Sleep quality is of paramount importance for human health. This multi-site study measures the proportion and types of self-reported sleep disorders in medical students and evaluates their association with academic performance by Grade Point Average (GPA). A cross-sectional survey was conducted on medical students from two medical schools in Jordan during the 2018/2019 academic year. The study utilized the SLEEP-50 questionnaire to estimate the proportion of several sleep disorders and their effects on daily functioning. Below average GPAs were considered poor academic performance. 1041 medical students' online surveys were analyzed from two medical schools’ campuses, representing a 29.7% response rate. Their mean age was 22 ± 2.1 years (ranging from 18 to 37) and 52.6% were female. The mean body mass index was 24.2 ± 4.4 kg/m2. According to the SLEEP-50 questionnaire, the prevalence of sleep disorders among studied medical students ranged from 0.6% for sleep state misperception (SSM) to 23.1% for hypersomnia. Using binary logistic regression, after adjusting for gender and obesity, poor academic performance was associated with a risk for insomnia [adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 1.96, p < 0.001]; affective disorder [OR = 2.24, P < 0.001]; SSM [OR = 6.40, p = 0.045]; narcolepsy [OR = 9.54, p = 0.045]; and circadian rhythm disorders [OR = 2.03, p < 0.001]. Sleep disorders are common among medical students. Several sleep disorders were associated with poor academic performance. Proper diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders may remedy this issue.
The unicornuate uterus is caused by abnormal or failed development of one Müllerian duct. Unicornuate uteri with functioning non-communicating rudimentary horns are susceptible to many gynaecologic and obstetric complications such as hematometra, endometriosis and ectopic pregnancy and thus surgical resection is usually recommended.. We report a rare case of a unicornuate right uterus with rudimentary non-communicating (functional) cavitary left horn (class U4a) in a 17-year-old girl who was diagnosed with VACTERL association. She was presented to our centre with 3 years history of secondary sever dysmenorrhea. Pelvic magnetic resonance imaging revealed a normal uterus on the right side, a 7 × 8 cm left endometrioma, a tortuous dilated fluid-filled structure in the left hemipelvis, mostly represented left-sided hematosalpinx, and a well-defined lesion with thick enhancing wall in the left hemipelvis measuring 6.7 × 5.7 × 5.6 cm with a similar enhancement to the uterus in the right. She underwent laparotomy that showed a right unicornuate uterus with a normal cervix and a rudimentary non-communicating distended left horn. In addition, there was a left endometrioma and left hematosalpinx. Resection of the left communicating horn, left salpingectomy and left ovarian cystectomy were performed. The right tube and both ovaries were preserved. At 9-months follow up, the patient had a regular period and the pain subsided completely. We report yet the second case of VACTERL association and unicornuate uterus with non-communicating functional rudimentary horn, in hope of expanding the knowledge of a rare occurrence. This case also highlights the importance of considering the diagnosis of Müllerian duct anomalies in patients with a history of other anomalies, and/or history of early-age secondary dysmenorrhea.
Chat Generative Pre-Trained Transformer (ChatGPT) is an online large language model that appears to be a popular source of health information, as it can provide patients with answers in the form of human-like text, although the accuracy and safety of its responses are not evident. This study aims to evaluate the accuracy and reproducibility of ChatGPT responses to patients-based questions in ophthalmology. We collected 150 questions from the “Ask an ophthalmologist” page of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, which were reviewed and refined by two ophthalmologists for their eligibility. Each question was inputted into ChatGPT twice using the “new chat” option. The grading scale included the following: (1) comprehensive, (2) correct but inadequate, (3) some correct and some incorrect, and (4) completely incorrect. Totally, 117 questions were inputted into ChatGPT, which provided “comprehensive” responses to 70/117 (59.8%) of questions. Concerning reproducibility, it was defined as no difference in grading categories (1 and 2 vs 3 and 4) between the 2 responses for each question. ChatGPT provided reproducible responses to 91.5% of questions. This study shows moderate accuracy and reproducibility of ChatGPT responses to patients’ questions in ophthalmology. ChatGPT may be—after more modifications—a supplementary health information source, which should be used as an adjunct, but not a substitute, to medical advice. The reliability of ChatGPT should undergo more investigations.
