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From the Editor
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Ahmad Husari
Editor, Middle-East
Journal of Internal Medicine
Director, American University of Beirut Sleep
Disorders Center
Director, American University of Beirut outpatient
clinical care services
Assistant Professor
Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine
American University of Beirut Medical Center
Beirut Lebanon
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Middle East Journal of Internal Medicine wishes
all her editorial board, readers authors and the
production team a good start for the year. The
journal has witnessed major improvements and is
highly read and recognized in the region and we
are looking to continue the path toward better
future of medical research with your help. In
this issue various topics were discussed.
A prospective, parallel group
comparative study was conducted in 100 patients
with uncomplicated lower UTI in India. Patients
were assessed for clinical and bacteriological
success over the study period. 89 patients of
the total of 100 patients enrolled in the study
completed the study. E.coli was the most common
organism isolated in both the groups. Patients
in levofloxacin group showed improvement in clinical
symptoms by 95.35 percent, as compared to 89.13
percent in cefuroxime group. The authors concluded
that the results of our study show that cefuroxime
axetil in a dose of 250 mg twice daily and levofloxacin
500 mg once daily for three days, are equally
efficacious in treating patients with uncomplicated
lower UTI. The comparative clinical and bacteriological
successes between the two groups were statistically
not significant, and both drugs were well-tolerated
by the patients.
A prospective study of 400 women
attending antenatal outpatients' clinic was conducted
at King Hussein Medical Center, Jordan. The objective
was to assess the current frequency of carpal
tunnel syndrome during pregnancy in our area and
to assess the course of carpal tunnel syndrome
during pregnancy in those patients. During the
study period, 74 (18.5%) women were found to have
carpel tunnel symptoms. Most of them were in third
trimester of pregnancy 81.1% (no=60) followed
by the second trimester 16.2% (no=12) . The authors
conclude that a large number of pregnant women
suffer from the frequent occurrence of CTS in
pregnancy and are first noted during the third
trimester, but only in half of women CTS symptoms
disappeared one year after delivery.
A retrospective study was conducted
in a pediatric intensive care unit at Queen Rania
Al-Abdullah Hospital for children. The chest radiographs
of 25 patients who had been mechanically ventilated
during the study period were reviewed using the
picture archiving and communication system. Of
the 25 patients, 13 (52 %) were males and 12 (48
%) were females. the age ranged between 1 day
and 14 years of life . The authors concluded that
the daily routine chest radiography in mechanically
ventilated children had diagnostic and clinical
usefulness.
A paper from Iraq looked at the
effects of Benfotiamine and Methylcobalamin on
Paclitaxel induced Peripheral neuropathy. The
authors stressed that reports indicate that paclitaxel
causes a dose-limiting distal and symmetrical
sensorimotor peripheral neuropathy. This study
was designed to evaluate the protective effects
of benfotiamine and methylcobalamin on prevention
of paclitaxel induced peripheral neuropathy. Twenty
four rats and twenty four mice were involved in
this study. Each animal group was allocated to
two main experimental groups [control group (n=6)
and paclitaxel model group (n=18)]. Paclitaxel
administration produced significant increase in
latency, but decrease in amplitude and conduction
velocity in peripheral motor nerves in rats. The
authors concluded that Benfotiamine 100mg/kg was
very efficient in prevention of sensorimotor neuropathy
induced by paclitaxel, whereas the suggested methylcobalamin
(500µg/kg) twice weekly did not sufficiently
prevent peripheral motor nerve destruction induced
by paclitaxel, while the administration of high
dose methylcobalamin every day is efficient in
removal of thermal nociception induced during
paclitaxel treatment.
Key: Benfotiamine; Methylcobalamin; Paclitaxel;
peripheral neuropathy
A Case control descriptive study
from Iraq attempted to determine the seropositivity
of toxoplasmosis in women with bad obstetric history
and factors that influence seroprevalence .
The study included 293 women with BOH and 245
women with normal pregnancy outcome. Serological
study carried out to determine T.gondii IgG and
IgM using ELISA kits.
The overall seroprevalence rate of T. gondii IgG
was 29%, with no significant difference between
women with BOH (27%) and women with normal pregnancy
(31.4%). However, the was significant difference
between pregnant (20.3%) and non pregnant (31.4%)
women. The current T. gondii infection overall
rate was 0.9%, with significantly higher rate
in women with BOH (1.7%). Both T. gondii IgG and
IgM were significantly varied with women age.
Odd ratio confirmed the association of T, gondii
IgG and women age, residence , and education.
The authors concluded that the seropositivity
of Toxoplasma was significantly influenced by
age, residence, and education levels.
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