Actas de: XXVIII Congreso Anual de la Sociedad Espanola de Ingenieria Biomedica (CASEIB 2010). Ma... more Actas de: XXVIII Congreso Anual de la Sociedad Espanola de Ingenieria Biomedica (CASEIB 2010). Madrid, 24-26 de noviembre de 2010.
In this work, we examined the usefulness of the lithium zinc bismuth borate glass systems for var... more In this work, we examined the usefulness of the lithium zinc bismuth borate glass systems for various radiation shielding applications and for this purpose, the mass attenuation coefficients for the glasses in the composition 50 Bi 2 O 3-15 B 2 O 3-(35-x) ZnO-(x) Li 2 O (x = 0, 5, 10, 15, 20 mol%) were calculated by both XCOM software and MCNP5 simulation code, respectively, within the energy range 0.015 MeV-10 MeV. The obtained results indicated good agreement between mass attenuation coefficient values derived from XCOM program and MCNP5 code. The obtained mass attenuation coefficients are then used to calculate the effective atomic number (Z eff), half value layer (HVL) and mean free path (MFP) for the glasses. Among the selected glasses, the glass with 35 mol% ZnO was found to possess superior gamma-ray shielding effectiveness due to its higher values of both mass attenuation coefficient and effective atomic number and lower values of both HVL and MFP. The MFP values of the present glasses were compared with different glass systems and ordinary concrete. In addition, the macroscopic effective removal cross-section for fast neutron (Σ R) values was also evaluated. It is found that the Σ R values for the studied glasses lie within the range 0.1286-0.1587 cm − 1 .
Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions, 2003
Renal vasoconstriction resulting in medullary hypoxia is considered to play a significant role in... more Renal vasoconstriction resulting in medullary hypoxia is considered to play a significant role in the pathogenesis of CI-AKI [5,6]. RRI has recently been suggested for assessing these changes in renal perfusion and it has been shown that RRI correlates with serum creatinine level and also predicts AKI in post TAVI setting, [7] cardiac surgery patients [8] and in septic shock patients admitted to the intensive care unit [9]. This study aims to test the hypothesis that Doppler-based renal resistive index would similarly predicts contrast induced acute kidney injury in patients undergoing cardiac catheterization. Methods Patient population This prospective observational study that enrolled 100 patients undergoing cardiac catheterization in Cairo University Hospital between
Congenital abnormalities of the major mediastinal venous structures occur in less than 2 % of peo... more Congenital abnormalities of the major mediastinal venous structures occur in less than 2 % of people who have no other abnormalities. Venous malformations are the most common vascular malformation, accounting for 44–64% of all vascular malformations. Multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) is beneficial in the diagnosis and workup treatment planning of congenital anomalies. The current study presents a case report of a 27-year-old male who came to the CT department at Al-Shifa Hospital for evaluation of venous drainage patterns to the chest. In the first exam (one side contrast media injection), congenital absent both subclavian and brachiocephalic veins with blood seen draining through numerous small mediastina venous collaterals are observed during the two exams. The second exam (bilaterally and simultaneously contrast media injection) gives the same diagnosis in addition to huge network of collaterals around the lower esophagus and gastroesophageal junction forming cavernous tr...
Research and reviews: journal of medical and health sciences, 2018
Background: The complex situation of the current health services exists to shift the system in si... more Background: The complex situation of the current health services exists to shift the system in significant ways to improve on this situation. The radiographic services need more efforts for building capacity. This study is conducted to evaluate radiographic services at governmental hospitals in Gaza Governorates. Methods: Triangulated study design was used for data collection. The quantitative part; 170 Radiologic Technologists completed questionnaires with 95.5% response rate. The researcher used arbitrated checklist to evaluate medical imaging facilities. Census study conducted on all Radiologic Technologists and medical imaging departments at six main governmental hospitals in the Gaza Strip. In addition, three key informant interviews with Radiologic Technologists manager were conducted. Results: Researcher have directly interviewed 170 participants. Findings revealed that there was shortage in number of radiographic equipment and Radiologic Technologists. Statistically signific...
