Prognostics and Clinical Outcomes in Patients Diagnosed With Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Background Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a hematological cancer that causes an accumulation of immature cells in the bone marrow. The count of white blood cells (WBCs) is an independent predictor of survival. Integrating first-line treatment, such as intensive chemotherapy, with prognostic factors aids in developing critical therapeutic decisions and improving long-term outcomes. This study evaluated several prognostics such as age, WBCs, ALL cell subtypes, and absolute WBC counts. Methods This study involved a retrospective record review and was conducted by scanning the medical records of all individuals who developed ALL and were on chemotherapy at a teaching Hospital in Jeddah between 2012 and 2018. The data entry was done using Microsoft Excel, while the analysis was done using SPSS Version 21. To test any associations, frequency and measure of central tendencies, t-test, and chi-square test were used. Results A total of 98 of ALL patients were on chemotherapy, and 18 were excluded. Thus, 80 patients were analyzed. The mean age for all patients was 13.6 years (range: 0.6-26.6 years), and the most frequent ages were less than 18 years (90%). More than half of them (62.5%) were males. The majority of the patients were Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Indian, Afghan, Indonesian, and Myanmar (37.7%), and the least were Saudi (3.8%). B subtype (75.9%) was more common than T subtype (24.1%). The first remission after treatment was in 66 patients, with a mean of 6.86 years. There was a significant adverse relationship between the ability of patients to reach the first remission and WBC count (p = 0.032). There was strong significant negative correlation between absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) and survival duration after treatment (r = -0.669; p = 0.012). Conclusions The impact regarding age and WBC is almost like most previous studies. ALC shows a strong poor prognosis, while ALL cell subtypes demonstrate a contradictory prognosis effect.

Prevalence and Risk Factors for Microalbuminuria in Children with Sickle Cell Disease at King Abdulaziz University Hospital: A Retrospective Cross-sectional Study.

OBJECTIVES: Previous studies have not addressed microalbuminuria in pediatric patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of microalbuminuria and to identify associated risk factors in children with SCD at King Abdulaziz University Hospital. RESULTS: Overall, 42.5% of the patients enrolled were Saudi Arabian and 51% were male. The mean age was 12.4 years, and the highest percentage (40%) was in the age group of 15-18 years. The prevalence of microalbuminuria was 9.6%, and hematuria was present in 8% of cases. The percentage of patients with hematuria was significantly higher in the microalbuminuria group (22.6%) than in the nonmicroalbuminuria group (6.5%; P = 0.007). The percentage of patients with acute chest syndrome was also higher in the microalbuminuria group (26%) than in the nonmicroalbuminuria group (8%; P = 0.005). The percentage of patients with gallbladder stones was higher in the microalbuminuria group (13%) than in the nonmicroalbuminuria group (2.4%; P = 0.014). However, the mean number of blood transfusions was higher in the nonmicroalbuminuria group than in the microalbuminuria group (P = 0.002). Sickle cell nephropathy manifests as microalbuminuria, begins at an early age, occurs in all types of SCD, and is associated with disease severity.