OBJECTIVE: Tranexamic acid (TXA) use in obstetric hemorrhage has been shown to decrease both maternal mortality and morbidity. This study aimed to explore the knowledge and attitudes of Jordanian obstetricians and gynecologists regarding the use of TXA in obstetric bleeding cases, as well as to identify factors that affect decision-making processes and emphasize the significance of TXA in enhancing maternal health outcomes.
METHODS: This study used a cross-sectional design and a structured questionnaire to gather data from a convenience sample of 1000 Jordanian obstetricians.
RESULTS: Most participants used TXA to address obstetric hemorrhage, with medical training being the primary source of knowledge about TXA for (113/166) 68.1% of respondents. Awareness of TXA\'s potential benefits was high but some misconceptions existed. Approximately (96/166) 57.8% of the participants were aware of the recommended dosage regimen, and (61/166) 36.7% emphasized the importance of timing of administration. Knowledge of potential side effects was notable, with (55/166) 33.1% aware of life-threatening side effects, such as pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis. Concerns regarding barriers to implementation included the absence of strict guidelines (54.8%) and drug availability ( 91/166; 54.8%). However, (64/166) 38.6% expressed confidence in the effective use of TXA for obstetric hemorrhage treatment. The majority of respondents (154/166; 92.8%) considered additional education and training on TXA use to be important in managing obstetric hemorrhage.
CONCLUSIONS: Jordanian obstetricians have used TXA in cases of obstetric hemorrhage despite their experience and knowledge based only on limited resources; the need for national guidelines on when and how to use TXA in obstetric practice is of great importance and got vast support from the Jordanian obstetricians.

The incidence of cardiac implantable electronic device (CIED) malfunctions caused by radiotherapy (RT) is approximately 5%. Although individual national guidelines and expert consensus documents exist, the increased use of RT to treat various cancers points out the need for a standardized document to guide risk assessment and management of CIEDs during RT. We describe potential adverse RT-related events on CIEDs as well as the proposed mechanism of dysfunction. We review the main current guidelines and recommendations, emphasizing similarities and differences.

BACKGROUND: The preparticipation physical evaluation (PPE) monograph is a vital resource for medical providers aimed at ensuring the safety and well-being of athletes during sports participation by screening for injuries and disease risk factors. However, the concept of PPE is relatively new in Saudi Arabia, where primary care physicians (PCPs) often lack the proper training for it. This study\'s aim was to assess PCPs\' knowledge and practice of PPE and identify associated factors.
METHODS: A self-administrated web-based questionnaire was distributed to PCPs in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. The questionnaire covered the various aspects of PPE knowledge (including general principles, components, contraindications of sports participation, concerning history and physical findings, electrocardiography interpretations, and ethical considerations) as well as PPE practice. Initial treatment of data included descriptive statistics.; Chi-square tes or Fisher\'s exact test as, as appropriate, were used to determine association of knowledge and practices with various independent variables.
RESULTS: Of the 240 contacted PCPs, 192 responded yielding a response rate of 80%; 50.5% had no prior PPE training. About 43% of the PCPs had not encountered PPE during their examination, but the remainder performed monthly PPE. Notably, 82.8% demonstrated a poor level of knowledge regarding PPE and only 43% had a satisfactory level of practice.
CONCLUSIONS: This study revealed that a significant proportion of PCPs displayed poor knowledge of PPE and <½ of our sample showed satisfactory practice levels. Recommendations to establish the local guidelines regarding PPE for PCPs to follow should be emphasized and PPE training integrated into both undergraduate and postgraduate family medicine curricula. These measures are crucial for the enhancement of the safety of athletes in Saudi Arabia.