The current paper illustrates glow curve analysis of newly developed Borate glass dosimeters. A s... more The current paper illustrates glow curve analysis of newly developed Borate glass dosimeters. A series of dosimetric properties including dose response for photons and electrons, energy response, optical fading, and precision were determined. Glow curve deconvolution based on the general order kinetics equation was applied to extract the trapping parameters. Excellent fitting was obtained with the superposition of three-second order glow peaks. The quality of fitting was monitored through the r 2 value which is always in excess of 0.9998. Thermoluminescence (TL) measurements showed that the material exhibits good linear dose-response over the delivered range of absorbed dose from 0.5 to 4 Gy for photons and electrons irradiation with low energy dependence. The material exhibits large signal loss when exposed to direct sunlight and moderate signal loss when exposed to fluorescent light. Therefore, it is recommended to use the current dosimeters indoor and to avoid prolonged direct exposure to fluorescent light. This combination of properties makes the material suitable for radiation dosimetry.
The photoluminescence, optical and physical properties of sodium borate (NB) doped with different... more The photoluminescence, optical and physical properties of sodium borate (NB) doped with different concentrations of Dy[Formula: see text] were determined and well discussed. The samples were prepared by the melt-quenching technique and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Photoluminescence and absorption spectra of NB glasses doped with different concentrations of Dy[Formula: see text] are reported. Ten absorption bands with hypersensitive transition at 1272 nm ([Formula: see text] [Formula: see text][Formula: see text]) and two emission bands for the transitions at [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text][Formula: see text] (blue color) and [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text][Formula: see text] (yellow color) with an excitation of 330 nm have been recorded. A series of considerable physical properties (oscillator strengths, refractive index, ions concentration, polaron radius) was calculated for each dopant concentration.
Prostate cancer has the third highest cancer incidence in Palestinian men with incidence rate abo... more Prostate cancer has the third highest cancer incidence in Palestinian men with incidence rate about 4.5/100,000, and an increase in new cases by 50% between 2000 and 2015. Prostate cancer death rates have been obviously decreased in many countries due to treatment, precise screening. The current study aims to review and evaluate the new diagnosed prostate cancer in the Gaza Strip, Palestine. As a cross-sectional, quantitative and analytical approach based on structured review, the current study was conducted at Al-Shifa and European hospitals (main oncology departments in governmental hospitals). Interviews with newly diagnosed cancer prostate patients were carried out during the period of March and June, 2014; a total of 41 newly diagnosed with primary cancer prostate. Furthermore, demographic, health status, medical investigations and tests are reported from oncologists and hospital archives over the last five years (2010-2014). The current study showed that there were 41 new prostate cancer cases in three months with incidence rate 5.1 per 100,000. The highest rate of incidence was among the patients above age of 70+, 70-74 (29.3%). The results showed that 58.1% of the patients were smokers, and 22.6% used to smoke, while 16.1% responded they don't smoke at all. The most common type of treatment used by participants was chemotherapy therapy followed by hormonal therapy and prostatectomy. The least common methods used for treatment were radiation therapy and combination of hormonal, radiation, and chemotherapy as only 5 participants used each type of these treatment options. The prevalence of prostate cancer was higher among men who lived in Gaza Governorate compared to other governorates. Limited use of radiation therapy was due to the unavailability of this treatment in Gaza Strip.
Journal of Radiation Research and Applied Sciences, 2018
Medical imaging services are the key tool to diagnose many diseases and have an important role in... more Medical imaging services are the key tool to diagnose many diseases and have an important role in monitoring treatment and predicting outcome. The current study conducted to evaluate advanced medical imaging services (CT and MRI) at Governmental Hospitals-Gaza Governorates, Palestine. Triangulated study design was used (checklist, questionnaire and key informant interview). The researcher used arbitrated checklist to evaluate medical imaging facilities. Census study conducted on all Radiologic Technologists and medical imaging departments at three main governmental hospitals in the Gaza Strip, which offered advanced medical imaging. In addition, three key informant interviews with Radiologic Technologists manager were conducted. Researcher have directly interviewed 20 participants (75% Males; 80% older than 30; 90% bachelor and master degrees and 80% more than 10 years' experience). Researcher have directly interviewed 20 participants (75% Males; 80% older than 30; 90% bachelor and master degrees and 80% more than 10 years' experience). Each RT at European Gaza hospital is expected to perform 25 cases in the morning shift against 6 and 13 cases at Indonesia and Al-Shifa Hospital, respectively. Both of Computed Tomography and Magnetic Resonance Imaging departments showed that "60%, 78% and 91%" and "86%, 100% and 90%" followed standard regarding to their structures, occupational safety and essential supplies, respectively. An observable shortage in number of radiographic machines and Radiologic Technologists at all advanced medical imaging departments. All departments showed clear defect in structure, design and essential supplies. Critical readings were observed respecting to insufficient radiation protection tools and holding of Thermoluminescence Dosimeters.
