Age-Related Trends of Thyroidectomies in Saudi Arabia: A Multicenter Retrospective Study.

Background: Understanding the relationship between aging and postoperative complications is critical because it may influence how the condition is managed. The safety of thyroidectomy in the older age group is debated in literature. All previous studies were conducted outside of the Middle East, and there is a scarcity of data in the literature describing the relationship between age and postoperative outcomes after thyroidectomy. This study aimed to compare the clinical trends of patients undergoing thyroidectomy between younger and older age groups. Methodology: A multicenter retrospective study was conducted at 3 tertiary care centers in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Our inclusion criteria consisted of patients of all ages of both sexes who underwent thyroidectomy. Patients were divided into 2 age groups, <60 years and ≥60 years. Chi-square test and independent t test were used to evaluate the differences between qualitative and continuous variables. Logistic regression analysis was performed with postoperative complications and length of hospitalization as the dependent variables. Results: A total of 798 patients were included in this study. The <60 years age group was comprised of 81% female patients and 19% male patients, compared to 63.4% female patients and 36.6% male patients in the ≥60 years age group (P < .001). The ≥60 years age group had a statistically significant longer mean postoperative length of hospitalization (5.37 ± 7.21 days) compared to the <60 age group (3.33 ± 4.24 days; P = .003). A total of 14.4% of the patients in the <60 years age group developed at least one postoperative complication compared to 17.9% of the patients in the ≥60 years age group (P = .385). Seroma and recurrent laryngeal nerve injury occurred more commonly in the ≥60 years age group compared to the <60 years age group with a statistically significant difference (P = .003 and P < .001, respectively). In contrast, hypocalcemia occurred more commonly in patients of the <60 years age group with a statistically significant difference (P = .044). These findings were further verified by multivariate logistic regression after adjustment for gender, type of procedure, and type of diagnosis. Conclusion: In our region, the overall risk of developing postoperative complications was not different between the younger and older age groups. However, certain complications were more likely to develop in the older age group which requires vigilance from surgeons performing thyroidectomy. Likewise, the length of hospitalization was significantly longer in the older population. Awareness of complications and challenges of thyroidectomy in the older age group is crucial to improve care.

Failure and complication rates of different materials, designs, and bonding techniques of ceramic cantilever resin-bonded fixed dental prostheses for restoring missing anterior teeth: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this review was to assess clinical trials that have examined the materials, design, and bonding of ceramic cantilevered resin-bonded fixed dental prostheses (RBFDPs) as a potential option for replacing missing anterior teeth. The evaluation primarily focuses on the rate of restoration failure and clinical complications. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A thorough search of databases including PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, and the Cochrane Library, was conducted. The most recent search was performed in October 2023. Clinical studies that compared ceramic cantilevered RBFDPs with double retainers or cantilevered RBFDPs using different ceramic materials or bonding systems were included. The outcome measures considered were restoration failure and complication rates. RESULTS: Twelve studies met the eligibility criteria. The pooled data showed a statistically significant decrease in complication events when using cantilever designs compared with double retainer designs (p < 0.05); however, there were no differences found between the two designs in terms of restoration failure. The complication and failure rate of cantilever RBFDPs did not show a statistically significant difference with or without ceramic primer application before luting with phosphate monomer-containing luting resin (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Ceramic cantilevered RBFDPs have lower complication rates compared with those with double retainers. The use of a ceramic primer prior to luting composite resin for ceramic cantilevered RBFDPs decreases the occurrence of complications and failures, although this effect was not statistically significant. Additional research is required to confirm these findings. Glass ceramic cantilever RBFDPs showed a decrease in success after 6 years, requiring ongoing monitoring, but both zirconia and glass-infiltrated alumina cantilever RBFDPs have demonstrated durability with excellent long-term success and survival rates for up to 10 and 15 years. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Cantilever ceramic RBFDPs in the anterior region are a less invasive and valuable treatment option, providing good esthetic results.

Demographics and Characteristics of Acutely Decompensated Heart Failure (ADHF) Patients in a Tertiary Care Center in Saudi Arabia.

