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Thrombophilia in venous thromboembolism (VTE) is multifactorial. Von Willebrand factor (vWF) plays a major role in primary hemostasis. While elevated vWF levels are well documented in VTE, findings related to its cleaving protease (ADAMTS-13) are contradicting. The aim of this study was to determine vWF, ADAMTS-13, and the multifactorial Thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1) protein levels in patients after 3-6 months following an unprovoked VTE episode. We also explored a possible association with factor V Leiden (FVL) mutation. vWF, ADAMTS-13 and TSP-1 were analyzed using ELISA kits in 60 VTE patients and 60 controls. Patients had higher levels of vWF antigen ( P = .021), vWF collagen-binding activity ( P = .008), and TSP-1 protein ( P .05). There appears to be an imbalance between vWF and ADAMTS-13 in VTE patients even after 3-6 months following the onset of VTE. We report that the odds of developing VTE in carriers of FVL mutation are 9.672 times those without the mutation, but the presence of this mutation is not associated with the studied proteins.

Introduction: Stigma and discrimination have been reported to cause unnecessary delay in mentally-ill patients seeking help, which adversely affects a patient's outcome. The attitude of health care professionals has been described as being, even more, negative than that of the general public, which worsens the prognosis for patients with a mental illness. Aims: The aim of this study was to describe the attitude of nurses toward mentally-ill patients in a general hospital. Methods: All the nurses in the hospital were administered a 40-item Community Attitudes Toward the Mentally-Ill (CAMI) questionnaire which determines whether the mentally-ill are viewed as “inferior;” deserve “sympathy;” perceived as a “threat” to society or “acceptable” if residing in community dwellings. The analysis of variance was performed to determine association of the four subscales with the individual characteristics, including age, gender, education, qualification type, position held, contact and contact type. Results: Out of a total of 990 nurses, 308 (31%) completed the CAMI questionnaire. The mean scores for the authoritarian (2.85), benevolent (3.66), social restrictiveness (2.97) and community mental health ideology (3.48) subscales reflected a negative attitude of nurses toward mentally-ill patients. The direct or indirect utilization of the mental health facilities resulted in significantly higher authoritarian and lower benevolence scores, indicating a positive attitude change in this group of nurses. Conclusion: Despite the small size and selective nature of the sample, the nurses' negative attitude toward the mentally-ill patients provides useful baseline data for further large-scale studies and underscores the need for psychoeducation of different health care professionals, including nurses.

In the Arabian Gulf States (AGS), emergency medicine (EM) is well recognized and established as a specialty and has achieved many advancements in different areas, and in particular the emergency medical services. Board certified EM physicians from both international and national programs are leading the specialty development and progress, with national residency training programs in EM filling the shortage of physicians in the field. Although at a national level the EM organizations, conferences, and journals are available to support the specialty, research in EM is still lagging behind and needs major progression. There is still a big potential for improving the specialty, and many challenges and barriers to overcome. The article is a brief journey on the EM specialty in the AGS, and it reflects the status of EM in this rapidly growing part of the world. [SJEMed 2021; 2(3.000): 205-217]