ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The most lethal complication of the abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is rupture (rAAA). A triad of abdominal or back pain, a pulsating mass in the abdomen, and decrease in blood pressure is mostly diagnostic. However, this presentation may not be complete due to either an impalpable aneurysm or atypical symptoms which leads to difficulties in diagnosis and delayed management. Chronic contained rupture of AAA (CCR-AAA) is a rare but well-recognized condition. Its diagnosis may be difficult because of the atypical and chronic nature of the symptoms. The aim of this study is to investigate the incidence and to highlight the importance of this less common presentation of rAAA. METHODS: Patients who presented to King Abdullah University Hospital (KAUH) with infra-renal AAAs (elective and emergency) from January 2014 to April 2021 were prospectively collected. Patients with CCR-AAA were identified and evaluated in terms of demographic data, associated comorbidities, presentation, treatments, and outcomes. RESULTS: A total number of 85 patients were admitted with an infra-renal AAA. Seventeen patients (20.0%) had rAAA, of them only 5 patients (29.4%) were diagnosed with CCR-AAA. CCR-AAAs represent 5.9% of cases with AAA. CCR-AAAs were all in men, with a mean age ± SD of 73.1±8.3. Two patients (40.0%) had abdominal pain, 2 patients (40.0%) had back pain and one patient (10.0%) had no symptoms at the time of diagnosis. CONCLUSION: CCR-AAA represents 5.9% of all AAA and 29.4% of rAAA. To prevent this potentially fatal condition, awareness is required especially in old males with abdominal or back pain.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is considered the main cause of gastritis, peptic ulcer and gastric carcinoma in the human populations. H. pylori infection influences the secretion level of several proinflammatory cytokines including IL-1ß, which encoded by the IL-1B gene. OBJECTIVE: The current study aimed to investigate whether IL-1B gene polymorphisms are associated with H. pylori infection among the Jordanian population and responses to triple therapy. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The gastroscopic examination was performed on 412 subjects for H. pylori infection diagnosis, 257 subjects were found to be infected by H. Pylori (positive cases), whereas 155 subjects were uninfected (negative controls). The IL-1B gene T-31C and C3954T polymorphisms were genotyped by PCR-RFLP. RESULTS: It was found that the T-31C polymorphism has a significant association with H. pylori infection (P<0.05), and the TT genotype frequency was significantly higher in infected subjects (50.2%) compared to controls (38.7%). On the other hand, no significant association was detected between C3954T SNPs and H. pylori infection among the Jordanian population. In addition, none of the examined polymorphisms were found to influence the responses to triple therapy. CONCLUSION: The IL-1B gene T-31C SNP might be associated with an enhanced risk of H. pylori infection among the Jordanian population.
