Search

aimani11Internal Medicine Department, Alameen General Hospital, Taif, Saudi Arabia; 2Mansoura Nephrology and Dialysis Unit, Internal Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt; 3Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt; 4Mansoura Medical District, Family Medicine Hospitals, Ministry of Health, Mansoura, Egypt; 5Department of Surgery, Ministry of the National Guard – Health Affairs, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; 6Department of Surgery, Abdullah International Medical Research Center, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; 7Department of Orthopedics, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; 8Orthopedic Surgery Department, King Abdulaziz Specialist Hospital, Taif, Saudi Arabia; 9College of Medicine, Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia; 10General Medicine Faculty, Sechenov University, Moscow City, Russian Federation; 11Neuroradiology, AlHada Military Hospital, Taif, Saudi Arabia; 12College of Medicine, Al-Baha University, Al Baha, Saudi ArabiaCorrespondence: Eman Nagy, Mansoura Nephrology and Dialysis Unit, Internal Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt, Email [email protected] Background: Vitamin D has many functions in the human body, and its deficiency is associated with skeletal and non-skeletal diseases. Vitamin D deficiency (blood level of 25 (OH) vitamin D < 20 ng/mL) has been reported worldwide, including Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Its prevalence and associated factors vary according to KSA region. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the prevalence and risk factors of vitamin D deficiency in the Taif region of KSA.Methods: This retrospective study included patients who attended outpatient clinics at the Alameen General Hospital from 2019 to 2021. Demographic, clinical, and laboratory data were collected using a hospital software system.Results: The study included 2153 patients and vitamin D deficiency was diagnosed in 900 (41.8%) of whom were diagnosed with vitamin D deficiency. It was more common in males (P=0.021), younger age (< 0.001), and in patients without comorbidities. There was a positive correlation between 25 (OH) vitamin D levels and blood cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein, calcium, and vitamin B12 levels. In the binary logistic regression analysis, age was the most significant predictor (P< 0.001), followed by the absence of thyroid disease (P=0.012) and asthma (P=0.030).Conclusion: Vitamin D deficiency is common in the Saudi population despite sunny weather in KSA. It is more prevalent among males, younger individuals, and those without comorbidities such as thyroid diseases and asthma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Neurological sequelae after COVID-19 vaccination are rare. We investigated the possible pathogenesis behind the development of neurological complications within a short period after Saudi residents received a COVID-19 vaccine. Patients and Methods: We evaluated 18 patients who recently received a COVID-19 vaccine (Comirnaty and Vaxzevria vaccines) and presented with neurological complications to the Saudi German Hospitals in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Neurologists assessed the patients' clinical presentation, radiological investigations, and laboratory findings. Results: Three patients who received the first dose of the Vaxzevria vaccine experienced severe cerebral venous thrombosis, two of them were complicated by intracranial hemorrhage. Their laboratory investigations showed very high d-dimers and severe thrombocytopenia, which have been linked to higher mortality and poor outcome. Ischemic stroke occurred in eight cases (44.4%) with a predominance in older male patients. Three patients presented with seizures, two had optic neuritis. Guillain–Barré syndrome (GBS) and Miller Fisher syndrome (MFS) occurred in two male patients following vaccination with Comirnaty. Conclusion: Neurological complications after COVID-19 vaccinations are very rare, and only a few cases have been reported worldwide. The shared pathophysiological basis between COVID-19 viral infection and COVID-19 vaccines stands behind the very rare neurological complications resulting from the hypercoagulable state triggered by the general inflammatory condition. We suspect some differences in the pathogenesis of ischemic stroke caused by COVID-19 infection and COVID-19 vaccines, which render COVID-19 vaccine-associated ischemic stroke more responsive to treatment. To date, no definitive association between the vaccine and GBS has been proven by any strong evidence, but it has recently been added as a very rare side effect of the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine. No possible links of Miller Fisher syndrome to COVID-19 vaccines have been reported before the one reported in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]