PubMed Health⌕ Search

SEARCH · PubMed Health

Results for “Kuwait”

Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 595 records · Page 33Linked to original sources

Chemical contamination and toxicity of sediment from a coastal area receiving industrial effluents in Kuwait.

The Shuaiba coastal area (12.5 x 1.5 km) was examined for contamination with total organic carbon, volatile organic matter, total petroleum hydrocarbons, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, nickel, vanadium, and zinc in sediment; their desorption by aqueous elution; and toxicity to aquatic biota. The pollutants were mainly accumulated in the upstream area facing Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery to Shuaiba harbour. Solid-phase Microtox assays showed severe toxicity, and the LC(50) was negatively correlated with most of the chemical parameters, suggesting that toxicity was the function of collective effects of the pollutants present in sediment. Sea water elutriation showed poor desorption of pollutants from sediment, and the elutriates were not found toxic to Microtox and brine shrimp larvae. Whole sediment suspension in sea water reduced the survival of fingerlings in fish bioassays. Action from Shuaiba Area Authority is required to reduce pollutant accumulation in identified depositional area on the Shuaiba coast by facilitating unrestricted water flow in the area and restricting pollutant discharge at source.

Animals↗

Thrombophilia in ethnic Arabs in Kuwait.

One hundred and thirty unrelated patients with recurrent deep venous thrombosis were studied over a period of 4 years (1986-1990) in order to determine the possible etiology. Protein C levels were estimated in plasma both by chromogenic substrate assay and by immunoassay. Protein S levels in plasma was determined by immunoassay using antisera to human protein S. Antithrombin III (AT-III) was assayed using monospecific rabbit antiserum to human AT-III. Fifteen patients were found to have hereditary protein C deficiency (11.52%). Family studies revealed autosomal recessive inheritance in one patient and a dominant pattern in the remaining 14 patients. Protein S deficiency was found in eight cases (6.1%), AT-III deficiency was established in five cases (3.8%) and a fibrinolytic defect in 33 cases (25.4%). Thrombosis of visceral and cerebral vessels and a positive family history were more frequently found among patients who had hereditary deficiency of one or the other antithrombotic factor. Thrombophlebitis of superficial veins was found to be very common in patients with protein C and protein S deficiency and virtually absent in AT-III deficiency. The high frequency of protein C and protein S deficiency in this ethnic group is attributed to the high frequency of consanguinity.

ABO Blood-Group System↗

F cells, fetal hemoglobin levels, lymphocyte subsets, and frequency of crises in sickle-cell disease in Kuwait.

In vitro, fetal hemoglobin (Hb F) inhibits the aggregation of Hb S, and this may be clinically significant. Alterations in B and T lymphocytes seen in sickle-cell disease may be important in the immune deficit in these patients. We examined 16 patients with repeated crises (6 females and 10 males, age 9.3 +/- 3.4 years) and 15 patients with infrequent crises (9 females and 6 males, age 7.1 +/- 3.8 years) to determine the relationship between F cells, Hb F levels, lymphocyte subsets, and the frequency of crises. The proportion of CD2 and CD3 lymphocytes was significantly lower (P=0.015 and <0.0001, respectively) in both groups of patients than controls. CD4 lymphocytes were significantly lower (P = 0.018) and CD19 significantly higher (P = 0.007) than controls. CD45RO levels in both groups of patients were comparable with matched controls but significantly lower (P = 0.002) than adult values. Hb F levels in patients with and without frequent crises were comparable (P = 0.067). However, F cells in patients with infrequent crises were significantly higher than in patients with frequent crises (P<0.01). Alteration in the lymphocyte subsets did not correlate with the frequency of crisis in these patients.

Adult↗

Ankylosing spondylitis and undifferentiated spondyloarthritis in Kuwait: a comparison between Arabs and South Asians.

