Saudi Arabia King Research Articles

Clinical outcomes of optic neuritis: A retrospective study at a tertiary medical center in Saudi Arabia.

To investigate the clinical results of optic neuritis (ON) patients in a tertiary medical facility in Makkah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The data of patients assessed for ON at Makkah, Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah Medical Center (KAMC), was examined retrospectively. We identified 15 patients with ON. The ON was caused by multiple sclerosis (MS) in 73.3% of patients and neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) in 26.7% of patients. The disease was bilateral in 60% of patients and unilateral in 40% of patients. Additionally, 60% of patients had 2 or more episodes of ON, whereas 40% had a single episode. Patients with ON who presented with painful eye movements had a significantly longer disease duration (p=0.032). Moreover, patients whose disease duration was 11-15 days did not achieve a complete resolution of their symptoms and experienced some residual vision loss compared to 30.8% who had continued visual changes (p=0.049). In the studied population, multiple sclerosis was the most prevalent cause of ON. Women were more likely to have ON. The prognosis for eyesight was substantially connected with the length of ON.

Visual Outcome and Patient Satisfaction with Implantation of Trifocal Intraocular Lens After Radial Keratotomy.

To investigate the visual outcomes and patient satisfaction following trifocal intraocular lens (IOL) implantation after radial keratotomy (RK). This was a retrospective chart review wherein we studied 14 eyes from 7 patients who had undergone cataract surgery and had trifocal intraocular lens (IOL) implanted in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia's King Fahd University Hospital and Kahhal private centre. Data such as demographic characteristics, the time between RK and cataract removal, intraoperative and postoperative complications, preoperative and postoperative uncorrected distance visual acuity (UDVA), corrected distance visual acuity (CDVA), and refraction were evaluated. In addition, visual complaints and satisfaction were assessed through a questionnaire. All eyes included had 8 RK sections. The mean spherical equivalent was +1.81 ± 4.27 D preoperatively and was -0.41 ± 1.2 D at the last follow-up. The mean uncorrected distance visual acuity (UDVA) increased from 0.32 ± 0.2 prior to surgery to 0.64 ± 0.2 following surgery. The mean efficacy index was 1.01 and a safety index was 1.26. In the last follow-up, 29% reported having 0.5 spherical equivalents, while 86% were within 1D. Improvement in cylindrical correction was noticed in the last follow-up with 36% not more than 0.5 D and 43% within 1D. In total, 80% of patients had a distance-corrected near visual acuity (DCNVA) of better than 20/40. The survey response rate was 100%, and two patients reported a lower degree of satisfaction. Glare and difficulty seeing at night were the most often reported complaints, with a mean of 2.86 ± 1.95 and 22 ± 1.9, respectively. Our results suggest that implantation of a trifocal IOL is safe and effective in patients with previous RK. However, several factors, including the patient's preoperative expectations, glare testing, refractive error, number of cuts, optical zone size, and visual phenomena related to RK, should be considered before implantation.

Patient response to the management during the acute presentation of cough variant Asthma: Retrospective cohort study

The clinical improvement after assessing patients with cough variant asthma in outpatient clinics, and therapy success varied depending on the subjective improvement. Cough could be controlled within appropriate time and subsequent management can consist of inhaled corticosteroids. In this study we used the cough improvement, the only available clinical response, as a predictable factor to determine the effect of different modalities of treatment among patients with cough variant asthma. Retrospective observational analysis was performed in Saudi Arabia's King Saud University Medical City, on the presentation, diagnosis, course of therapy, and responsiveness to oral and inhaled steroids in patients with cough variant asthma. All patients who visited the clinic on multiple occasions with persistent, acute coughing without being pre-screened between September 2021 and September 2022 included based on medical records. Cough resembles cough variant asthma is the term used to describe a cough without a diagnosed etiology. To identify patients eligible for CVA treatment, iindividuals having GERD-associated cough, allergic rhinitis, bronchial asthma, smokers and atopic cough was excluded. For the examination of these findings, IBM SPSS version 28 (Armonk, NY, USA) was employed. As a result of using budesonide-formoterol inhaler, most patients (86.3 %) showed improvement in their cough symptoms (with 95 %CI: 78.3 to 94.9). There was a significant yet weak positive correlation between the frequency of cough symptoms before and after using budesonide-formoterol (r = 0.318, P value < 0.001). The understanding of treatment response and patient selection for budesonide-formoterol inhaler therapy, providing clinicians with valuable information to optimize patient care.

