Objectives: To understand and report the perceived impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on radiology residents in Saudi Arabia with respect to their education, clinical activities, and personal well-being.
Methods:The survey questionnaire was designed by a team of experts based on a review of the literature and was distributed electronically through the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties to residents registered in all radiology residency training programs in Saudi Arabia during the academic year 2019 to 2020. Categorical variables were presented as counts and percentage. Numerical variables were presented as mean and standard deviation if normally distributed. Chi-square testing was used to compare categorical variables with the perceived impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Spearman correlation was used to correlate numerical variables at the level of significance p-value < 0.05.Results: A total of 109 residents completed the online survey during the study period, with a response rate of 32.2% (109/337). The mean age was 27.3 years (standard deviation, 1.86). The majority of respondents (71.5%, 78/109) reported either a severe or moderate negative impact on educational activities. Also, the majority (73.4%, 80/109) reported either a minimal or moderate negative impact on clinical activities. Residents training in the western province perceived a statistically higher negative impact on educational activities compared to their peers in other regions (p = 0.01). Residents in their second year of residency training perceived a statistically higher negative impact on their participation in clinical activities (p = 0.014). Less than half of the respondents (45.9%, 50/109) reported that they were redeployed to work in another department. The majority (80%, 40/50) reported a negative impact on their well-being.
Conclusion:The majority of radiology residents in Saudi Arabia reported a negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their education, clinical activities, and personal well-being. Our study also identified and explored some of the innovative solutions and strategies implemented by the training programs and the SCFHS to mitigate the negative effects on trainees.
Tuberculosis (TB) is a bacterial infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis; it is a public health problem worldwide and one of the leading causes of mortality. Since December 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented health challenges and disrupted the TB health services, especially in high-burden countries with ever-increasing prevalence. Extrapulmonary and even pulmonary TB are an important cause of nonspecific clinical and radiological manifestations and can masquerade as any benign or malignant medical case, thus causing disastrous conditions and diagnostic dilemmas. Clinical manifestations and routine laboratory tests have limitations in directing physicians to diagnose TB. Medical-imaging examinations play an essential role in detecting tissue abnormalities and early suspecting diagnosis of TB in different organs. Radiologists and physicians should be familiar with and aware of the radiological manifestations of TB to contribute to the early suspicion and diagnosis of TB. The purpose of this article is to illustrate the common radiologic patterns of pulmonary and extrapulmonary TB. This article will be beneficial for radiologists, medical students, chest physicians, and infectious-disease doctors who are interested in the diagnosis of TB.
Introduction: Cavernositis is a rare acute infection of the corporal bodies of the penis. It might result in corporal cavernosal abscesses, fibrosis, and subsequently erectile dysfunction if the treatment is inadequate. Previous reports advocate penile aspiration when cavernosal abscesses were significantly present. Aim: We report 2 cases of cavernositis treated by the standard antimicrobial therapy in addition to the daily use of phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors (iPDE-5). Methods: We include 2 patients who fulfill the criteria for the diagnosis of cavernositis. They were diagnosed clinically based on history and physical examination. Patient 1 had multifocal abscesses on initial penile contrastenhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This patient showed rapid clinical improvement with the addition of phosphodiesterase inhibitor (PDEi) to the antimicrobial therapy without the need for surgical drainage of the abscesses. Patient 2 had persistent infection despite 3 weeks of oral second-generation cephalosporin (Cefuroxime). But he showed significant clinical improvement after being started on PDEi in conjunction with the current antimicrobial therapy. Follow-up after 3 months by clinical examination and penile magnetic resonance imaging in both patients showed normal erectile function with no scarring. Conclusion: PDEi have promising results on disease progression and outcomes. It synergizes the effect of antimicrobial therapy and can potentially reduce the residual corporal fibrosis and erectile dysfunction. However, large studies are required to validate and generalize this treatment approach.
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