Egyptian Consensus on the Role of Lung Ultrasonography During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic.

Background & Aims: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a global health problem, presenting with symptoms ranging from mild nonspecific symptoms to serious pneumonia. Early screening techniques are essential in the diagnosis and assessment of disease progression. This consensus was designed to clarify the role of lung ultrasonography versus other imaging modalities in the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A multidisciplinary team consisting of experts from different specialties (ie, pulmonary diseases, infectious diseases, intensive care unit and emergency medicine, radiology, and public health) who deal with patients with COVID-19 from different geographical areas was classified into task groups to review the literatures from different databases and generate 10 statements. The final consensus statements were based on expert physically panelists' discussion held in Cairo July 2021 followed by electric voting for each statement. Results: The statements were electronically voted to be either "agree," "not agree," or "neutral." For a statement to be accepted to the consensus, it should have 80% agreement. Conclusion: Lung ultrasonography is a rapid and useful tool, which can be performed at bedside and overcomes computed tomography limitations, for screening and monitoring patients with COVID-19 with an accepted accuracy rate.

Colorectal cancer in Arab world: A systematic review.

BACKGROUND: The incidence of colorectal cancer (CRC) is increasing among young individuals in the Arab world as well as in other regions of the world. AIM: To explore the incidence and prevalence of CRC in the Arab world. METHODS: The PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, EBSCO and Wiley databases were searched to retrieve relevant articles irrespective of the language or the publication year. The search terms were "("colon OR rectum OR sigmoid OR rectal OR colonic OR colorectal") AND ("cancer OR malignancy OR malignant OR neoplasm") AND ("Jordan" OR "United Arab Emirates" OR "Bahrain" OR "Tunisia" OR "Algeria" OR "Djibouti" OR "Saudi Arabia" OR "Sudan" OR "Syria" OR "Somalia" OR "Iraq" OR "Oman" OR "Palestine" OR "Qatar" OR "Comoros" OR "Kuwait" OR "Lebanon" OR "Libya" OR "Egypt" OR "Morocco" OR "Mauritania" OR "Yemen"). Reviews, meta-analyses, and articles containing nonoriginal data were excluded. Retrieved articles were screened, and relevant data were extracted. Descriptive statistics were used for data analysis. RESULTS: Nine studies were included. Five of the studies provided information regarding the prevalence of CRC. The prevalence of CRC was 0.72% in Saudi Arabia and 0.78% in the United Arab Emirate, while in Egypt, it ranged from 0.4% to 14%. Four studies showed information regarding the incidence. The annual incidence rate of CRC in Qatar was 7.5/100000/year. In Egypt, the crude incidence rate (CIR) in males was 3.1 for colon cancer and 1 for rectal cancer, while in females, it was 2.3 for colon cancer and 0.8 for rectal cancer. The age-standardized rate for CRC incidence in 2003 was 36.90 for males, 26.50 for females, and 30.49 for both sexes in Saudi Arabia. In 2016, the CIRs in Saudi Arabia were 3.6 and 2.1 in females for colon cancer and rectal cancer, respectively, while in males, it was 3.3 and 2.8 for colon cancer and rectal cancer, respectively. One study in Egypt revealed that 25% of CRC cases occurred among individuals younger than 40 years old. CONCLUSION: There is a considerable prevalence of CRC in some Arab countries. More studies are needed to explore the incidence and prevalence of CRC in the rest of the Arab world.

Janus Kinase-2 Mutation Associated Portal Vein Thrombosis Complicating Liver Cirrhosis and Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Portal vein thrombosis (PVT) might be a catastrophic event complicating liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). AIM: role of JAK2 RS V617F mutation as a risk factor for PVT development in liver cirrhosis and HCC. METHODS: A case control study conducted on 100 PVT patients (76 HCC and 24 liver cirrhosis) additionally, 100 healthy individuals used as a control group. PVT was diagnosed incidentally by Doppler ultrasound during routine follow-up HCC screening. Prothrombin G20210A mutation, MTHFR mutation, Factor V Leiden mutation (VFL), antithrombin III (ATIII), protein C, S, and antiphospholipid antibodies, along with JAK2 RS V617F  mutation by real-time polymerase chain reaction all were analyzed. RESULTS: Patients with PVT were significantly older (p <0.001), thrombocytopenic (p <0.001), with high alkaline phosphatase (p <0.001). JAK2 RS V617F mutation was found in 28/100 (28%) in idiopathic PVT complicating liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Cases with positive JAK2 rs V617F mutation were significantly accompanied by protein S deficiency (P 0.03), LA absence (p 0.06), and high frequency of ascites (P 0.03). While, the MTHFR heterozygous mutation (p0.001), ATIII (P 0.02), and VFL (P 0.01) were more frequent with negative JAK2 rs V617F mutation. The comparison between demographic data and thrombophilic parameters in PVT cases revealed that no significant differences were recorded except for male gender, Diabetes Mellitus, splenomegaly significantly increased among HCC cases (p <0.05). CONCLUSIONS: JAK2 rs V617F mutation must be considered in any case of PVT with liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma without identified thrombophilic risk factors, with potential considerations of evolving myeloproliferative disorders. New diagnostic and therapeutic implications are still awaited.