Background Diabetes mellitus (DM) is one of the most common diseases worldwide and affects many patients all over the globe. Diabetic complications vary between microvascular and macrovascular, affecting a wide range of organs and systems in the body. Understanding, determining, and in return, preventing such factors is essential to alleviate the quality of life of diabetic patients. Therefore, we aim to determine the poor glycemic control and the factors associated with it in our diabetes population. Methods This is a retrospective study where data was reviewed for all patients with Type II DM (T2DM) who attended the chronic illness clinic at King Khaled Hospital in Tabuk. We included patients aged ≥ 18 years, of Saudi nationality, and residents of the Tabuk region. Any patient not satisfying all the inclusion criteria was excluded from the current study. Diagnosis with diabetes was made according to the American Diabetes Association guidelines, 2020. Patients' demographic data, medical history, and social and lifestyle history were extracted from records. In addition, age, body mass index (BMI), drugs (insulin vs. oral hypoglycemic agents), duration of the disease, lipid profile, and other comorbidities were also extracted from the files. A pvalue of <0.05 was selected as the statistically significant level in all tests. Results A total of 697 patients were included in the current study, with a mean age of 58.2±11.6 years. The mean glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) of the study participants was 8.4±1.7%, and their fasting blood sugar (FBS) level was 9.9±3.9 mmol/l. With HbA1c cutoff at 7%, the overall prevalence of poor glycemic control was 81.5% (565/693). A higher prevalence of poor glycemic control was reported among study participants with higher DM duration (p=0.002). Diabetes complications were found in 208 (29.8%) of the study participants, where microvascular complications were present in 140 patients, and microvascular ones were found in 102. In the logistic regression model, older patients were less prone to poor glycemic control (OR=0.98; 95% CI=0.96-0.99; p=0.010). In addition, longer disease duration was a predictive factor of poor glycemic control (OR=1.05; 95% CI=1.02-1.08; p=0.003). Furthermore, the usage of combined insulin and tablet treatments were associated with a higher risk of poor glycemic control when compared to insulin only treatments (OR=4.65; 95% CI=1.55-13.94; p=0.006). Conclusion The results of this study indicate a high prevalence rate of poor glycemic control among Saudi patients, which is higher than previous reports have shown. More interest should be given to awareness programs with regard to promoting self-control protocols for the disease.

Objectives: The aim of this study is to describe the clinical manifestations along with the laboratory and radiographic findings in the local pediatric population in order to better understand the novel corona virus and its implications on the pediatric age group. Method:The Pediatric Coronavirus in Saudi Arabia (PERSONA) study, a retrospective cohort, was conducted at Dr. Soliman Fakeeh Hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to analyse the clinical, laboratory and radiological findings of pediatric patients confirmed to have the novel coronavirus through PCR for COVID-19 taken via nasopharyngeal swabs from March 1, 2020 to May 13, 2020.Result: Approximately 54% (13/24) were male and 46% (11/24) were female. Patients ages ranged from 13 days to 17 years with an average of about 8.4 years and a standard deviation of 5.87 years. Leucopoenia was present in 4/22 patients, while 75% had normal white blood cell counts. Neutropenia was evident in 25% (6/22) of patients while 83.3% (20/22) of patients exhibited normal lymphocyte counts. Eosinopenia was the striking finding in 75% (18/22) of those in the study while only four (16.7%) of the COVID-19 patients showed normal eosinophil counts. Conclusion:Eosinopenia may be a sign of less severe infection in children and therefore should be further studied. More research is needed in the region to better understand the implications of the novel corona virus and whether disease course and burden differs across nations and from adults to pediatrics. What's Known on this Subject:The novel corona virus first emerged in Wuhan in December 2019. This virus is spread by respiratory droplets and initially infects the respiratory system. Most studies done to present day have been on the effect of the virus in adults. What this Study Adds:This study explores the effect of COVID-19 on children in Saudi Arabia and whether their clinical, laboratory and radiological features are similar to children in China. This study will help to better understand the disease course in this age group.

OBJECTIVE:The purpose of this study was to assess the available pediatric pulmonary services, in terms of workforce, resources, and distribution across Saudi Arabia. This would help in proper utilization of resources and direct future planning.METHODS:A cross-sectional survey among pediatric pulmonologists registered in the Saudi Thoracic Society.RESULTS:Among 43 practicing pediatric pulmonologist in Saudi Arabia, 29 have responded to the survey (response rate of 67.4%). The majority of practicing pediatric pulmonologists were young graduates with less than 5 years’ experience (44.8%) and were North American training programs graduates (69%). The majority of the respondents (51%) were located in Riyadh, 27% in Jeddah, 14% in the Eastern region and 3% in Madinah and Al-Majma’a. Most of the respondents had access to basic diagnostic tools required in the subspecialty, a majority of them (85%) lack dedicated pediatric pulmonary function laboratories. Nearly, 80% of the hospitals performed less than 50 flexible bronchoscopies/year.CONCLUSION:Pediatric pulmonology is a growing subspecialty in Saudi Arabia with well-trained and experienced physicians. Our study represents an overview of the available pediatric pulmonology services in Saudi Arabia, which would help in future planning and better utilization of the available resources.

Pneumonia is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in children less than 5 years of age 1. According to a systematic review, hypoxaemia as detected with pulse oximetry has been observed in 13% of children with WHO-defined pneumonia requiring hospitalisation (severe and very severe classifications). This corresponds to at least 1.5 to 2.7 million annual cases of hypoxaemic pneumonia presenting to health-care facilities 2. This study was aimed to identify the clinical predictive values of hypoxemia in children with radiographic evidence of Pneumonia. A retrospective cohort study was conducted at Dr. Soliman Fakeeh Hospital. The aim of the study was to seek an association between pulse oxygen saturation and radiographic pneumonia in the pediatric age group. Data was collected and analyzed in IBM SPSS Version 20. The results were significant for hypoxemia across all age groups, [x 2 (1, N=755) = 10.327, p = .001]. Approximately 94% of patients with hypoxemia had pneumonia. Due to its statistical significance, evaluation of oxygen saturation for hypoxemia may be useful in the assessment of pneumonia risk among children in settings with underprivileged resources.

This is a review of autism spectrum disorders. It presents the symptoms of the disease discussing the age of diagnosis and first symptoms encountered. It is a polygenic disease that occurs mainly in boys. The importance of early diagnosis is emphasized. The assessment scales used for early diagnosis are discussed. The anatomic basis of the disease is detailed. The molecular genetic aspects, and the techniques employed are reviewed. Special emphasis is placed in chromosome abnormalities observed in autism. Its incidence worldwide is increasing dramatically. This is considered to be due to epigenetic events. Several hypotheses for such epigenetic processes are discussed. Finally the state of intervention in autism and its paradigms are detailed. (J Pediatr Neurol 2003; 1(2): 55?67).