ABSTRACT In this work we use PeneloPET to simulate the Biograph scanners B-TP, B-TPTV and mCT. Si... more ABSTRACT In this work we use PeneloPET to simulate the Biograph scanners B-TP, B-TPTV and mCT. Simulations were adjusted to reproduce some experimental results from the actual scanners and validated by comparing their predictions to further experimental results. Sensitivity, spatial resolution, NEC rate and scatter fraction (SF) were estimated.
Monte Carlo simulations are widely used in positron emission tomography (PET) for optimizing dete... more Monte Carlo simulations are widely used in positron emission tomography (PET) for optimizing detector design, acquisition protocols, as well as for developing and assessing corrections and reconstruction methods. PeneloPET is a Monte Carlo code for PET simulations which considers detector geometry, acquisition electronics and materials, and source definitions. PeneloPET is based on PENELOPE, a Monte Carlo code for the simulation of the transport in matter of electrons, positrons and photons, with energies up to 1 GeV. In this work we use PeneloPET to simulate the Biograph TruePoint (B-TP), Biograph TruePoint with TrueV (B-TPTV) and Biograph mCT PETtCT scanners. These configurations consist of three (B-TP) and four (B-TPTV and mCT) rings of 48 detector blocks. Each block comprises a 13 x 13 matrix of 4 x 4 x 20 mm 3 LSO crystals. Simulations were adjusted to reproduce some experimental results from the actual scanners and validated by comparing their predictions to further experimental results. Sensitivity, spatial resolution, noise equivalent count (NEC) rate and scatter fraction (SF) were estimated. The simulations were then employed to estimate the optimum values of system parameters, such as energy and time coincidence windows and to assess the effect of system modifications (such as number of rings) on performance.
Nowadays 2-Deoxy-(18 F) fluoro-D-glucose (FDG) is the most common radiotracer used in PET to stag... more Nowadays 2-Deoxy-(18 F) fluoro-D-glucose (FDG) is the most common radiotracer used in PET to stage cancer and locate metastasis in many regions of the body. FDG is analogous to glucose and is taken up by living cells through the normal glucose pathway. Tumor imaging with FDG relies on the fact that malignant cells show higher metabolic rates than normal tissue and therefore take up greater amounts of FDG
ObjectiveTo identify factors related to women’s delay in presenting with breast cancer symptoms t... more ObjectiveTo identify factors related to women’s delay in presenting with breast cancer symptoms to improve diagnosis in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt).DesignCross-sectional.SettingTwo government cancer hospitals.ParticipantsA consecutive sample of 130 Palestinian women living in Gaza with newly diagnosed breast cancer were approached in the waiting rooms of cancer hospitals in Gaza between 1 January 2017 and 31 December 2017. 120 women took part and returned the completed questionnaire.Primary and secondary outcome measuresClinical information about breast cancer was collected from hospital cancer records. An interval of 3 months or more between women’s self-discovery of symptoms and their first presentation to a medical provider was considered as a delay.Results94% (122/130) of women attending cancer hospitals in Gaza agreed to take part in the study. Their mean age was 51 years (range: 23–72), 33.6% (31/122) had a family history of breast cancer and 74.5% (41/55) of thos...
