Hydatid cyst is a common name for the larval stage of a tapeworm species of Echinococcus granulosus, which is transmitted from animals to humans via the fecal–oral route. Hydatid cysts predominantly affect the liver (75%), followed by the lung (15%), and they can affect many organs in the human body. Medical imaging modalities are the keystone for the diagnosis of hydatid cysts with high sensitivity and specificity. Ultrasound imaging with high resolution is the first choice for diagnosis, differential diagnosis, staging, establishing a role in interventional management, and follow-up, and it can differentiate Type I hydatid cysts from simple liver cysts. Unenhanced computed tomography (CT) is indicated where or when an ultrasound is unsatisfactory, such as with chest or brain hydatid cysts, when detecting calcification, and in obese patients. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is superior for demonstrating cyst wall defects, biliary communication, neural involvement, and differentiating hydatid cysts from simple cysts using diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) sequences. According to the phase of growth, hydatid cysts occur in different sizes and shapes, which may mimic benign or malignant neoplasms and may create diagnostic challenges in some cases. Hydatid cysts can mimic simple cysts, choledochal cysts, Caroli’s disease, or mesenchymal hamartomas of the liver. They can mimic lung cystic lesions, mycetoma, blood clots, Rasmussen aneurysms, and even lung carcinomas. Differential diagnosis can be difficult for arachnoid cysts, porencephalic cysts, pyogenic abscesses, and even cystic tumors of the brain, and can create diagnostic dilemmas in the musculoskeletal system.

Tuberculosis (TB) is a bacterial infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis; it is a public health problem worldwide and one of the leading causes of mortality. Since December 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented health challenges and disrupted the TB health services, especially in high-burden countries with ever-increasing prevalence. Extrapulmonary and even pulmonary TB are an important cause of nonspecific clinical and radiological manifestations and can masquerade as any benign or malignant medical case, thus causing disastrous conditions and diagnostic dilemmas. Clinical manifestations and routine laboratory tests have limitations in directing physicians to diagnose TB. Medical-imaging examinations play an essential role in detecting tissue abnormalities and early suspecting diagnosis of TB in different organs. Radiologists and physicians should be familiar with and aware of the radiological manifestations of TB to contribute to the early suspicion and diagnosis of TB. The purpose of this article is to illustrate the common radiologic patterns of pulmonary and extrapulmonary TB. This article will be beneficial for radiologists, medical students, chest physicians, and infectious-disease doctors who are interested in the diagnosis of TB.

Background and objectives: Ejection fraction (EF) is a measurement of heart function that reflects the portion of pumped out blood from the filled left ventricle per each heartbeat. The current study aimed to investigate the prevalence of left ventricular thrombus in patients with EF lower than 35% by using Transthoracic Echocardiography (TTE). Methods: In this prospective study, 82 cardiac patients underwent TTE procedure in order to assess the presence of left ventricular thrombus (LVT) from January 1st to December 31st 2017 at the Military Cardiac Centre in Sana’a, Yemen. Results: Out of 82 patients enrolled in this study, the mean age was 49.13 ± 14.8 years and 87.8% were male. The mean of EF was 31.16% and LVT was found in 6.1%. The spontaneous contrast was seen in 25.6% of patients indicating strong relationship with low EF (p < 0.001). Among patients with low EF, ischemic heart disease (IHD) was identified in 50%, hypertension in 30.5%, diabetes mellitus (DM) type 2 in 23.2%, and hyperlipidemia 12.2%. Exactly 80% of LVT were detected in IHD patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCMP) and 80% of detected LVT were apical in site. Conclusion: Cardiac patients with low ejection fraction developed left ventricular thrombosis, and most of the affected patients were ischemic heart disease with dilated cardiomyopathy. Interestingly, spontaneous contrast was found high significantly in these patients, which may reflect the continuous process of thrombus formation. Abbreviations:EF: ejection fraction, ASE: American society of echocardiography, EACVI: European association of cardiovascular imaging, LV: left ventricle, LVEF: left ventricular ejection fraction, HFpEF: heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, HFrEF: heart failure with reduced ejection fraction, MI: myocardial infarction, DCMP: dilated cardiomyopathy, AF: atrial fibrillation, TTE: Transthoracic echocardiography, TEE: trans-esophageal echocardiography, RHD: rheumatic heart disease, HTN: hypertension, DM: diabetes mellitus, CHF: congestive heart failure, JVP: jugular venous pressure, CBC: complete blood count, LFT: liver function tests, RFT: renal function test, LVT: left ventricular thrombus, ECG: electrocardiography, LVT: left ventricular thrombus, EDV: end diastolic volume, ESV: end systolic volume, SPSS: statistical package for the social sciences, IBM: international business machines, SD: standard deviation. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.36.4.1972 How to cite this:Aljaber NN, Mattash ZA, Alshoabi SA, Alhazmi FA. The prevalence of left ventricular thrombus among patients with low ejection fraction by trans-thoracic echocardiography. Pak J Med Sci. 2020;36(4):673-677. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.36.4.1972 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Khat is an evergreen plant and its fresh green leaves and buds are chewed for several hours a day for its psychostimulant response. This study aimed to review the effects of khat chewing on the body. PubMed was searched for literature on the different aspects of khat chewing to summarize its effects on different body systems. The major effects of khat chewing are those on the cardiovascular system including increased blood pressure, increased heart rate, and increased risk of myocardial infarction. It causes insomnia, stress, depression, hallucination, and increased risk of brain stroke. It causes dental caries, bad oral hygiene, periodontitis, increased oral mucosal ulcers, and increased gingival bleeding and recession. Khat chewing causes loss of appetite, gastritis, constipation, and hemorrhoids, and increased risk of hepatotoxicity and liver cirrhosis. Ultimately, it causes weak micturition, decreased sperm motility and count, and low birth-weight offspring in khat chewing mothers. The published articles about khat chewing in journals indexed in the PubMed was reviewed. Inclusion criteria involved each article available with English language and have a reported new effect of khat chewing.