The objectives of this study were to describe and compare the clinical characteristics of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and undifferentiated spondyloarthritis (USpA) in Middle East Arab (MEA) and South Asian (SA) patients diagnosed in our unit. Fifty-eight consecutive patients diagnosed with SpA were studied after classifying them into MEA and SA. They were further classified as per disease diagnosis. Excluding three patients with miscellaneous ethnicity, there were 29 MEA and 26 SA patients. Seventy-two percent of MEA patients were males (vs 92% of SA patients). Of the 29 patients with MEA ethnicity, 17 had AS and 9 had USpA. Of the 26 patients with SA ethnicity, 10 had AS and 14 had USpA. Fifty-nine percent of MEA patients had AS (vs 39% of SA patients). Mean age at onset in AS patients was similar in the two ethnic groups. However, in patients with USpA, mean age at onset was somewhat lower at 21.8 years in the MEA group compared with 29.4 years in the SA group. Family history in first-degree relatives was significantly more common in MEA patients. Weight loss, inflammatory spinal pain, gluteal pain, and enthesopathy were equally common in both ethnic groups. Knee, ankle, and metatarsophalangeal joint involvement was less common in MEA patients. There were no significant differences in the occurrence of syndesmophytes, bamboo spine, and sacroiliitis in the two ethnic groups. HLA-B27 positivity rates in MEA patients were 87% for AS and 67% for USpA compared to 75 and 71%, respectively, in SA patients. It is concluded that some significant new findings have arisen from this study: the majority of MEA patients presented with AS, whereas the majority of SA patients had a picture of USpA. Family history was more common in MEA patients. Peripheral arthritis was less common in MEA patients. Worldwide, this is the first study to show that there are significant differences in the clinical expression of the various SpA in MEA patients compared to SA patients.

Adolescent↗

The natural history of acute rheumatic fever in Kuwait: a prospective six year follow-up report.

One hundred and twenty-six children with the initial attack of acute rheumatic fever were followed up prospectively for 6 years. Sixty-six children maintained regular secondary prophylaxis (regular group) and 60 were irregular (irregular group). Two recurrences developed in the regular group with a recurrence rate of 0.005/patient/year follow-up, and 71 recurrences developed in the irregular group with a recurrence rate of 0.2/patient/year follow-up. These findings demonstrate the effect of secondary prophylaxis in reducing the frequency of recurrences. The prevalence rate of rheumatic heart disease in children who had carditis in the initial attack was 42% in the regular group vs 70% in the irregular group (p less than 0.05). These findings demonstrate the deleterious effect of recurrences in the evolution of rheumatic heart disease. The prevalence rate of rheumatic heart disease in children who maintained regular secondary prophylaxis, was 42% in those children who had carditis in the initial attack and 6% in those who had no carditis (p less than 0.05). These findings demonstrate the prognostic significance of presence or absence of carditis during the initial attack, in the subsequent evolution of rheumatic heart disease. The prevalence rate of rheumatic heart disease in the 66 children who maintained regular prophylaxis was 23%. Comparison of these data with those of similarly designed studies shows that the evolution of rheumatic heart disease following the initial attack of acute rheumatic fever, seems to behave similarly in the tropics and subtropics as it did in temperate climates.

Acute Disease↗

Assessment of depression in Kuwait by principal component analysis.

One hundred depressed inpatients were examined by the WHO schedule for Standardized Assessment of Depressive Disorders (SADD). A common core of symptoms is shared with patients in other studies from Western, Middle-Eastern and international studies. However, pathoplastic cultural influences are manifest in a number of symptoms, notable among which are metaphorical descriptions of symptom intensity by the overwhelmed patient, infrequency of feelings of hopelessness and suicidal attempts, masking of guilt feelings by a front of somatization and a linkage of body weight and sexual functions to health in general. Evidence is provided for a continuum-type unimodal distribution of the principal components studied.

Adult↗

Mortality from burns in Kuwait.

There were 96 deaths among 1433 burns patients admitted to the Plastic Surgery and Burns Unit at Ibn Sina Hospital and Plastic Surgery Unit at Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital from January 1982 to December 1987. This represents an overall mortality of 6.7 per cent; 74 per cent of the patients who died had sustained more than 50 per cent body surface area (BSA) burns. A large number of deaths occurred in two age groups, 0-5 years (21 deaths) and 21-30 years (24 deaths). The male to female ratio of burn-induced deaths was 1.18:1. Flame burns due to domestic accidents were the aetiological factors in the majority of patients; 84 (87.5 per cent) of those who died sustained flame burns, although flame burns were only responsible for 46.6 per cent of all burns cases admitted. The mean survival period was 16.8 days postburn, the longest period being 79 days for a patient with 60 per cent BSA burns. Forty-seven patients (49.9 per cent) died of septicaemia which, with its related complications, remains the most important cause of death in our burns patients.

Accidents, Occupational↗