Wastelanding Arabia: America's ‘Garden of Eden’ in Al Kharj, Saudi Arabia

In the late 1930s, the American oil company Aramco helped Saudi Arabia's King Ibn Saud develop his royal farm outside Riyadh. On the king's request, Aramco introduced new technology to tap the Al Kharj region's rich aquifer water and establish vast fields of wheat, alfalfa, and other water-intensive crops. Saudi Arabia's aquifers have since been pumped dry in service of the ‘Garden of Eden’ idyll promised by American advocates, who boasted of their ability to reclaim thousands of acres of ‘desert wasteland.’ This article draws on Traci Voyles' formulation of ‘wastelanding’ to interrogate the agricultural spectacle of Al Kharj in the 1930s–50s. The project was an early exemplar what came to be an established pattern of wastelanding Arabia, built on the unsustainable use of groundwater and social inequalities to create an ‘Eden’ in the desert. Agricultural wastelanding has unique spatial and temporal dimensions that set it apart from other extractive industries, like the uranium mining that Voyles examines in Diné lands. But as this article shows, desert greening projects draw on and produce similar structures of social and environmental violence – with America's ‘Garden of Eden’ in central Arabia being just one case among many of wastelanding across space and time.

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) States and Sub-Saharan Africa: In Search of Influence, Security, and New Markets

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) States and Sub-Saharan Africa:In Search of Influence, Security, and New Markets Michael B. Bishku (bio) Introduction The GCC was established in 1981 and includes the countries of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, and Bahrain. Saudi Arabia and the UAE currently have the most interactions with Sub-Saharan Africa (defined as those areas on the continent south of the Arab North African states located on the Mediterranean),1 while Bahrain has the least. Oman has historical connections with Africa's east coast, while Qatar has become more active on the continent especially since its rivalry with Saudi Arabia and the UAE heated up in 2017, due to Qatar's military ties with Turkey and the perception that it was too favorable in its dealings with Iran and Islamist organizations. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait (which received its independence from Britain in 1961), and the UAE became active on the African continent during the 1970s, especially following the 1973 Arab-Israeli War when many African countries broke off diplomatic relations with Israel over its continued occupation of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula captured as a result of the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. Qatar, the UAE, Bahrain received their independence from Britain in 1971, while the late-Sultan Qaboos of Oman was able to assume full control over his country's domestic and foreign policy [End Page 48] a year earlier, also from Britain. During the 1970s and 1980s, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the UAE were involved with providing developmental aid in Africa and even working for the same purpose as Libya's leader Muammar Qaddafi on the continent when activities were directed in garnering support for the Arab world in its conflict against Israel. Investment and increased trade as well as counteracting the activities of Iran's Islamic Republic in Africa have become more important for Saudi Arabia since then and, in more recent years for the UAE, which has surpassed the Saudis in those endeavors as well as in regarding Turkey as a rival for influence on the African continent. This article will review the connections and interactions of the GCC states in Sub-Saharan Africa, something that is need of more study. This is especially important given the increased activity on the continent during post-Cold War period in both security arrangements for protecting shipping lanes and in dealing with the threat of terrorist organizations and/or in economic arrangements on the part of both bigger powers such as the U.S., Russia, China, and France, middle powers such as Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Israel, India, and other countries with interests in the region such as the remainder of the Arab Gulf states. As scholars sometimes debate which countries to include in the category of middle powers, it is best to elaborate what might constitute such. A most succinct definition of a middle power is offered by Dong-min Shin: "…a state actor which has limited influence on deciding the distribution of power in a given regional system but is capable of deploying a variety of sources of power to change the position of great powers and to defend its own position on matters related to national or regional security that directly affect it."2 While greater attention is usually given by scholars of diplomatic history and international relations to the bigger powers, not enough is devoted to recognized middle powers and other countries seeking or on the verge of such status. Though there have been an increasing number of studies in recent years, especially [End Page 49] of Turkey's,3 Iran's,4 and Israel's5 activities in Africa, attention towards Saudi Arabia and the GCC states has been lagging behind; this article seeks to address that matter. The GCC States' Involvement in Africa during the Cold War Saudi Arabia's King Abdelaziz (also known as Ibn Saud) established diplomatic relations with Ethiopia's Haile Selassie in 1934 as his country was at the time one of only two independent states on the Arabian Peninsula, the other being Yemen. This was in part in response to fascist Italy's diplomatic moves in those two countries and...