Schistosomiasis (bilharzia) is a parasitic infection caused by trematodes of the Schistosoma genus and remains a significant health burden in endemic regions. Granulomatous host responses to deposited Schistosoma eggs in small veins and tissues result in progressive changes and characteristic imaging findings. This diagnostic radiological review synthesizes the published literature and highlights key and robust imaging findings that facilitate the diagnosis of Schistosoma mansoni and Schistosoma haematobium, with emphasis on modality-specific patterns and disease staging. Schistosoma mansoni primarily affects the liver, causing periportal fibrosis visible as “pipe-stem” echogenic thickening upon ultrasonography, which may progress to portal hypertension and chronic liver disease. Liver cirrhosis is the end-stage disease manifested as an irregular liver contour with surface nodularity and lobar redistribution as right lobe atrophy with left and/or caudate lobe hypertrophy. Schistosoma haematobium predominantly affects the genitourinary system, causing urinary bladder wall thickening and calcification. Early disease, within three months of infection, may present with fine calcification, firstly in the bladder base and then extending to the whole bladder and even to the ureters. Calcification appears as a line or two parallel lines on radiography and as a circle in axial computed tomography (CT) images, which is pathognomonic for early-stage Schistosomiasis. In contrast studies, including conventional urography and CT urography, Schistosoma eggs appear as bubble-like filling defects in the ureter, kidney, and bladder, manifested as ureteritis, pyelitis, and cystitis cystica. Late stages appear as coarse calcification, fibrosis, strictures, and reduced bladder capacity and are associated with an increased risk of bladder squamous cell carcinoma. Moreover, Schistosomiasis calcification can present in genital organs, especially in the seminal vesicles; in the prostate in males; and in the vulva, cervix, and perineum in females. Ultimately, Schistosoma mansoni and haematobium eggs can reach the spinal cord, leading to acute myelopathy with paraparesis, urinary retention, or paraplegia. Recognition of characteristic imaging patterns of Schistosomiasis is essential for early diagnosis, accurate staging, and prevention of long-term complications.

Perianal fistula, or anal fistula, is an abnormal granulomatous tract connecting the anal canal or rectum to the surrounding skin. It causes perianal pain and fistulous discharge, negatively impacting patients’ quality of life. The mechanism underlying fistula formation remains incompletely understood. Medical imaging is essential for accurate preoperative assessment of the shape, number and branching of fistulous tracts, identification of internal openings and Parks’ classification. This pictorial review provides an image-based overview of the key medical imaging concepts essential for the diagnosis of perianal fistulae and summarises the roles, advantages and limitations of the available imaging modalities for evaluating perianal fistulae. The current evidence on X-ray fistulography, computed tomography (CT) fistulography, transcutaneous ultrasonography (TCUS), endoanal ultrasonography (EAUS) and pelvic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was reviewed, emphasising on their diagnostic performance and clinical applications. Conventional X-ray fistulography has progressively been abandoned because it is invasive, is uncomfortable for patients, provides poor soft tissue contrast and inadequately visualises anal sphincters, complex fistulous tracts, secondary branches and abscesses. CT fistulography is useful for evaluating perianal abscesses and fistula when MRI and EAUS are unavailable. TCUS is widely available, non-invasive and radiation-free but is operator-dependent and has limited ability to evaluate high perianal fistulae. EAUS accurately evaluates fistulous tracts, can be performed at the bedside or intraoperatively and is reliable when MRI is contraindicated. However, EAUS is operator-dependent, is contraindicated in patients with severe anal stenosis or acute anal pain, and has a small field of view. Pelvic MRI is the gold standard, providing excellent visualisation of anal canal anatomy, superior soft tissue contrast, accurate mapping of fistulous tracts, localisation of internal openings, assessment of the involvement of anal sphincters and detection of secondary tracts, abscesses and associated complications. Consequently, MRI is a preferred imaging modality, which can guide treatment decisions and monitoring of treatment response.