King Fahad Specialist Hospital

Cancer care in a fragile health system: effects of armed conflict on access, continuity, and mental health in Sudan

Armed conflict severely disrupts cancer care, particularly in low- and middle-income countries with fragile health systems. Since April 2023, the war in Sudan has crippled oncology services, yet empirical evidence on its impact on cancer patients remains scarce. Therefore, this s...

Early Surgical Interventions for Pediatric Cerebral Palsy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Effects on Mobility, Independence, Developmental Outcomes, and Deformity Prevention.

Introduction Determining the optimal timing and type of surgical interventions for children with cerebral palsy (CP) remains challenging. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to investigate and evaluate the effects of early surgical interventions on functional mobility,...

Algorithm-based approach to the management of rhino-maxillary mucormycosis: part II of a two-part study

Rhino-maxillary mucormycosis (RMM) is an aggressive, life-threatening fungal infection associated with substantial morbidity and mortality. While early diagnosis is universally advocated, robust quantitative evidence delineating how defined diagnostic delays influence objective c...

Susceptibility of cancer patients and caregivers to online cancer misinformation: a qualitative interview study

Abstract Purpose Despite the benefits of the internet for cancer care, there is also a substantial risk of exposure to misinformation. Our paper aims to explore the susceptibility of cancer patients and caregivers to online cancer misinformation. Method We conducted semi-structur...

Cancer care in Pakistan: a national survey of infrastructure, diagnostic capacity, therapeutic access, and workforce perspectives

Pakistan, a lower-middle-income country of some 241 million people, faces a rising cancer burden — an estimated 185,748 new cancer cases and 118,631 cancer deaths in 2022 — that is served by a heterogeneous and largely uncoordinated mix of public, private for-profit, philanthropi...

The immunotherapy arsenal against upper gastrointestinal tumours: A comprehensive review of immune checkpoint inhibitors across neoadjuvant, adjuvant, and metastatic settings

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) targeting the programmed death-1 (PD-1) / programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) axis have fundamentally transformed the management of upper gastrointestinal (GI) malignancies. Across oesophageal cancer, gastric/gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) adeno...

Early versus delayed IV-to-oral antibiotic transition: clinical deterioration after oral switch and variation across regimen pathways

Objective This retrospective cohort study aims to assess associations of delayed Intravenous (IV)-to-Oral switch after 72-hours versus early switch within 72-hours with switch failure within 7-days and with adjusted post switch clinical outcomes in hospitalized adults.Methods Adu...

Programming of deep brain stimulation of the centromedian nucleus of the thalamus for drug‐resistant epilepsy: A meta‐analysis and proposed programming framework

Abstract Objective Although the centromedian nucleus of the thalamus (CM) is an increasingly considered deep brain stimulation (DBS) target for drug‐resistant epilepsy (DRE), there is significant variability in programming practices, which may contribute to heterogenous outcomes....

Public Awareness of Genetic Diseases, Preventive Screening, and Genetic Healthcare Services in the Qassim Region, Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Genetic diseases pose a significant public health issue in Saudi Arabia, driven by relatively high prevalence and factors such as consanguineous marriage. Increasing public awareness and understanding are crucial to improving prevention, early detection, and the use o...

EUS-guided and US-guided percutaneous splenic biopsy: a systematic review and meta-analysis of separately pooled diagnostic and safety outcomes

Ultrasound (US)-guided percutaneous splenic biopsy has been widely used to evaluate focal or diffuse splenic lesions and has shown promising efficacy and safety. Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided biopsy has emerged as an alternative approach for tissue acquisition from splenic l...

In Silico Screening of Cannabis sativa Phytochemicals as Potential Ornithine Decarboxylase Inhibitors for Anti-Leishmanial Drug-Prioritized Compound Development

Leishmaniasis remains a major neglected tropical disease with limited therapeutic options, increasing drug resistance, and significant treatment-associated toxicity. Ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), which plays an essential role in polyamine synthesis and survival of parasites, is...