Diagnostic Performance of the Radiological Society of North America Consensus Statement for Reporting COVID-19 Chest CT Findings: A Revisit

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a highly contagious respiratory disease that leads to variable degrees of illness, and which may be fatal. We evaluated the diagnostic performance of each chest computed tomography (CT) reporting category recommended by the Expert Consensus of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) in comparison with that of reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). We aimed to add an analysis of this form of reporting in the Middle East, as few studies have been performed there. Between July 2021 and February 2022, 184 patients with a mean age of 55.56 ± 16.71 years and probable COVID-19 infections were included in this retrospective study. Approximately 64.67% (119 patients) were male, while 35.33% (65 patients) were female. Within 7 days, all patients underwent CT and RT-PCR examinations. According to a statement by the RSNA, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and accuracy of each CT reporting category were calculated, and the RT-PCR results were used as a standard reference. The RT-PCR results confirmed a final diagnosis of COVID-19 infection in 60.33% of the patients. For COVID-19 diagnoses, the typical category (n = 88) had a sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and accuracy of 74.8%, 93.2%, 94.3%, and 92.5%, respectively. For non-COVID-19 diagnoses, the PPVs for the atypical (n = 22) and negative (n = 46) categories were 81.8% and 89.1%, respectively. The PPV for the indeterminate (n = 28) category was 67.9%, with a low sensitivity of 17.1%. However, the RSNA's four chest CT reporting categories provide a strong diagnostic foundation and are highly correlated with the RT-PCR results for the typical, atypical, and negative categories, but they are weaker for the indeterminate category.

Awareness Level Regarding Brain Death and the Acceptance of Organ Donation in Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia

Background There is a worldwide shortage of organ donations. In the United States, 20% of people on transplant waiting lists pass away annually due to the lack of accessible organs. Patients with brain death can donate organs, which may save other patients' lives. The Saudi Ministry of Health endorses brain death as equivocal to whole-body death. A study conducted in Saudi Arabia showed that there was a mild to moderate level of awareness regarding brain death. This study aimed to investigate the awareness and knowledge level regarding brain death and the acceptance of organ donation among the general population in Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. Methodology An observational, cross-sectional study was conducted among 1,740 adults using an online questionnaire created and published in February 2023 to collect data from Saudi males and females aged 18 or older who were willing to participate in the study. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 23.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA) after collecting and entering them using the Windows version of Microsoft Office Excel 2016. Results Overall, 85.6% of the study participants had heard about organ donation. Of them, about 42.4% were aware of brain death. Further, 40% of participants were in agreement with organ donation. According to the findings, the majority of participants (60.9%) believed that a person could donate his or her organs during their life, while only 42.6% were unaware that they could donate their organs during death. Only 10.8% of participants knew that blood can be donated. There was no significant association between factors associated with organ donation and gender, education level, or monthly income. Conclusions This study concluded that study participants had a low level of awareness about brain death. Understanding brain death is essential for persuading people to donate their organs. Thus, more has to be done to inform and educate people about brain death and how it affects organ donation.

Awareness of Stroke Risk Factors, Warning Signs, and Preventive Behaviour Among Diabetic Patients in Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia

Objectives This study aims to measure the level of awareness about stroke symptoms, risk factors, and preventive health practices that could be taken to reduce the risk of stroke among diabetic patients in Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia in 2020. The sample included a total of 202 male and female Saudi adults aged 18-65 years, with either type 1 or type 2 diabetes mellitus, and living in Al Ahsa, Saudi Arabia. The information was collected randomly through an online questionnaire distributed among patients after getting their contact information from relevant governmental and private diabetes clinics and after signing the informed consent. For awareness and knowledge items, each correct answer was scored one point and the total summation of the discrete scores of the different items was calculated. A diabetic patient with a score less than 60% of the total score was considered to have poor awareness while a score of 60% or more of the total score was considered a good level of awareness. Results A total of 87 (43.1%) participants had an overall good awareness level, while 115 (56.9%) had poor awareness levels. Around 40.6% of the study patients had heard about stroke, 61.9% knew that stroke affects the brain, and 24.3% reported that stroke is higher among males. As for factors associated with stroke, the most reported was high blood pressure (71.8%), followed by diabetes mellitus (69.3%). Exactly 65.8% of participants knew about the mechanism of ischemic stroke and 42.6% reported hemorrhagic stroke. A high percentage of patients (73.1%) realize that they could reduce their risk of stroke. Conclusion The findings of the current study showed that less than half (43.1%) of the Saudi patients with DM had a good awareness level regarding stroke and its related risk factors and warning signs. Older patients (aged 50-65 years) with high social levels (high education and income) and those with a family history of stroke had significantly higher awareness levels. Hypertension, DM, and smoking are the highest reported known risk factors of stroke, and speech disorders are the highest known stroke presentation to the respondents.