Crohn’s disease (CD) is a chronic inflammatory process affecting the gastrointestinal tract, main... more Crohn’s disease (CD) is a chronic inflammatory process affecting the gastrointestinal tract, mainly the terminal ileum of small bowel. Although ileocolonoscopy provides good mucosal visualization, it does not allow evaluation of extraluminal abnormalities. Computed tomographic enterography (CTE) is an emerging imaging modality for assessment of small bowel disorders. The study aimed to explore the diagnostic accuracy of CTE in the diagnosis of patients with CD benchmarked against a histopathological reference. A cross-sectional study entailed 126 consecutive patients with known or suspected CD who underwent CTE and biopsy by ileocolonoscopy via retrograde terminal ileum intubation. Spearman’s rank was used to test the correlation and Kappa coefficient agreement between CTE and histopathology. Area under the curve (AUC) of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) was used to measure CTE diagnostic accuracy. The overall sensitivity and specificity of CTE were 93.88% and 85.71%, respectively. The PPV was 95.83%, and the NPV was 80%. The accuracy of CTE indicated an overall probability of correct patient classification of 92.06%. The AUC of the ROC of CTE was 0.898 (P < 0.001). Thus, CTE has a high sensitivity for assessment of small bowel CD. The CTE and histopathological gradings were strongly correlated (Spearman’s coefficient = 0.962, P < 0.001). CTE exhibited perfect agreement with histopathology (Kappa coefficient (κ) = 0.847, P < 0.001). CTE is a reliable technique that has high diagnostic accuracy in the assessment of CD. Hence, it may be useful for follow up and for preoperative guidance in treatment planning.
Cancer is one of the leading causes of mortality among adults all over the world. Breast cancer (... more Cancer is one of the leading causes of mortality among adults all over the world. Breast cancer (BC) is the most frequent cancer among women, affecting 2.1 million women each year, resulting in an increasing number of cancer-related deaths among women. In 2018, it was estimated that 627,000 women died from BC, representing approximately 15% of all cancer deaths among women. While BC rates are higher among women in more developed regions, rates are increasing in nearly every region globally (WHO, 2018). BC is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer throughout the world, next to lung cancer. It is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among female subjects (Santhanakrishnan et al., 2016). A long-term increase in the incidence of the disease has been observed in both developed and developing countries. In 2014 BC accounted for 1.03% of the total annual deaths,
Actas de: XXVIII Congreso Anual de la Sociedad Espanola de Ingenieria Biomedica (CASEIB 2010). Ma... more Actas de: XXVIII Congreso Anual de la Sociedad Espanola de Ingenieria Biomedica (CASEIB 2010). Madrid, 24-26 de noviembre de 2010.
In this work, we examined the usefulness of the lithium zinc bismuth borate glass systems for var... more In this work, we examined the usefulness of the lithium zinc bismuth borate glass systems for various radiation shielding applications and for this purpose, the mass attenuation coefficients for the glasses in the composition 50 Bi 2 O 3-15 B 2 O 3-(35-x) ZnO-(x) Li 2 O (x = 0, 5, 10, 15, 20 mol%) were calculated by both XCOM software and MCNP5 simulation code, respectively, within the energy range 0.015 MeV-10 MeV. The obtained results indicated good agreement between mass attenuation coefficient values derived from XCOM program and MCNP5 code. The obtained mass attenuation coefficients are then used to calculate the effective atomic number (Z eff), half value layer (HVL) and mean free path (MFP) for the glasses. Among the selected glasses, the glass with 35 mol% ZnO was found to possess superior gamma-ray shielding effectiveness due to its higher values of both mass attenuation coefficient and effective atomic number and lower values of both HVL and MFP. The MFP values of the present glasses were compared with different glass systems and ordinary concrete. In addition, the macroscopic effective removal cross-section for fast neutron (Σ R) values was also evaluated. It is found that the Σ R values for the studied glasses lie within the range 0.1286-0.1587 cm − 1 .
Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions, 2003
Renal vasoconstriction resulting in medullary hypoxia is considered to play a significant role in... more Renal vasoconstriction resulting in medullary hypoxia is considered to play a significant role in the pathogenesis of CI-AKI [5,6]. RRI has recently been suggested for assessing these changes in renal perfusion and it has been shown that RRI correlates with serum creatinine level and also predicts AKI in post TAVI setting, [7] cardiac surgery patients [8] and in septic shock patients admitted to the intensive care unit [9]. This study aims to test the hypothesis that Doppler-based renal resistive index would similarly predicts contrast induced acute kidney injury in patients undergoing cardiac catheterization. Methods Patient population This prospective observational study that enrolled 100 patients undergoing cardiac catheterization in Cairo University Hospital between
Congenital abnormalities of the major mediastinal venous structures occur in less than 2 % of peo... more Congenital abnormalities of the major mediastinal venous structures occur in less than 2 % of people who have no other abnormalities. Venous malformations are the most common vascular malformation, accounting for 44–64% of all vascular malformations. Multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) is beneficial in the diagnosis and workup treatment planning of congenital anomalies. The current study presents a case report of a 27-year-old male who came to the CT department at Al-Shifa Hospital for evaluation of venous drainage patterns to the chest. In the first exam (one side contrast media injection), congenital absent both subclavian and brachiocephalic veins with blood seen draining through numerous small mediastina venous collaterals are observed during the two exams. The second exam (bilaterally and simultaneously contrast media injection) gives the same diagnosis in addition to huge network of collaterals around the lower esophagus and gastroesophageal junction forming cavernous tr...
Research and reviews: journal of medical and health sciences, 2018
Background: The complex situation of the current health services exists to shift the system in si... more Background: The complex situation of the current health services exists to shift the system in significant ways to improve on this situation. The radiographic services need more efforts for building capacity. This study is conducted to evaluate radiographic services at governmental hospitals in Gaza Governorates. Methods: Triangulated study design was used for data collection. The quantitative part; 170 Radiologic Technologists completed questionnaires with 95.5% response rate. The researcher used arbitrated checklist to evaluate medical imaging facilities. Census study conducted on all Radiologic Technologists and medical imaging departments at six main governmental hospitals in the Gaza Strip. In addition, three key informant interviews with Radiologic Technologists manager were conducted. Results: Researcher have directly interviewed 170 participants. Findings revealed that there was shortage in number of radiographic equipment and Radiologic Technologists. Statistically signific...
The current paper illustrates glow curve analysis of newly developed Borate glass dosimeters. A s... more The current paper illustrates glow curve analysis of newly developed Borate glass dosimeters. A series of dosimetric properties including dose response for photons and electrons, energy response, optical fading, and precision were determined. Glow curve deconvolution based on the general order kinetics equation was applied to extract the trapping parameters. Excellent fitting was obtained with the superposition of three-second order glow peaks. The quality of fitting was monitored through the r 2 value which is always in excess of 0.9998. Thermoluminescence (TL) measurements showed that the material exhibits good linear dose-response over the delivered range of absorbed dose from 0.5 to 4 Gy for photons and electrons irradiation with low energy dependence. The material exhibits large signal loss when exposed to direct sunlight and moderate signal loss when exposed to fluorescent light. Therefore, it is recommended to use the current dosimeters indoor and to avoid prolonged direct exposure to fluorescent light. This combination of properties makes the material suitable for radiation dosimetry.
The photoluminescence, optical and physical properties of sodium borate (NB) doped with different... more The photoluminescence, optical and physical properties of sodium borate (NB) doped with different concentrations of Dy[Formula: see text] were determined and well discussed. The samples were prepared by the melt-quenching technique and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Photoluminescence and absorption spectra of NB glasses doped with different concentrations of Dy[Formula: see text] are reported. Ten absorption bands with hypersensitive transition at 1272 nm ([Formula: see text] [Formula: see text][Formula: see text]) and two emission bands for the transitions at [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text][Formula: see text] (blue color) and [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text][Formula: see text] (yellow color) with an excitation of 330 nm have been recorded. A series of considerable physical properties (oscillator strengths, refractive index, ions concentration, polaron radius) was calculated for each dopant concentration.
