Awards in medicine and dermatology

The aim of this study was to establish effective methods to review and evaluate, and to emphasize in support with clarity as a proper trend in medical statistics. The clinical research material used in this study is stemmed from JAMC. Study:!, N is 220 subjects, from Pattern of Coronary Arterial Distribution and Its Relation to Coronary Artery Diameter, Z A Kaimkhani, MM Ali, AMA Faruqi JAMC Jan-Mar 2005; 17 [1]: 40-3.[1] Study:II, N is 105 patients, from Sclerotherapy Plus Octreotide Versus Sclerotherapy Alone In The Management Of Gastro-Oesophageal Variceal Hemorrhage. HA Shah, K Mumtaz, W Jafri, S Abid, S Hamid, A Ahmad, Z Abbas. JAMC Jan-Mar 2005; 17 [1]: 10-4 [2]. Systemic review and evaluation with statistical principles is to be used. The reports of 2 clinical researches from JAMC are assessed, and both used for demonstrating the characteristics and pitfalls statistically. Before reaching any significant difference in statistics, hopefully, all clinicians will be able to deal with the data to be measured by selecting proper statistical models as the best as we can in order to gain appropriate inference in medical statistics

Dermatological publications in the Gulf cooperation council countires

To investigate the publications in dermatology cited in the Medline from 6 countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council [GCC] from 1966 to 2004. Medline was searched with the aid of Internet provider Pubmed using the same strategy at a given time for all countries. At the time of search, the Medline listed biomedical research papers from the GCC countries totaled 12837. Of these, 140 were in Dermatology. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia followed by Kuwait was by far the most prolific contributor, whereas almost none were noted from Bahrain. The publications were highest during the year 2002 [19] followed by 2003 [13], most of them being in the English language in the International Journal of Dermatology [60 citations] and Pediatric Dermatology [13 citations]. Though the GCC countries have seen a relatively small period in the history of development of medical research, data show that they are trying to keep pace with the rest of the developed world. What remains to be exploited is their good economy that should be directed to provide better infrastructure and improve the quality of training programs. Professional societies within the region must play an active role in ensuring optimum and judicious use of funds

Skin cancers in western Saudi Arabia

A retrospective analysis of skin cancers in a major referral centre in Taif region, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, [KSA]. The case records of all malignant skin cancers diagnosed during a 10 year period, from 1992 through to 2001 were taken for the study. The clinical and histopathological details were noted. These were compared to reports from the rest of KSA and other countries. One hundred and four cases of malignant skin lesions including primary and metastatic tumors were seen. The majority were Saudis. The male to female ratio was 2.25:1. Most of the patients were over the age of 60 years. Basal cell carcinoma was the most frequent [51%] followed by squamous cell carcinoma [26%] and malignant melanoma [12.5%]. Other rare primary tumors were those arising from the skin appendages, dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans and Kaposi's sarcoma. Metastatic skin lesions were seen in 5; in one it resulted from a surgical procedure and in the others the primary site could not be determined. The number of patients seen in this report is not high indicating that protective factors like clothing and skin type of the individual played a protective role. However, we feel that more studies should be encouraged in other regions along with the creation of a registry within each area to monitor the information regarding skin cancers. This could then be incorporated in health education programmes to be imparted to the public