The Swiss Digital Pathology Consortium (SDiPath) was founded in 2018 as a working group of the Swiss Society for Pathology with the aim of networking, training, and promoting digital pathology (DP) at a national level. Since then, two national surveys have been carried out on the level of knowledge, dissemination, use, and needs in DP, which have resulted in clear fields of action. In addition to organizing symposia and workshops, national guidelines were drawn up and an initiative for a national DP platform actively codesigned. With the growing use of digital image processing and artificial intelligence tools, continuous monitoring, evaluation, and exchange of experiences will be pursued, along with best practices.
UNASSIGNED: Das Schweizer Konsortium für Digitale Pathologie (Swiss Digital Pathology Consortium, SDiPath) wurde 2018 als Arbeitsgruppe der Schweizerischen Gesellschaft für Pathologie gegründet mit der Zielsetzung der Vernetzung, Fortbildung und Förderung der digitalen Pathologie (DP) auf nationaler Ebene. Seither wurden 2 nationale Umfragen zum Kenntnisstand, der Verbreitung, Verwendung und der Bedürfnisse in der DP durchgeführt, aus welchen sich klare Handlungsfelder ergeben haben. Neben der Ausrichtung von Symposien und Workshops wurden nationale Leitlinien erarbeitet und eine Initiative für eine nationale DP-Plattform aktiv mitgestaltet. Mit dem zunehmenden Einsatz von digitaler Bildverarbeitung und künstlicher Intelligenz werden die kontinuierliche Begleitung, die Evaluation und der Austausch von Erfahrungen sowie bewährten praktischen Ansätzen weiterverfolgt.

UNASSIGNED: The overarching aim of this study was to evaluate the Norwegian guidelines for growth monitoring using routinely collected data from healthy children up to five years of age. We analysed criteria for both status (size for age) and change (centile crossing) in growth.
UNASSIGNED: Longitudinal data were obtained from the electronic health record (EHR) at the well-baby clinic for 2130 children included in the Bergen growth study 1 (BGS1). Measurements of length, weight, weight-for-length, body mass index (BMI) and head circumference were converted to z-scores and compared with the World Health Organization (WHO) growth standards and the national growth reference.
UNASSIGNED: Using the WHO growth standard, the proportion of children above +2SD was generally higher than the expected 2.3% for all traits at birth and for length at all ages. Crossing percentile channels was common during the first two years of life, particularly for length/height. By the age of five years, 37.9% of the children had been identified for follow-up regarding length/height, 33% for head circumference and 13.6% for high weight-for-length/BMI.
UNASSIGNED: The proportion of children beyond the normal limits of the charts is higher than expected, and a surprisingly large number of children were identified for rules concerning length or growth in head circumference. This suggests the need for a revision of the current guidelines for growth monitoring in Norway.

The lack of inclusion of pregnant women in clinical trials evaluating the effectiveness of medicines to treat COVID-19 has made it difficult to establish evidence-based treatment guidelines for pregnant women. Our aim was to provide a review of the evolution and updates of the national guidelines on medicines used in pregnant women with COVID-19 published by the obstetrician and gynecologists\' societies in thirteen countries in 2020-2022. Based on the results of the RECOVERY (Randomized Evaluation of COVID-19 Therapy) trial, the national societies successively recommended against prescribing hydroxychloroquine, lopinavir-ritonavir and azithromycin. Guidelines for remdesivir differed completely between countries, from compassionate or conditional use to recommendation against. Nirmatrelvir-ritonavir was authorized in Australia and the UK only in research settings and was no longer recommended in the UK at the end of 2022. After initial reluctance to use corticosteroids, the results of the RECOVERY trial have enabled the recommendation of dexamethasone in case of severe COVID-19 since mid-2020. Some societies recommended prescribing tocilizumab to pregnant patients with hypoxia and systemic inflammation from June 2021. Anti-SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibodies were authorized at the end of 2021 with conditional use in some countries, and then no longer recommended in Belgium and the USA at the end of 2022. The gradual convergence of the recommendations, although delayed compared to the general population, highlights the importance of the inclusion of pregnant women in clinical trials and of international collaboration to improve the pharmacological treatment of pregnant women with COVID-19.

Myopia is a major public health problem worldwide, including India, with the global prevalence of myopia increasing rapidly over decades. The clinical and socioeconomic impact of myopia is also expected to rise with rising prevalence. Therefore, the focus has now been shifted to prevent the incidence and progression of myopia. However, there is lack of any standardized guidelines for myopia management. This document aims to generate a national-level expert consensus statement on the management of childhood myopia in the Indian scenario. The expert panel of pediatric ophthalmologists consisted of 63 members who met in a hybrid meeting. A list of topics deliberating discussion in the meeting was provided to the experts in advance and they were instructed to provide their opinions on the matter during the meet. The panel of experts then gave their views on each of the items presented, deliberated on different aspects of childhood myopia, and reached a consensus regarding the practice patterns in the Indian scenario. In case of opposing views or lack of a clear consensus, we undertook further discussion and evaluated literature to help arrive at a consensus. A written document is prepared based on recommendations explaining definition of myopia, refraction techniques, components and methods of workup, initiation of anti-myopia treatment, type and timing of interventions, follow-up schedule, and indications for revised or combination treatment. This article formulates evidence-based guidelines for progressing myopes and pre-myopes and also establishes uniformity in the management of childhood myopia in the country.

