Anatomical Distribution Patterns of Peripheral Arterial Disease According to Patient Characteristics: A Unicentral Cohort Study.

Purpose: Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a common disease with multiple risk factors and affects patients worldwide. Several international studies have established correlations between anatomical topography/distribution of atherosclerosis and comorbidities in patients with PAD. In this cohort study, we aimed to analyze the patterns of atherosclerosis (site, distribution, and degree) in patients who underwent lower limb computed tomography angiography and arterial angiography by identifying the atherosclerotic plaque(s) that were possibly responsible for thrombi. Additionally, we aimed to determine any relationship between comorbidities and identified patterns. Patients and Methods: Between January 2015 and January 2021, we retrospectively recruited 140 patients at King Fahd Hospital of the University of Saudi Arabia. Data collected included patient characteristics, risk factors, and metabolic disorders, such as hypertension (HTN), diabetes mellitus (DM), dyslipidemia, and chronic kidney disease. Patients with incomplete records or unavailable radiological images were excluded. Results: The infrapopliteal territory was the most common segment that was affected. HTN, DM, and dyslipidemia were found in 81.4%, 77.9%, and 62.9% of patients, respectively. Correlation analyses revealed that DM was the only independent metabolic disorder associated with a PAD distribution pattern in the femoropopliteal segment (p=0.039), thus denoting distal involvement. No significant association was found between PAD distribution and the severity of stenosis. Conclusion: Segmental involvement in PAD varies with the risk factors and metabolic comorbidities present in patients. DM is an independent predictor of the anatomical distribution of PAD. The identification of such an anatomical distribution is paramount for screening procedures, early detection of disease, and prevention of complications, particularly limb amputation.

Cutaneous mimickers of physical child abuse: A brief overview.

Child abuse is one of the medico-legal issues a physician may face during his/her clinical practice. It has devastating effects on both the child and family, especially psychological. If falsely identified as a child abuse case, it could result in detrimental consequences. Therefore, physicians must recognise and be able to rule out child abuse mimickers, which are often conditions that are mistakenly confused with true physical child abuse. Injuries like bruises and burns are common presentations and therefore it is important to consider cutaneous abuse mimics to avoid incorrect diagnosis of child abuse. This review article sheds light on the most common cutaneous conditions that can mimic physical child abuse, where patients present with patterns of various skin lesions that raise a suspicion of child abuse.

Research productivity in the genetics of papillary thyroid carcinoma (1991-2020): a bibliometric analysis.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Papillary thyroid carcinoma accounts for 85% of thyroid follicular epithelial-derived cancers. The identification of pathogenetic mechanisms improved the understating of papillary thyroid carcinoma pathogenesis. The current study aims to examine the research productivity and trends in the genetics of papillary thyroid carcinoma from 1991 to 2020. METHODS: The Web of Science Core Collection database was searched to retrieve the relevant literature. A search string was applied and 1,741 relevant records were selected for the analysis. Bibliometric techniques were used in the statistical analysis with the help of Biblioshiny (RStudio). RESULTS: The growth in the number of publications was observed to be over a hundred publications per year since 2015. 'Thyroid' published the highest number of publications, followed by 'Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism'. 'Nikiforov YE' was identified as the most productive researcher with a total of 49 publications. Out of the top 20 most contributing researchers, seven belonged to Italy, and four were from the USA. 'University of Pittsburgh' contributed the highest number of publications. The top contributing countries in this field were the USA, China, and Italy. BRAF and RAS were among the frequently used keywords. CONCLUSIONS: This bibliometric review demonstrates that investigating the genetics underlying papillary thyroid carcinoma is a rapidly growing area of research. During the last two decades, China has been a significant contributor to the field. Besides, institutions in USA and Italy have significantly contributed to research in the genetics of papillary thyroid carcinoma. (www.actabiomedica.it).