Impact of COVID-19 on vasooclusive crisis in patients with sickle cell anaemia.

OBJECTIVES: The study aimed to assess COVID-19 impact on the morbidity and mortality of vasooclusive crisis (VOC) in sickle cell anaemia (SCA) patients. METHODS: A prospective cohort study of 100 SCA patients; 50 with COVID-19 (COVID group) and 50 without (non-COVID group). All patients signed written informed consent. RESULTS: The COVID group had a significantly higher VOC episode median per year; 3 (IQR,1-6) vs 2 (IQR,2-12) (P < 0.05). The need for hospitalisation was similar in both groups. The non-COVID group had more history of culture-proven infection (P = 0.05). The COVID-group had more osteonecrosis (P < 0.05), splenic sequestration, splenomegaly and hepatic crisis (P = 0.05, 0.006, 0.02; respectively) and significantly higher (P < 0.05) symptoms of fever, cough, fatigue, abdominal pain and anosmia. Mean haemoglobin, lymphocyte subset, platelets, and reticulocytes were reduced in both groups, while lactate dehydrogenase and ferritin levels were significantly elevated. In the COVID group, the rise in white blood cell count, reticulocyte percentage, platelets and ferritin was subdued (P < 0.05). Two patients in the COVID group and 3 in the non-COVID group died; there was no statistically significant difference in mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Although COVID-19 may have triggered the onset of VOC, it did not significantly influence VOC-related morbidity or mortality in this SCA cohort.

The Use of HPLC as a Tool for Neonatal Cord Blood Screening of haemoglobinopathy: A Validation Study.

BACKGROUND: Newborn cord blood screening identifies infants with underlying haemoglobinopathies before they develop the characteristic symptoms or sequelae. AIMS: This study was performed to validate the interpretation high-performance chromatography (HPLC) along with complete blood count (CBC) results as a tool for universal neonatal screening of hemoglobin disorders in Oman. METHODS: HPLC and CBC data on subjects who participated in the National Neonatal screening program at birth were obtained from archival records. The results recorded at birth were compared with a second study performed on the same subjects, after approval from the local medical research and ethics committee. RESULTS: Only 290 subjects from amongst the original cohort of 3740 newborns could be recalled between April 2010 to March 2011, to repeat HPLC and CBC, as well as perform confirmatory DNA studies, wherever necessary. All these subjects had been documented to show an initial abnormal result. 31 cases who had no HbA at birth on HPLC were confirmed as either homozygous ß-thalassaemia major (n=5 subjects) or homozygous sickle cell anemia (n=26 subjects) by appropriate DNA analysis. Additionally, amongst 151 subjects, 72 subjects were studied in the initial study by Hb Bart's quantitation using the alpha thalassaemia short program at birth. In this cohort, 42 subjects with Hb Bart's >1% at birth could be confirmed as having either deletional or non-deletional thalassaemia by GAP PCR studies. No case of HbH was detected in this cohort. Further, carrier status for structural hemoglobin variants (HbS, HbC, HbD, HbE) (n=67) and beta thalassaemia allele with low HbA at birth (n=29 out of 41) were confirmed by relevant molecular studies. CONCLUSIONS: The study validated the earlier observation by 100% concordance with the results of CBC and HPLC. Presence of Hb Bart's at birth does not always mean the presence of alpha thalassemia, as subjects with Hb Bart's below 1% by quantitation, were shown to be normal by molecular studies.

The prognostic determinants of gastric cancer treatment outcome in Omani Arab patients.

BACKGROUND: Gastric cancer is the most common cancer in Oman and a leading cause of cancer death. The variation in survival rates between countries and ethnic groups has been attributed to early detection policies, differences in clinicopathological features, treatment approaches, and biological characteristics. There were no previous reports on gastric cancer from Oman and very few studies on Asian Arabs. AIM: To evaluate the impact of clinicopathological and treatment variables on the survival prospects of Omani Arab patients diagnosed with gastric cancer. METHODS: The medical records of 339 Omani Arab patients diagnosed with invasive gastric adenocarcinoma during the period 1993-2004 were retrospectively reviewed. The relative importance of clinicopathological features and surgical and medical treatments were assessed using univariate and multivariate analyses. RESULTS: Most patients had distal ulcerating-type gastric cancer and presented at advanced stages. The median survival time for the entire cohort was 12 months (95% CI 9.7-14.4) with a 5-year overall survival rate of 16.7%. On univariate analysis of 237 patients who underwent surgical resection, the following positive prognostic factors emerged as significant: early overall TNM stage, early T stage, negative lymph nodes, tumor size <5 cm, ulcerating macroscopic appearance, and curative surgical attempt. The independent prognostic factors on multivariate analysis were T stage and lymph node involvement. CONCLUSION: The overall T and N stages are the most important determining factor for survival in Omani Arab patients. More efforts need to be made for the early detection of gastric cancer in developing countries such as Oman, while continuing to employ the standard surgical and medical treatments.

The outcome of treatment of breast cancer in a developing country--Oman.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the outcome of treatment of breast cancer in Oman with an analysis of clinico-pathological features, treatment modalities utilized, and prognostic factors. One hundred fifty-two breast cancer patients diagnosed between January 1996 and June 2002 were evaluated retrospectively. Their mean age was 48.5 (S.D. +/- 10.8) years, and 48% of the female patients were premenopausal. The mean tumor size according to pathology was 4.6 (S.D. 3.29)cm, and 34.9% and 15.8% of patients had stage III or IV disease, respectively. Only 26.3% of the patients had breast-conserving surgery, and neoadjuvant chemotherapy was underutilized. The overall 5-year relapse-free survival (RFS) and overall (OS) survival rates were 62% and 64%, respectively. On multivariate analysis, axillary lymph node involvement and tumor differentiation were predictive of RFS and OS, respectively. Thus, breast cancer patients in Oman present with advanced stages of the disease at younger ages than their counterparts in the West and have lower survival rates. Increasing awareness and the introduction of screening programs and of a multidisciplinary approach are essential in Oman and other developing countries to improve the outcome of treatment.