Prostate cancer has the third highest cancer incidence in Palestinian men with incidence rate abo... more Prostate cancer has the third highest cancer incidence in Palestinian men with incidence rate about 4.5/100,000, and an increase in new cases by 50% between 2000 and 2015. Prostate cancer death rates have been obviously decreased in many countries due to treatment, precise screening. The current study aims to review and evaluate the new diagnosed prostate cancer in the Gaza Strip, Palestine. As a cross-sectional, quantitative and analytical approach based on structured review, the current study was conducted at Al-Shifa and European hospitals (main oncology departments in governmental hospitals). Interviews with newly diagnosed cancer prostate patients were carried out during the period of March and June, 2014; a total of 41 newly diagnosed with primary cancer prostate. Furthermore, demographic, health status, medical investigations and tests are reported from oncologists and hospital archives over the last five years (2010-2014). The current study showed that there were 41 new prostate cancer cases in three months with incidence rate 5.1 per 100,000. The highest rate of incidence was among the patients above age of 70+, 70-74 (29.3%). The results showed that 58.1% of the patients were smokers, and 22.6% used to smoke, while 16.1% responded they don't smoke at all. The most common type of treatment used by participants was chemotherapy therapy followed by hormonal therapy and prostatectomy. The least common methods used for treatment were radiation therapy and combination of hormonal, radiation, and chemotherapy as only 5 participants used each type of these treatment options. The prevalence of prostate cancer was higher among men who lived in Gaza Governorate compared to other governorates. Limited use of radiation therapy was due to the unavailability of this treatment in Gaza Strip.
Journal of Radiation Research and Applied Sciences, 2018
Medical imaging services are the key tool to diagnose many diseases and have an important role in... more Medical imaging services are the key tool to diagnose many diseases and have an important role in monitoring treatment and predicting outcome. The current study conducted to evaluate advanced medical imaging services (CT and MRI) at Governmental Hospitals-Gaza Governorates, Palestine. Triangulated study design was used (checklist, questionnaire and key informant interview). The researcher used arbitrated checklist to evaluate medical imaging facilities. Census study conducted on all Radiologic Technologists and medical imaging departments at three main governmental hospitals in the Gaza Strip, which offered advanced medical imaging. In addition, three key informant interviews with Radiologic Technologists manager were conducted. Researcher have directly interviewed 20 participants (75% Males; 80% older than 30; 90% bachelor and master degrees and 80% more than 10 years' experience). Researcher have directly interviewed 20 participants (75% Males; 80% older than 30; 90% bachelor and master degrees and 80% more than 10 years' experience). Each RT at European Gaza hospital is expected to perform 25 cases in the morning shift against 6 and 13 cases at Indonesia and Al-Shifa Hospital, respectively. Both of Computed Tomography and Magnetic Resonance Imaging departments showed that "60%, 78% and 91%" and "86%, 100% and 90%" followed standard regarding to their structures, occupational safety and essential supplies, respectively. An observable shortage in number of radiographic machines and Radiologic Technologists at all advanced medical imaging departments. All departments showed clear defect in structure, design and essential supplies. Critical readings were observed respecting to insufficient radiation protection tools and holding of Thermoluminescence Dosimeters.
ABSTRACT In this work we use PeneloPET to simulate the Biograph scanners B-TP, B-TPTV and mCT. Si... more ABSTRACT In this work we use PeneloPET to simulate the Biograph scanners B-TP, B-TPTV and mCT. Simulations were adjusted to reproduce some experimental results from the actual scanners and validated by comparing their predictions to further experimental results. Sensitivity, spatial resolution, NEC rate and scatter fraction (SF) were estimated.
Monte Carlo simulations are widely used in positron emission tomography (PET) for optimizing dete... more Monte Carlo simulations are widely used in positron emission tomography (PET) for optimizing detector design, acquisition protocols, as well as for developing and assessing corrections and reconstruction methods. PeneloPET is a Monte Carlo code for PET simulations which considers detector geometry, acquisition electronics and materials, and source definitions. PeneloPET is based on PENELOPE, a Monte Carlo code for the simulation of the transport in matter of electrons, positrons and photons, with energies up to 1 GeV. In this work we use PeneloPET to simulate the Biograph TruePoint (B-TP), Biograph TruePoint with TrueV (B-TPTV) and Biograph mCT PETtCT scanners. These configurations consist of three (B-TP) and four (B-TPTV and mCT) rings of 48 detector blocks. Each block comprises a 13 x 13 matrix of 4 x 4 x 20 mm 3 LSO crystals. Simulations were adjusted to reproduce some experimental results from the actual scanners and validated by comparing their predictions to further experimental results. Sensitivity, spatial resolution, noise equivalent count (NEC) rate and scatter fraction (SF) were estimated. The simulations were then employed to estimate the optimum values of system parameters, such as energy and time coincidence windows and to assess the effect of system modifications (such as number of rings) on performance.