UNASSIGNED: In Egypt, academic organizations, professional societies, and research groups develop clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) in order to improve patient quality care and safety. Although important improvements have been made over the past years, many of these consensus-based guideline documents still lack the transparency and methodological rigor of international standards and methodologies recommended by reference evidence-based healthcare and guideline organizations like the Guidelines International Network.
UNASSIGNED: In the Egyptian Pediatric Clinical Practice Guidelines Committee (EPG), we have adopted one of the CPG formal adaptation methodological frameworks named the \'Adapted ADAPTE\', relevant CPG resources (e.g., the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation or AGREE II Instrument), and involved key stakeholders including clinical and healthcare topic experts and guideline methodologists in producing 32 trustworthy national evidence-based CPGs and one protocol customized to the healthcare context and services provided for Egyptian children. An EPG online website was launched to make these CPGs available and accessible as CPG summaries for pediatricians and relevant healthcare providers.
UNASSIGNED: The lessons learned, enablers, challenges, and solutions relevant to Egyptian National Pediatric CPGs identified in this paper could be used to address and enrich the debate on pediatric high-quality CPGs, especially for countries of similar contexts and systems.
UNASSIGNED: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s42269-023-01059-0.

Drug rash with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms syndrome (DRESS syndrome) is a potentially life-threatening, drug-induced, multi-organ system reaction, the most frequently involved organ is liver, followed by the kidneys and lungs.1 Early detection and diagnosis followed by withdrawal of the offending agent is vital to minimise the associated morbidity and mortality. A detailed drug history is vital to identify the causative drugs. Although Spanish guidelines were developed by a panel of allergy specialists from the Drug Allergy Committee of the Spanish Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (SEAIC) and are available in literature from 2020, many clinicians are still unaware about the management of this syndrome. Framing national guidelines for the early diagnosis and Pharmaco-therapeutic management of DRESS will help the healthcare professionals to save the patients from unintended vulnerability. Leflunomide, a drug widely used in rheumatology and orthopaedics must be used with caution since it has the potential to cause DRESS syndrome. We report a case of a lady aged 32 years, presented to our hospital with a history of leflunomide intake and symptoms of DRESS.

OBJECTIVE: Clozapine is licensed for treatment-resistant psychosis and remains underutilised. This may berelated to the stringent haematological monitoring requirements that are mandatory in most countries. We aimed to compare guidelines internationally and develop a novel Stringency Index. We hypothesised that the most stringent countries would have increased healthcare costs and reduced prescription rates.
METHODS: We conducted a literature review and survey of guidelines internationally. Guideline identification involved a literature review and consultation with clinical academics. We focused on the haematological monitoring parameters, frequency and thresholds for discontinuation and rechallenge after suspected clozapine-induced neutropenia. In addition, indicators reflecting monitoring guideline stringency were scored and visualised using a choropleth map. We developed a Stringency Index with an international panel of clozapine experts, through a modified-Delphi-survey. The Stringency Index was compared to health expenditure per-capita and clozapine prescription per 100 000 persons.
RESULTS: One hundred twocountries were included, from Europe (n = 35), Asia (n = 24), Africa (n = 20), South America (n = 11), North America (n = 7) and Oceania and Australia (n = 5). Guidelines differed in frequency of haematological monitoring and discontinuation thresholds. Overall, 5% of included countries had explicit guidelines for clozapine-rechallenge and 40% explicitly prohibited clozapine-rechallenge. Furthermore, 7% of included countries had modified discontinuation thresholds for benign ethnic neutropenia. None of the guidelines specified how long haematological monitoring should continue. The most stringent guidelines were in Europe, and the least stringent were in Africa and South America. There was a positive association (r = 0.43, p < 0.001) between a country\'s Stringency Index and healthcare expenditure per capita.
CONCLUSIONS: Recommendations on how haematological function should be monitored in patients treated with clozapine vary considerably between countries. It would be useful to standardise guidelines on haematological monitoring worldwide.