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Background and objectiveLabor pain is one of the most severe forms of pain that women experience throughout their lifetime. Many pregnant women decide to have an epidural anesthesia to cope with labor pain. This study has focused on general awareness about epidural anesthesia among pregnant women in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional hospital-based study using a self-administered questionnaire, conducted in King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center and International Medical Centre. The study was carried out from July to September 2016 and included all pregnant women who were having a routine antenatal care. They were asked about four main topics that tapped their knowledge on epidural anesthesia. A total of 384 questionnaires were returned and analyzed. Data were analyzed by SPSS version 21 using chi-square and multivariate logistic regression.ResultsAccording to multivariate logistic regression, women aged between 21–35 years were more likely to opt for an epidural anesthesia (EPA) than those aged less than 20 years, but women aged >35 years were less likely to select EPA, compared with women < 20 years old. Women who were previously exposed to EPA were 2.14 times more likely to prefer EPA during their current pregnancy than those who were not previously exposed (O.R 95% C.I: 1.123–3.66, p=0.006). Those who believed that EPA was commonly used by other women in the Kingdom were also 1.41 times more likely to report their preference to EPA (O.R 95% C.I: 1.15–1.74, p=0.001).ConclusionThis study demonstrates a lack of knowledge about EPA in certain countries but is better than in some other countries. In an aim to fill this gap, it is recommended that information about EPA must be given to all women during the antenatal visit either by the obstetrician, anesthetist, or through flyers and brochures.

BackgroundPoly (ADP-ribose) polymerases-1 (PARP1) alterations are associated with PARP1 inhibitor resistance, regulating the function of Treg cells and PDL1 expression in tumor cells, and high PARP1 expression is significantly associated with aggressive behavior and chemotherapeutic resistance in several tumors. However, a comprehensive analysis of the predictive values of PARP1 alteration for immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) effectiveness in tumors remains unclear, and the associations between its expression and immunotherapy signatures also needs to be explored further.MethodsWe performed some analyses with the cBioPortal online database (https://www.cbioportal.org), TIMER2.0 (Tumor Immune Estimation Resource 2.0, http://timer.comp-genomics.org/) and TCGA database (https://xenabrowser.net or https://portal.gdc.cancer.gov/). Survival analysis was conducted using Kaplan–Meier method, and the associations between PARP1 transcription levels and immune checkpoint gene expression, the number of neoantigens, tumor mutation burden (TMB) levels, and microsatellite instability (MSI) event are analyzed by spearman correlation analysis and visualization of those mentioned above is performed using R, version 3.6.3 (http://www.r-project.org/).ResultsWe found that PARP1 was altered in 1338 (2.9%) out of 45604 patients with diverse tumors, which was associated with markedly higher TMB levels in a variety of tumors (P &lt; 0.01). Impressively, patients with PARP1 alterations in advanced tumors showed better overall survival (OS) in the ICI-treated cohort (P = 0.016). PARP1 altered group was substantially correlated with higher immune infiltrates across most tumors, including CD8+ T cells in colorectal adenocarcinoma (P = 0.0061), endometrial carcinoma (P = 0.0033), stomach cancer (P = 0.033), and cervical cancer (P = 0.026), respectively. The PARP1 altered group showed high expression in transcription (P &lt; 0.001), and higher expression of LAG3, PDCD1, CTLA-4, and TIGIT (P &lt; 0.05). Higher PARP1 expression was present in 27 tumor compared the corresponding normal tissues using the GTEx and TCGA databases and it had a worse OS in several tumors (P &lt; 0.05). Further, high PARP1 expression was significantly associated with six immune cells (B cells, CD4+ T cells, CD8+ T cells, macrophages, neutrophils, and dendritic cells) in most tumors, including colon adenocarcinoma (COAD), head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSC), kidney renal clear cell carcinoma (KIRC), and liver hepatocellular carcinoma (LIHC) (P &lt; 0.05). In particular, CD8+T cell infiltration, was also positively correlated with high PARP1 expression in bladder urothelial carcinoma (BLCA), breast invasive carcinoma (BRCA), kidney renal papillary cell carcinoma (KIRP), brain lower grade glioma (LGG), LIHC, pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PAAD), pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma (PCPG), prostate adenocarcinoma (PRAD), rectum adenocarcinoma (READ), testicular germ cell tumors (TGCT), thymoma (THYM), uterine corpus endometrial carcinoma (UCEC), uveal melanoma (UVM) (P &lt; 0.05, no data shown), and PARP1 expression was significantly positively correlated with the transcription levels of some of the 47 immune checkpoint genes, such as CD274, CTLA4, and PDCD1 in several tumors, including PAAD, LIHC, KIRC, HNSC, and BLCA (P &lt; 0.05). A significant positive association between PARP1 expression and the number of immune neoantigen was found within COAD, KIRC, lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD), PAAD and THYM (P &lt; 0.05), and there were also significantly positive correlations between PARP1 expression and TMB in many tumors like adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC), COAD, kidney chromophobe (KICH), LGG, LUAD, READ, skin cutaneous melanoma (SKCM) and stomach adenocarcinoma (STAD) (P &lt; 0.05). In addition, high PARP1 expression was positively associated with microsatellite instability event in COAD, KIRP, BRCA, glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC), LGG, READ, UCEC, SKCM and LUAD (P &lt; 0.05).ConclusionsOur results highlight the significance of PARP1 alterations as pan-cancer predictive biomarkers for ICI treatment, and its expression levels seem to be correlated with the status of immunotherapy-associated signatures, thus may be a promising biomarker for predicting ICI response in several tumors.

