Background. Uncontrolled hypertension (HTN) is a challenge for public health professionals all over the world. It is the leading and most important modifiable risk factor for coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure, stroke, renal diseases, and retinopathy. The aim of the present study was to estimate the prevalence of uncontrolled HTN among Palestinian hypertensive patients on treatment. In addition, the study aimed to explore the relationship between socio-demographic and clinical factors with HTN control as well as establish a comprehensive literature review for similar studies. Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted. 218 hypertensive patients who met the inclusion criteria were included in the study. Results. HTN is not adequately controlled in over 60% of treated patients. Factors that were linked to uncontrolled HTN and were statistically significant as per this study were diabetes ( p = 0.010 ), high BMI ( p = 0.009 ), smoking ( p < 0.0001 ), lower educational level ( p = 0.002 ), and monotherapy ( p = 0.004 ). Conclusion. The results suggest that effective efforts on improving HTN control are strongly needed. The efforts need to target hypertensive patients who are also smokers, diabetics, having a low education level, and have a higher-than-normal BMI.

Parental acceptance of routine childhood immunization is critical to protecting children’s health, as high vaccination-coverage rates lead to decreased rates of vaccine-preventable diseases. However, to communicate effectively with parents about vaccines and vaccine-preventable diseases, it is necessary to assess their vaccine-related attitudes and concerns continually. Recently the Palestine Ministry of Health has recorded epidemics of measles and mumps. Poor compliance with vaccination has been attributed to multiple factors including physician inadequacy advocating for vaccination and public mistrust of vaccinations. As a result, this study was conducted to describe the vaccine-related attitudes, concerns, and information sources of North Palestinian parents of young children. A cross-sectional survey was conducted involving parents visiting emergency departments and primary health care centers from different North Palestinian hospitals and centers. 480 surveys were eligible and analyzed. The surveys revealed that although parental confidence in vaccine safety is high, several vaccine-related concerns, such as pain from vaccine administration and the number of vaccines given at once, were common among parents of young children. To maintain and improve the success of childhood vaccines in preventing disease, a holistic approach is needed to address parents’ concerns in an ongoing manner. Listening and responding in ways and with resources that address specific questions and concerns could help parents make more informed vaccination decisions.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) predominantly targets the respiratory tract; despite gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms that may present in many patients, colonic strictures in coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients are extremely rare and, to our knowledge, have never been reported. We, herein, present a case of a 59-year-old lady who developed intestinal obstruction due to colonic strictures shortly after recovering from complicated COVID-19 pneumonia. Ultimately, she underwent laparoscopic subtotal colectomy with ileorectal anastomosis. After a long recovery period, she was discharged in good status. It has been more than two years since COVID-19 was declared as a pandemic by the World Health Organization. Infected individuals have highly variable clinical manifestations, yet the pathogenesis, diagnosis and ideal management of each of these complications is not well described in literature.

Meckel's diverticulum (MD) is the most common congenital anomaly of the gastrointestinal tract. MD enteroliths are an uncommon entity that could rarely present with complications.We, herein, present a case of a 56-year-old man who presented with severe abdominal pain. Preoperative CT showed an inflamed structure with central calcification connected to distal ileum lumen with an air pouch associated with small bowel obstruction. Upon laparotomy, a perforated MD was found with phlegmon formation. He underwent resection of the loops containing MD with end-to-end anastomosis.This highlights the importance of radiological imaging in preoperative diagnosis of these conditions which should be kept in mind if we find a calcified lesion in an inflamed diverticulum around the midline region.

Hepatic steatosis is frequent; however, it may present with unusual patterns, resulting in a diagnostic dilemma. Herein, we present a case of fatty liver and multifocal nodular hepatic lesions that were found to be due to multifocal nodular fatty sparing, which mimics metastasis or primary multifocal tumors. As the differential diagnosis of such lesions can be difficult based on ultrasound alone, the knowledge of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) findings is crucial. It enables the radiologists to make the correct diagnosis and alleviate the patient from unnecessary biopsies.