Nowadays 2-Deoxy-(18 F) fluoro-D-glucose (FDG) is the most common radiotracer used in PET to stag... more Nowadays 2-Deoxy-(18 F) fluoro-D-glucose (FDG) is the most common radiotracer used in PET to stage cancer and locate metastasis in many regions of the body. FDG is analogous to glucose and is taken up by living cells through the normal glucose pathway. Tumor imaging with FDG relies on the fact that malignant cells show higher metabolic rates than normal tissue and therefore take up greater amounts of FDG
ObjectiveTo identify factors related to women’s delay in presenting with breast cancer symptoms t... more ObjectiveTo identify factors related to women’s delay in presenting with breast cancer symptoms to improve diagnosis in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt).DesignCross-sectional.SettingTwo government cancer hospitals.ParticipantsA consecutive sample of 130 Palestinian women living in Gaza with newly diagnosed breast cancer were approached in the waiting rooms of cancer hospitals in Gaza between 1 January 2017 and 31 December 2017. 120 women took part and returned the completed questionnaire.Primary and secondary outcome measuresClinical information about breast cancer was collected from hospital cancer records. An interval of 3 months or more between women’s self-discovery of symptoms and their first presentation to a medical provider was considered as a delay.Results94% (122/130) of women attending cancer hospitals in Gaza agreed to take part in the study. Their mean age was 51 years (range: 23–72), 33.6% (31/122) had a family history of breast cancer and 74.5% (41/55) of thos...
Crohn’s disease (CD) is a chronic inflammatory process affecting the gastrointestinal tract, main... more Crohn’s disease (CD) is a chronic inflammatory process affecting the gastrointestinal tract, mainly the terminal ileum of small bowel. Although ileocolonoscopy provides good mucosal visualization, it does not allow evaluation of extraluminal abnormalities. Computed tomographic enterography (CTE) is an emerging imaging modality for assessment of small bowel disorders. The study aimed to explore the diagnostic accuracy of CTE in the diagnosis of patients with CD benchmarked against a histopathological reference. A cross-sectional study entailed 126 consecutive patients with known or suspected CD who underwent CTE and biopsy by ileocolonoscopy via retrograde terminal ileum intubation. Spearman’s rank was used to test the correlation and Kappa coefficient agreement between CTE and histopathology. Area under the curve (AUC) of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) was used to measure CTE diagnostic accuracy. The overall sensitivity and specificity of CTE were 93.88% and 85.71%, respectively. The PPV was 95.83%, and the NPV was 80%. The accuracy of CTE indicated an overall probability of correct patient classification of 92.06%. The AUC of the ROC of CTE was 0.898 (P < 0.001). Thus, CTE has a high sensitivity for assessment of small bowel CD. The CTE and histopathological gradings were strongly correlated (Spearman’s coefficient = 0.962, P < 0.001). CTE exhibited perfect agreement with histopathology (Kappa coefficient (κ) = 0.847, P < 0.001). CTE is a reliable technique that has high diagnostic accuracy in the assessment of CD. Hence, it may be useful for follow up and for preoperative guidance in treatment planning.
Cancer is one of the leading causes of mortality among adults all over the world. Breast cancer (... more Cancer is one of the leading causes of mortality among adults all over the world. Breast cancer (BC) is the most frequent cancer among women, affecting 2.1 million women each year, resulting in an increasing number of cancer-related deaths among women. In 2018, it was estimated that 627,000 women died from BC, representing approximately 15% of all cancer deaths among women. While BC rates are higher among women in more developed regions, rates are increasing in nearly every region globally (WHO, 2018). BC is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer throughout the world, next to lung cancer. It is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among female subjects (Santhanakrishnan et al., 2016). A long-term increase in the incidence of the disease has been observed in both developed and developing countries. In 2014 BC accounted for 1.03% of the total annual deaths,
Uploads
Papers by Khaled Abushab