Objectives:To evaluate the surgical feasibility and the long-term anatomical and functional results and complication rates in patients with Mullerian aplasia who underwent vaginal reconstruction.Methods:A retrospective observational case series study over 8 years was conducted in King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre – Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. All cases diagnosed as Mullerian aplasia and who underwent surgical correction were included. Painless and satisfactory vaginal intercourse after surgery were the main outcome measured.Results:A total of 19 patients were diagnosed with Mullerian agenesis and underwent vaginal reconstruction by Mclndoe technique with minor modification. All of our patients who were sexually active and were compliant with mold use postoperatively were able to achieve 100% painless and satisfactory sexual intercourse.Conclusions:Minor modification in McIndoe technique provides easier, safer and deeper dissection that minimizes the complications and helps in maximizing the vaginal length. It provides satisfactory and functional vagina in the majority of the patients.

Germ cell neoplasms represent around 20% of all ovarian tumors. They most frequently affect children and young adults. Mature cystic teratoma is a common benign ovarian neoplasm comprising about 95% and is made up of all three germ cell embryonic layers. By definition, mature cystic teratoma may be derived from any of the three germ cell lines. On the other hand, immature teratomas contain primitive neuroepithelial elements. However, it is quite uncommon in the English literature to have a neuroepithelial glial neoplasm arising in a mature cystic teratoma of an adolescent. Interestingly enough, all published cases described a single type of glial neoplasm arising in mature ovarian teratoma. Herein, the authors discuss a unique case of concomitant occurrence of two different glial neoplasms, namely pilocytic astrocytoma and subependymoma arising in an ovarian mature cystic teratoma. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case with such a distinctive histopathologic finding.

BackgroundMixed trophoblastic tumor composed of choriocarcinoma and placental site trophoblastic tumor was diagnosed on histopathology slides review, is a very rare mixed tumor and cured after adjuvant chemotherapy.Case presentationTwenty-nine years old, Para 2 female presented with 4 months history of irregular vaginal bleeding after an uncomplicated vaginal delivery. Abdominal examination showed 14 weeks uterus with β-hCG level of 14,889 mIU/ml. Slides review confirmed the diagnosis of placental site trophoblastic tumor (PSTT). Patient underwent total abdominal hysterectomy and resection of anterior vaginal wall mass. Post operative (48 h) β-hCG level was 6016 mIU/ml. Final pathology showed mixed trophoblastic tumor composed of choriocarcinoma (CC) and PSTT. Adjuvant chemotherapy started and continued for three cycles after achieving normal β-hCG.ConclusionPSTT is a rare disease and potentially curable. Differential diagnosis in women presented with vaginal bleeding and a uterine mass in the post partum period must include gestational trophoblastic disease.

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Embryonal Rhabdomyosarcoma ‘Botryoid Type’ is a rare soft tissue tumor that arises within the wall of the bladder or vagina and seen almost exclusively in infants. Treatment is combination of surgery with adjuvants chemotherapy and radiotherapy. We report a case of an 18-month-old Saudi girl presented with history of abdo-pelvic mass, bleeding per vagina and a mass protruding through the introitus. Computed tomography (CT) done reveling large heterogeneous pelvic mass arising from the uterus, biopsy of mass confirmed the diagnosis (sarcomabotryoidal). The patient received multiple cycles of combination chemotherapy as a neoadjuvant treatment then underwent total abdominal hysterectomy with upper vaginectomy. Postoperatively, the patient received more cycles of chemotherapy. CT scan for post-treatment evaluation was done and showed no evidence of local recurrence or distant metastasis. Currently, she is disease-free on remission with no complains.