RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Upper gastrointestinal malignancy occurs in variable frequencies among different populations and there is an increasing epidemiological data in The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. AIM OF THE STUDY: To determine the frequency of upper gastrointestinal malignancy in an endoscopic population in Gizan. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A retrospective analysis of 63 patients who had esophageal or gastric malignancy among 2572 patients evaluated in a 6-year period ( July 1992 to June 1998) at King Fahad Central Hospital in Gizan. RESULTS: Esophageal cancer was found in 39 patients (20 males and 19 females), whereas gastric malignancy in 24 (22 males and two females). The majority of the patients were in their seventh and eighth decade of life with male predominance. Seven patients had primary gastric lymphoma and one patient had primary malignant melanoma of the esophagus. CONCLUSION: Upper gastrointestinal malignancy represented 2.4% of 2572 endoscoped patients, occurring more commonly among elderly male.
RESUMEN
We describe the clinical patterns and case-fatality rate associated with severe Rift Valley fever (RVF) in patients who were admitted to the Gizan regional referral hospital during an outbreak of RVF in Saudi Arabia from September through November 2000. A total of 165 consecutive patients (136 men and 29 women) were prospectively studied; all were identified according to a strict case definition, were confirmed to have RVF by serologic testing, and were treated according to a predetermined protocol. The major clinical characteristics of RVF included a high frequency of hepatocellular failure in 124 patients (75.2%), acute renal failure in 68 patients (41.2%), and hemorrhagic manifestations in 32 patients (19.4%). Sixteen patients had retinitis and 7 patients had meningoencephalitis as late complications in the course of the disease. A total of 56 patients (33.9%) died. Hepatorenal failure, shock, and severe anemia were major factors associated with patient death.
