Association between Renal Stones Sonographic Findings and Demographic Data among Patients at Riyadh Hospitals, Saudi Arabia

Background: Ultrasound is the primary imaging modality to identify renal stones (RS) in patients with acute flank pain. This study aimed to evaluate the presence, location, and size of RS diagnosed by ultrasound in association with age, gender, and BMI among patients at Riyadh hospitals. Methods and Results: In this case-control study, a total of 250 records (130/52% for males and 120/48% for females) from 2018 to 2019 were reviewed from January to March 2020 at different hospitals in Riyadh. In this study, 150(60%) records of patients with RS and 100(40%) records of patients without RS were collected to evaluate the risk factor for RS formation in the central area of Saudi Arabia. A designed data collection sheet containing all variables (demographic and sonographic) of the study was used. Demographic data included gender, age, and body mass index (BMI). Sonographic data included RS presence (yes, no), RS location (right kidney [RK], left kidney [LK], both kidneys), and RS size (small [1cm]). The study found that RS were more common among males than females (P0.05) Conclusion: Among patients at Riyadh hospitals, females are less affected by RS than males. Gender is a significant risk factor for the development of RS. The effect of BMI is obvious on renal stone location and size

Sensitivity and Features of Computed Tomography in Diagnosis of COVID-19 Pneumonia: A Meta-analysis

Introduction: Early diagnosis of COVID-19 is important for disease treatment and management. Computed Tomography (CT) is a fast and easy modality for diagnosis and management plan of patients with COVID-19. In the literature, several studies were done to assess the sensitivity of CT for diagnosis of COVID-19 infection in comparison to Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR). Some studies stated that CT was more sensitive diagnostic modality for COVID-19 than RT-PCR. However, the sensitivity of CT for COVID-19 varies in these studies. Aim: This literature review and meta-analysis was designed to determine the CT features of COVID-19 pneumonia, to verify the pooled sensitivity of CT for the diagnosis of COVID-19 and to review the different reasons (e.g., the disease stage or severity and the negative or positive RT-PCR results) for the variations in CT sensitivity. Materials and Methods: This review analysed 31 articles selected from the Europe BMC, PubMed, Science Direct, and Scopus databases. Participant gender mean and median age, CT features of COVID-19 pneumonia were sought for and reviewed. The data was analysed using Microsoft excel version 10 and OpenMeta (Analyst) software (http://www.cebm.brown.edu/ openmeta/) to verify the pooled sensitivity of CT in detection and diagnosis of COVID-19 pneumonia using meta-analyses forest plot, Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve, cumulative meta-analyses forest plot and leave one forest plot. Results: The most common CT findings of COVID-19 pneumonia were bilateral lung involvement, Ground Glass Opacity (GGO), and consolidation, and Crazy-paving pattern. The CT finding is more prominent in symptomatic and severe cases than in a symptomatic and mild cases specifically the presence of consolidation and peripherals lesion distribution. The pooled sensitivity of CT is 90% in diagnosis and detection of COVID19 pneumonia (ranged 60-100%). Conclusion: Combination of CT chest and laboratory tests along with clinical manifestation and epidemiological features should be considered to confirm the final diagnosis of COVID19 pneumonia