The use of endo-vascular balloon tamponade technique for the removal of a misplaced nephrostomy tube in the inferior vena cava: A case report

AbstractIntroductionInadvertent placement of a nephrostomy tube into the inferior vena cava (IVC) is an extremely rare complication with few reported cases in the literature.Case presentationWe present a lady with obstructive uropathy in a solitary kidney in whom an attempt by the community radiologist to place a nephrostomy tube was complicated by wrong insertion into the IVC. This report illustrates how a safe non- surgical removal of this tube using an intravenous balloon tamponade technique was successfully applied.DiscussionIntravenous placement of nephrostomy catheters into the inferior vena cava is extremely rare complication. A few case reports have been published in the literature. The majority of these cases were removed in the operating room under general anesthesia. Using Intravenous balloon tamponade technique for removal has not been previously reported.ConclusionIntravenous balloon tamponade technique is effective and is a good minimally invasive alternative to surgical removal of misplaced nephrostomy tube from IVC

Perceived Risk of falls among Acute Care Patients

Purpose: In an effort to lower the number of falls that occur among hospitalized patients, several facilities have begun introducing various fall prevention programs. However, the efficacy of fall prevention programs is diminished if patients do not consider themselves to be at risk for falls and do not follow recommended procedures. The goal of this study was to characterize how patients in four different acute care specialist services felt about their risk of falling while in the hospital. Methods: One hundred patients admitted to the study hospital with a Morse Fall Scale score of 45 or higher were given the Patient Perception Questionnaire, a tool designed to assess a patient's perception of their own fall risk, fear of falling, and motivation to take part in fall prevention efforts. Scores on the Morse Fall Scale were gathered through a historical assessment of medical records. Descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation coefficients, and independent sample t tests were used to examine the data. Results: The average age was 65, and around half (52%) were men and half (48%) were women. Based on their ratings on the Morse Fall Scale, all 100 participants were classified as being at high risk for falls. However, only 55.5% of the individuals agreed with this assessment. The likelihood that a patient would seek assistance and the degree to which they feared falling both declined as their faith in their mobility improved. Patients hospitalized after a fall exhibited considerably lower confidence scores and greater fear scores than patients who had not been injured in a fall. Conclusions: Patients who have a high fall risk assessment score may not believe they are at risk for falls and may not take any steps to reduce their risk. The prevalence of falls in hospitals might be mitigated by the creation of a fall risk assessment technique that takes into account both objective and subjective factors

Role of Nemolizumab and Omalizumab in management of atopic dermatitis: A review

BackgroundNemolizumab (CIM331) is a monoclonal antibody that binds the IL-31 receptor α component. This inhibits IL-31 from acting on neurons that constrains the initialization of the sense of pruritus in cases of atopic dermatitis.AimsTo summarize the results of reported studies evaluating the role of nemolizumab and omalizumab in management of atopic dermatitis.Methods This is a systematic review was carried out, including PubMed, Google Scholar, and EBSCO that examining randomized controlled trials, observational, and experimental studies which study role of nemolizumab in management of atopic dermatitis.Results The review included 8 randomized studies reported efficacy of both nemolizumab and omalizumab for management of atopic dermatitis.ConclusionOther studies with large numbers of patients with AD are necessary to define the adverse effects of both drugs in the treatment of AD

An assessment of landslide susceptibility in the Faifa area, Saudi Arabia, using remote sensing and GIS techniques

An integrated approach was adopted over Faifa Mountain and its surroundings, in Saudi Arabia, to identify landslide types, distribution, and controlling factors, and to generate landslide susceptibility maps. Given the inaccessibility of the area, we relied on remote sensing observations and GIS-based applications to enable spatial analysis of data and extrapolation of limited field observations. Susceptibility maps depicting debris flows within ephemeral valleys (Type I) and landslides caused by failure along fracture planes (Type II) were generated. Type I susceptibility maps were generated applying linear relationships between normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and threshold slope values (30°), both of which were extracted over known debris flow locations. For Type II susceptibility maps, landslides were predicted if fracture planes had strike values similar to (within 20°) those of the slope face strike and dip angles exceeding the friction, but not the slope angles. Comparisons between predicted and observed debris flows yielded success rates of 82% (ephemeral valleys); unverified predictions are interpreted as future locations of debris flows. Our approach could serve as a replicable model for many areas worldwide, in areas where field measurements are difficult to obtain and/or are cost prohibitive

Association between tobacco substance usage and a missense mutation in the tumor suppressor gene P53 in the Saudi Arabian population.

The tumor suppressor gene TP53 and its downstream genes P21 and MDM2 play crucial roles in combating DNA damage at the G1/S cell cycle checkpoint. Polymorphisms in these genes can lead to the development of various diseases. This study was conducted to examine a potential association between tobacco substance usage (TSU) and single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) at the exon regions of the P53, P21, and MDM2 genes by comparing populations of smokers and non-smokers from Saudi Arabia. P53 rs1042522 (C/G), P21 rs1801270 (A/C), and MDM2 rs769412 (A/G) were investigated by genotyping 568 blood specimens: 283 from male/female smokers and 285 from male/female non-smokers. The results obtained from the smokers and their control non-smokers were compared according to age, sex, duration of smoking, and type of TSU. Heterozygous CG, homozygous GG, and CG+GG genotypes, as well as the G allele of rs1042522 were significantly associated with TSU in Saudi smokers compared with non-smokers. The C allele frequency of rs1801270 was also associated with TSU in smokers (OR = 1.33, p = 0.049) in comparison with non-smokers, in younger smokers (≤29 years) (OR = 1.556, p = 0.03280) in comparison with non-smokers of the same age, in smokers who had smoked cigarettes for seven years or less (OR = 1.596, p = 0.00882), and in smokers who had consumed shisha (OR = 1.608, p = 0.04104) in comparison with the controls. However, the genotypic and allelic frequencies for rs769412 did not show significant associations with TSU in Saudis. The selected SNP of P53 was strongly associated with TSU and may be linked to TSU-induced diseases in the Saudi Arabian population