Attitudes towards organ donation in Syria: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: The perception of organ donation and brain death among Syrian population has not been previously explored. The goal of this study is to evaluate the attitude and knowledge of organ donation among Syrians and the willingness of this population to donate their organs. METHODS: We conducted a survey-based cross-sectional study in four hospitals in Aleppo, Syria in November 2019. Patient demographic, awareness of brain death; and attitude toward organ donation were collected and analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 350 individuals were invited to participate in the survey among whom 303 (197 females, 106 males) agreed to participate in the study (87% response rate). The majority of our participants (n = 249, 82%) heard about organ donation with television (n = 166, 55%), social media (n = 77, 25%), and the internet (n = 77, 25%) being the most common sources of information. When assessing knowledge about brain death, only 40% (n = 116) answered 3 or more questions (out of 5) correctly. Fifty-eight percent (n = 176) of respondents agreed with the idea of organ donation and 183 (62%) would like to donate their organs one day. The leading motivation to organ donation was the desire to help (n = 234, 77%), while the most common reason to refuse donation was the refusal to disfigure a dead body by removing an organ (n = 125, 41%). Religious reasons were cited as motivation for organ donation by 43% of participants (n = 130), and a reason for refusing to donate organs by 24% (n = 71). Most respondents (n = 261, 88%) were unaware of the laws and legislations related to organ donation in Syria. When asked if religion and law were encouraging organ donation, 76% of respondents (n = 226) would donate their organs. Although more positive attitude was found in those with better brain death knowledge (score ≥ 3), this did not translate into more willingness to donate organs in this group of participants. CONCLUSIONS: The promotion of organ donations from deceased donors is a necessity given the rising shortage of organs. The information provided by this study could help policy makers build future strategies to promote deceased organ donation programs and overcome current obstacles preventing such initiatives from achieving their goals.

LAMN as a differential diagnosis for abdominal pain: a case report from Syria.

Low-grade appendiceal mucinous neoplasms (LAMNs) are papillary or flat mucinous tumors with low-grade cytologic atypia found in <0.3% of appendectomy specimens among older population. They are the most frequent source of pseudomyxoma peritonei. They can be easily misdiagnosed, due to unspecific symptoms, with acute appendicitis, retroperitoneal tumors or adnexal mass. Macroscopically, the appendix may appear normal or be variably dilated. Microscopic study determines whether the studied specimen is LAMN or mucinous adenocarcinomas. We report a 77-year-old patient presented with 15-day abdominal pain accompanied with chills and hyperthermia. Decision was made for right hemicolectomy as a result of the findings on ultrasound and computed tomography scan. Diagnosis was made after the pathologic study, which revealedLAMN.

Ewing's sarcoma in scapula, epidemiology, clinical manifestation, diagnosis and treatment: A literature review.

Background: Ewing's sarcoma (ES) can affect any bone, but its occurrence in the scapula is extremely rare. Only 15 studies investigating this condition exist in the medical literature. Materials and methods: A literature search was conducted in PubMed and Scopus, and studies on ES of scapula published in the English medical literature were retrieved. A total of 15 studies were found and were included in our study. Results: ES prevalence was highest in Asia. Moreover, ES was predominant in males (60%), with a male-to-female ratio of 3:2. ES in 53.3% and 46.6% of the cases were found in the right and left scapula, respectively. The main presentation of patients with ES of scapula was swelling, which was observed in 73.33% of the cases. Of the included studies, 46.6% used plain radiography as the primary investigation method, and 60% used computed tomography for staging and metastasis detection. For definitive diagnosis, 86.6% of the studies used immunohistochemistry markers. Adjuvant chemotherapy was considered in most studies (80%). Neoadjuvant chemotherapy was given in 6 out of 10 cases who underwent surgical treatment. Complications included malignant pleural effusion, respiratory failure, and movement restriction. Conclusion: The scapula is an extremely rare site for ES. Local invasion was found in 63.64% of the cases, whereas pre-metastases were found in 35.71% of the cases. Magnetic resonance imaging was considered to be the best radiological method used to diagnose ES of scapula. Adjuvant chemotherapy, neoadjuvant chemotherapy, and surgery were the main treatments for ES.

A rare case of peritoneal Xanthogranuloma in a 23-year-old woman.

Xanthogranuloma is a very rare tumor when it comes to abdomen. Macroscopically, it is characterized by formation of multiple, golden yellow or bright yellow nodules, whereas histologically, the lesion is predominantly composed of foamy cells mixed with acute and chronic inflammatory cells. We report a case of 23-year-old woman presented to the hospital with chronic constipation, colic abdominal pain and recurrent vomiting. The patient had a history of sigmoid colon volvulus. Radiological investigations showed sigmoid colon elongation, multi-density formations in the left iliac region and pelvis and a small amount of pelvic fluid. Laparoscopy followed by excisional biopsy of the formations were made, and pathological examination showed Xanthogranuloma with no ovarian parenchyma. Hence, Xanthogranuloma should be considered as a differential diagnosis for idiopathic abdominal pain. Laparoscopy and excisional biopsy are suggested procedures when short-term therapy is concerned.