Association between body mass index and hemoglobin A1c with serum prostate-specific antigen level: A retrospective cohort study.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the association between body mass index (BMI) and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) with serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was carried out at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from January 2016 to December 2021. Data were collected from the medical records of patients who visited the family medicine clinics, including demographics, smoking status, BMI value, index PSA level, testosterone level, digital rectal exam findings, prostate biopsy status, fasting blood glucose (FBG), HbA1c, diabetes duration, chronic comorbidities (namely, hypertension, dyslipidemia, or chronic kidney disease), and medication history. RESULTS: The mean PSA level was 1.89±4.02 ng/dL and mean HbA1c was 6.59±2.69%. Of the participants, 41.8% were overweight, 54.3% were non-diabetics, and 85.3% were nonsmokers. Only 11 (1.6%) participants had undergone a prostate biopsy after taking a PSA test. There was a positive correlation between PSA level and age, a negative correlation between PSA level and BMI, and no correlation between PSA level and HbA1c or FBG. CONCLUSION: Prostate-specific antigen levels were higher in older people and those with low BMIs. No correlations were found between PSA levels and HbA1c or FBG, even after adjusting for other variables. Moreover, no correlations were found between PSA levels and other comorbidities such as dyslipidemia, chronic kidney disease, and hypertension.

The Management and Outcome of Stroke Patients Admitted on Weekdays Compared to Weekends at the King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Background and Purpose: Stroke is an unexpected medical emergency that can result in significant disability. The weekend effect suggests that individuals with acute medical problems are not treated the same way on weekends as they are on weekdays. There is no previous published study about weekend effect on stroke patients from Saudi Arabia. Methods: This was an IRB approved, retrospective, cohort study. All stroke patients admitted between January 2017 and December 2018 were included. Ten standards of care were chosen to assess compliance with standardized care. Seven measures were chosen for acute management of stroke. Results: A total of 731 patients were included, 68.5% were males; 493 (67%) were admitted during weekdays and 238 (33%) on weekends. There was no difference for age (P = .32), gender (P = .32), nationality (P = .62), stroke subtype (P = .27) and stroke severity (P = .69) on weekday or weekend admission. In two-third patients, more than 70% of stroke orders were utilized, with no difference in thrombolysis rate (P = .81). There was no difference in recurrent stroke (P = .86), mortality or discharge disposition (P = .34) between the patients. The patients admitted during weekdays had less complications (38 vs 46%; P = .04). Conclusions: There was no difference in the quality of care provided to stroke patients admitted during weekdays or weekends. There was no difference in the use of acute intervention on weekends and weekdays. Patients had similar outcomes and discharge disposition whether admitted on weekdays or weekends, except that those admitted on weekends had a significantly greater overall number of complications.

A rare case of the superior vena cava obstruction in a 16-year-old boy with Burkitt's lymphoma: A case report.

Burkitt's lymphoma (BL) is an aggressive non-Hodgkin B-cell lymphoma. Superior vena cava obstruction (SVCO) is considered a rare presentation of BL and it is usually associated with other types of non-Hodgkin lymphoma such as diffuse large-cell. We report a rare case of sporadic BL with SVCO in a 16-year-old boy with nasopharyngeal, mediastinal, and adrenal masses. The patient presented with a two-month history of left upper neck swelling that increased with time and was not associated with other symptoms. The patient tested positive for COVID-19 on the second day after admission. On examination, he had enlarged solitary lateral cervical and bilateral posterior auricular lymph nodes. There were no signs or symptoms of SVCO regardless of the findings suggested by the computed tomography of the chest. The patient was treated with hyper-CVAD chemotherapy and showed a remarkable resolution of the nasopharyngeal and mediastinal masses with a mild response of his adrenal mass. There were no complications detected during this patient's management.