ABSTRACT
Objectives: Cardiac diseases in the pediatric population can be congenital or acquired. If the diagnosis and treatment are early, the chance for survival increases. Thus, this study aimed to determine the indications for pediatric cardiology consultations in a single tertiary hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted in 2020-2021 at a tertiary center in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Patients younger than 14 years of age who were referred by outpatient clinics or those who presented to the emergency department and needed outpatient cardiac evaluation were included in this study. Inpatient referrals were excluded. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 21 was used for statistical analyses. Results: A total of 416 referred patients were included in this study. New patients accounted for 74% of the referrals, while known patients accounted for 26%. The median age was 2.728 years, with 56.3% being male participants. The three most common reasons for referral were: evaluation of cardiac function (21.6%), follow-up evaluation of fetal/neonatal diagnosis (19.5%), and heart murmurs (16.8%). Conclusion: Most of the referrals were new patients. Of those who underwent echocardiography, 48.2% had abnormal results. We recommend further studies to help guide the direction of the residents' education and to provide better patient healthcare services.
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) are chronic inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) that affect the gastrointestinal tract with no identified etiology. IBD has been associated with several extraintestinal manifestations (EIMs), including renal involvement such as renal stones (nephrolithiasis), resulting in significant morbidity. This study aims to estimate the prevalence of renal stones among IBD patients in Saudi Arabia. METHODS: This is a retrospective study conducted at King Abdulaziz University Hospital between January 2019 and December 2020. All IBD patients with abdominal imaging studies were included in the study regardless of their age. Data were collected from the electronic hospital information system and analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 363 IBD patients fulfilled the study inclusion criteria. Nephrolithiasis was detected radiologically in 3.6% of the cohort (5.1% of UC and 2.7% of CD patients). Patients with renal stones are older (P=0.002) and more likely to be diabetic (P=0.047), have microscopic hematuria (P<0.001), and proteinuria (P=0.002). Binary logistic regression analysis showed that older age at diagnosis (P=0.003) and microscopic hematuria (P=0.02) are independent predictors for renal stones. CONCLUSION: The study reported that 3.6% of Saudi IBD patients had renal stones, with a higher prevalence of renal stones formation among UC patients than Crohn's. Older age at diagnosis and the presence of microscopic hematuria may predict the development of renal stones. Future studies should be conducted in a prospective manner at multiple centers across Saudi Arabia for further investigation.
