also used an American College of Medical Genetics (ACMG) guideline based variant prioritization approach in an attempt to discover putative causative variants. We identified a 32 potentially causative pathogenic variants across 30 different genes in 44/144 (30%) of these Saudi Epilepsy individuals. We also identified 232 variants of unknown significance (VUS) across 101 different genes in 133/144 (92%) subjects. Strong enrichment of variants of likely pathogenicity were observed in previously described epilepsy-associated loci, and a number of putative pathogenic variants in novel loci are also observed. Conclusion Several putative pathogenic variants known to be epilepsy-related loci were identified for the first time in our population, in addition to several potential new loci have been identified which may be prioritized for further investigation.

Strategy and Management, Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous), and Education

Ocean Engineering

Education

General Medicine, Surgery, Case Report, Acute gastric volvulus, Organoaxial volvulus, Borchardt's triad, and Gastric gangrene

Introduction and importance Gastric volvulus is the abnormal gastric rotation upon itself. It carries a considerable risk for gastric strangulation which may lead to gangrene and perforation, which can be fatal. It commonly presents with non-specific and vague abdominal symptoms making prompt diagnosis and management imperative. This is a case report describing a case of acute organo-axial gastric volvulus. Case presentation A 74-year-old female, with no comorbidities, presented to our department with non-specific abdominal symptoms. Gastric outlet obstruction was suspected. The patient was reviewed by the gastroenterologist and was offered an urgent upper endoscopy. The upper endoscopy findings described a gastric volvulus, and a Computed Tomography (CT) scan was done to confirm the diagnosis. The patient underwent exploratory/diagnostic laparoscopy and successful reduction and fixation followed. There was no evidence of tissue compromise or ischemia. The patient was discharged on post-operative day 4 following an unremarkable postoperative course. Clinical discussion Acute gastric volvulus is a surgical emergency which can be associated with a high morbidity and mortality, if complications occur. The most important factor in diagnosing acute volvulus of the stomach is a high index of suspicion of the clinical symptoms and should be confirmed by imaging. Contrast enhanced computed tomography (CT) scan is the preferred imaging modality. Urgent surgical intervention is needed to prevent potentially fatal complications. Conclusion Acute Gastric Volvulus is rare and carries the risk of significant morbidity and mortality. Prompt recognition and treatment is required to prevent complications.
Highlights • Acute gastric volvulus is a rare potentially life-threatening condition. • Prompt diagnosis and treatment is vital to improve patient outcome. • Contrast enhanced Computed Tomography is the preferred imaging modality used to confirm the diagnosis of gastric volvulus. • Surgical repair is the treatment of choice.