BACKGROUND: Acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) has been defined as the gradual or rapid change in heart failure (HF) signs and symptoms resulting in a need for urgent therapy. Patients with ADHF usually have multiple comorbidities that contribute to the severity of exacerbation at admission, including diabetes mellitus and chronic kidney disease. The prognosis for these individuals is generally poor, with a high risk of readmission and death after discharge. Unfortunately, there are limited studies in Saudi Arabia reporting the characteristics of such patients. We aim to study the demographics and characteristics of ADHF patients admitted to King Abdulaziz University Hospital (KAUH) and analyze gender discrepancies and in-hospital mortality. METHODS: This retrospective record review was conducted at KAUH. The study included 425 patients diagnosed with ADHF. The New York Heart Association (NYHA) classification, underlying etiology of HF, comorbidities, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), vital signs, comprehensive metabolic panel at admission, and in-hospital mortality were evaluated and analyzed. RESULTS: The majority of the patients were males (52.5%), and the average age was 63 ± 13.75 years. The most prevalent etiology of HF was hypertensive heart disease (51.8%), followed by ischemic heart disease (42.8%). The most common comorbidity was diabetes mellitus (73.6%), and the most common medication administered was diuretics (95.5%). The mean LVEF was 37.9% ± 16.0. In-hospital mortality occurred in 10.4% of patients. The mean length of hospitalization was 16.7 ± 86.2 days. The mean blood urea nitrogen (BUN) (17.18 ± 11.16) and creatinine (243.34 ± 222.27) were higher in patients with in-hospital mortality. The mean difference was statistically significant (P = 0.003 and P = 0.014). A higher length of hospitalization was significantly associated with in-hospital mortality (P = 0.036). CONCLUSION: We found more than half of our sample to be males and diabetes mellitus to be common among ADHF patients. Elevated BUN and creatinine levels at the time of presentation, as well as patients who had been in the hospital for a more extended period of time, were found to be associated with an increased risk of in-hospital mortality.

Significance of the longitudinal component of paraxial light in position-dependent selection rules for quadrupole atomic transitions.

It is well established that the longitudinal component of paraxial optical vortices has a key role in specific atomic quadrupole transitions near the beam axis when the spin and orbital angular momenta are antiparallel. By deriving analytical expressions for the position-dependent selection rules, this work shows that the significant role of the longitudinal fields is not limited to this case, but rather is a more general feature for any paraxial light including, for example, optical vortices with parallel spin and orbital angular momenta as well as Guassian beams. Numerically, the transition strengths induced by the weaker longitudinal component can be twice as high as those by the stronger transverse component. We also show that there are transitions that can be induced exclusively by the longitudinal component for light carrying two quanta of orbital angular momentum.

Impact of Mass Media on the General Population's Knowledge and Attitudes Toward Rheumatoid Arthritis in Qassim, Saudi Arabia.

Objectives This study aimed to assess the general population's knowledge of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), its health consequences, and the impact of mass media on their knowledge and attitudes in Qassim, Saudi Arabia. Methods A cross-sectional study was used through an online questionnaire to determine the general characteristics of participants and the influence of mass media on their knowledge, attitudes, and fears toward RA. An online pretested and standardized questionnaire was distributed through social media using combined convenience and snowball sampling that targeted the general population residing in Qassim, Saudi Arabia, between 10 January and 11 March 2022. Frequencies and percentages were employed as descriptive statistics. To examine the statistical differences in knowledge scores between various sociodemographic factors, the student's t-test and analysis of variance were used. Results A total of 419 participants were included. About 20.3% of the participants were unaware of RA. Mean knowledge showed very low scores of 2.5 ± 2.24 out of 15. There were no significant differences in knowledge when it was compared with different sociodemographic variables, except for marital status and monthly income. There was a positive attitude toward the seriousness of RA. The correlation of knowledge scores with attitude and fear scores showed a poor or negligible correlation (rho= 0.130, p=0.008), whereas, with media influence, there was a low positive correlation (rho= 0.347 p<0.001). Conclusion This study found that even though our sample population had acceptable views concerning the significance of rheumatoid arthritis, their understanding of the condition was lacking. To promote knowledge of RA and its unfavorable health impact on affected individuals, public awareness initiatives with substantial media influence should be implemented.