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Background: Urolithiasis is the most common urological problem worldwide. It is a recurrent multifactorial problem that is caused by the interaction of several environmental and genetic factors. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of renal stones among local residents in Saudi Arabia in order to renew the statistics of renal stones occurrence in the current Saudi population. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using an electronic questionnairethat was distributed randomly through phones and social media to reach the local residents in Saudi Arabia. We then reviewed the published papers in Saudi journals for patients with renal stones. Results: From a total of 580 responders to the electronic questionnaire, the prevalence of renal stones was 9.1% ( n = 64). The median age at diagnosis was 29 years and the mean age at diagnosis was 36.91 years (SD = 18.66, Range of 20–99). Two peaks of age were observed, the first peak was at the (21–25) age group representing 34.4% of the kidney stones patients. The second peak was older than 47 years. The majority of those diagnosed with kidney stones had normal BMI ( n = 29, 45.3%), and the family history of kidney stones among first degree relatives was found in 35.9% of the cases ( n = 23). Conclusion: Kidney stones is a common health problem with the local incidence being underreported. In our sample, the prevalence was 9.1%. We also observed a relatively high percentage of positive family history among renal stone patients (34.9%) that could be attributed to the high rates of consanguinity. We encourage more local epidemiological studies to describe the patterns and the contributing factors of the development of kidney stones.

Objectives: To investigate the prevalence and significance of different endocrinopathies in children and adolescents with transfusion-dependent thalassemia and sickle-cell anemia. Methods: This is a descriptive, retrospective study between January 2010 and July 2018 in King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Data was collected through reviewing electronic hospital medical records then filling out data collection sheets and was interpreted through the IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows version 20.0 (IBM Corp, Armonk, NY, USA). Original Article Results: The total sample size was 119 patients, gender equality was almost achieved with 55.5% being male and 45.5% being female. The most common endocrinopathies were identified in the following order of short stature (39.5%), diabetes mellitus (29.4%), hypogonadism (12.6%), osteopenia (12.6%), osteoporosis (9.2%), hypothyroidism (9.2%), hypocortisolism (3.4%), and hypoparathyroidism (2.5%). All of which were statistically significant in their relationship to hemoglobinopathies with the exception of osteopenia and osteoporosis. Hypogonadism and hypocortisolism were found to be statistically significant in their relationship to a positive history of splenectomy at p=0.026 and p=0.012. Short stature was found to be statistically significant in its relationship to the male gender with a p=0.001. Conclusion: Endocrinopathy is a frequent complication of hemoglobinopathies, for which the most common were found to be short stature, diabetes mellitus, and low bone mineral density.

Otitis media is a major cause of health care visits across the world, and its complications are significant causes of preventable hearing loss, predominantly in the developing world. They are a group of inflammatory and complex infective conditions that affect the middle ear. They have several different subtypes, and affects primarily children from 3 to 7 years of age. When not treated properly, they can lead to many complications including permanent hearing loss. In this article we will discuss updates on recent scientific developments in the field of otitis media clinical management and research. We conducted this review using a comprehensive search of MEDLINE, PubMed and EMBASE from January 1979 to March 2017. The following search terms were used: otitis media, middle ear infections, pediatric infections, causes of otitis media, treatment otitis media, and prevention of otitis media. Otitis media is one of the most common pathologies in the pediatric age group making it one the most common reasons of doctor visits. Fortunately, the management is simple and promising, but if neglected, can lead to several complications including permanent hearing loss. Newer studies are focusing on preventive measures such as pneumococcal vaccine, and in avoiding creation of resistant species of the common bacteria that cause the pathology.