Obesity is a growing public health problem worldwide. Bariatric surgical procedures achieve the most sustainable and efficacious outcomes in the treatment of morbid obesity. However, little is known about the underlying molecular pathways modulated by these surgical interventions. Since leptin resistance is implicated in the pathogenesis of obesity, we herein report the effects of laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) on the serum levels of leptin and leptin receptor, in addition to its overall effect on leptin resistance. This was an interventional and follow-up clinical study. In the first part, patients attending the general surgery outpatient clinics at our university hospital were first stratified according to their Body-Mass Index (BMI) into cases (n = 38) with BMI ≥ 35 who were scheduled to undergo LSG, and controls (n = 75) with a normal BMI. Serum leptin and leptin receptor levels were measured by sandwich ELISA technique. A leptin resistance index was estimated by adjusting leptin to BMI ratio to leptin receptor concentration. In the second part of the study, cases who underwent LSG were followed up one year postoperatively to assess their BMI and serum leptin and leptin receptor levels. Leptin to BMI ratio was significantly higher, while serum leptin receptor was significantly lower, in obese patients compared to controls. This translated into a significantly higher leptin resistance index in obese patients. LSG resulted in a significant reduction of BMI, leptin to BMI ratio, and leptin resistance index, as it significantly increased leptin receptor levels. In conclusion, LSG showed significant decrease in leptin resistance in obese patients after one year. Further studies are needed to determine the clinical impact of this finding on LSG outcomes.
The right azygos lobe is a rare anatomical variant of the upper lung lobe that can be misdiagnosed as a neoplasm, a lung abscess, or a bulla. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of right azygos lobe and to evaluate the ability of postgraduate doctors to correctly identify right azygos lobe. We analyzed a total of 1709 axial thoracic multi-detector computed tomography (CT) images for the presence of an azygos lobe. Additionally, a paper-based survey was distributed among a sample of intern doctors and radiology and surgery residents, asking them to identify the right azygos lobe in a CT image and in an anatomy figure. Results showed that the prevalence of the right azygos lobe in the study sample was 0.88%. Men have more right azygos lobes than women. None of the intern doctors or surgery residents identified the right azygos lobe correctly, whereas more than half (57.1%) of the radiology residents did. Most of the incorrect answers about the CT scan were related to the bronchi (25.0%). The apex of the lung (17.7%) and the superior vena cava (17.7%) were the most common incorrect answers about the anatomy figure. In conclusion, the prevalence of the right azygos lobe in the current study is within the range of previously published literature. More education should be given for the identification of the right azygos lobe during anatomy and clinical teaching.
Background/Objectives: Rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) is a potentially blinding retinal disorder. RRD in the first eye is a well-recognized risk factor for bilateral RRD since risk factors that predispose to RRD affect both eyes. In this study, we assess the presenting factors that predispose individuals to bilateral RRD and evaluate the role of prophylactic retinopexy in preventing fellow-eye RRD. Methods: Retrospectively, all patients who underwent RRD repair through pars plana vitrectomy were included. A medical database was utilized to extract the data. The primary outcome was to report the development of RRD in the fellow eyes according to the presenting risk factors. Secondary outcomes included the prophylactic effect of laser retinopexy for the fellow eye. Results: In this study, 348 patients were included. The mean age of the patients was 46.3 years. Bilateral RRD was developed in 13.7% of the patients. It was found that total RRD in the first eye (p-value = 0.045), the presence of lattice degeneration in the first eye (p-value = 0.036), the presence of high-risk breaks (p-value = 0.0001) or lattice degeneration (p-value = 0.0004) in the fellow eye, the involvement of the inferior-nasal quadrant in the first eye (p-value = 0.043), and the presence of connective tissue diseases (p-value = 0.008) were significantly associated with the development of fellow-eye RRD. Performing prophylactic retinopexy was associated with a reduction in the incidence of fellow-eye RRD (with or without high-risk breaks) (p-value = 0.0001). It was not associated with a reduction in the risk of fellow-eye RRD in cases of lattice degeneration alone. Conclusions: Recognition of certain perioperative risk factors (such as high-risk retinal tears) during the presentation of first-eye RRD is crucial. Prophylactic laser retinopexy may have a critical role in preventing fellow-eye RRD. Patients’ awareness should be raised about the symptoms of RRD.