Review

Review

Salman's Succession: Challenges to Stability in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah died the night of January 23, 2015. The king, who was 91, had ruled the kingdom for two decades. After then-King Fahd suffered a stroke in 1995, Abdullah became the cou...

Are money and faith enough to build a world-class research institute?

My title comes from the first line of a story that my colleague Toni Feder wrote two years ago about the opening of Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).

Faysal: Saudi Arabia's King for all Seasons – By Joseph A. Kechichian

Faysal: Saudi Arabia's King for all Seasons – By Joseph A. Kechichian

Resolving high flow-induced vibrations

Atia Khalifa, Amro Al-Qutub and Yehia Khulief of Saudi Arabia's King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals present a case history in which problematic high flow-induced vibration in a boiler feed pump was studied and corrected. A combination of field measurements and lab model testing identified the source of the problem.

Book Reviews

Books reviewed in this issue. Innocent Abroad: An Intimate Account of American Peace Diplomacy in the Middle East, by Martin Indyk. We Can Have Peace in the Holy Land: A Plan That Will Work, by Jimmy Carter. A Necessary Engagement: Reinventing America's Relations with the Muslim World, by Emile Nakhleh. Egypt After Mubarak: Liberalism, Islam, and Democracy in the Arab World, by Bruce K. Rutherford. Faysal: Saudi Arabia's King for All Seasons, by Joseph A. Kéchichian. What Kind of Liberation? Women and the Occupation of Iraq, by Nadje al‐Ali and Nicola Pratt. Kemalism in Turkish Politics: The Republican People's Party, Secularism and Nationalism, by Sinan Ciddi. European and Turkish Voices in Favour and Against Turkish Accession to the European Union. Christiane Timmerman, Dirk Rochtus, and Sara Mels, eds.

Faysal: Saudi Arabia's king for all seasons

King Faysal (1906-1975) ruled Saudi Arabia from 1964 until his assassination eleven years later. By that point his legacy as one of the most instrumental actors in the development of the modern Middle East had been assured.Faysal bin 'Abdul 'Aziz Al Sa'ud had first served as a key diplomat and foreign minister for Saudi Arabia when he was prince and heir apparent. Always a keen decision-maker, he established important relationships not only in the region but also with European nations and the United States. By the time he ascended to the throne, Faysal understood how dependent many nations were on his country's oil, an understanding that led to the oil embargo of 1973 and the solidification of Saudi Arabia's leadership, wealth, and power.In Faysal, Joseph Kechichian offers the first biography of the ruler in decades, and the first to make use of interviews and key archival and declassified documents. Utilizing the same writing style that has earned accolades from The Economist and other publications, Kechichian offers a balanced assessment of Faysal and his impact. Any understanding of the ties between Saudi Arabia and the West is incomplete without this book.

Meaningful Emptiness: Ground Zero 1

According to the most ancient Greeks, the planet Earth was created by a battle among gods. That battle happened before human beings were put on Earth. On 11 September 2001, a battle, said to be between the god of Muslims and the god of Jews and Christians, removed 3,000 humans from the earth. "Praise Allah!" said the Muslim terrorist, "for helping us kill that many." "Thank God," said the Jew and the Christian, "for saving so many others." What a misuse of religion! God does not fly airplanes and God does not save people. God does not decide who is to die and who is to be saved. God gave one thing to the human species: the capacity to make decisions and lay out a path for their life to follow. Ironic, is it not, that the architect of the World Trade Center, Minora Yamasaki, was also the architect for Saudi Arabia's King Fahed International Airport and its magnificent mosque, so beloved by Muslims of the Eastern Provinces. Ironic, too, is that a world trade center owes its history to the ancient Arabian caravansary. The ironical is what cannot be explained by cause and effect. The irony of all ironies is the slaughter of innocents in the name of God.

Gamal Abd al‐Nasser and an example of diplomatic acumen

Gamal Abd al-Nasser has been praised at times and criticized on other occasions for a succession of diplomatic successes and failures throughout his tenure in power in Egypt. One incident in which he displayed his diplomatic acumen has gone virtually unnoticed in the annals of postSecond World War Egyptian history. The 'incident' was the AmericanSyrian crisis of 1957, when an American-engineered plot to overthrow what the Eisenhower administration perceived to be a burgeoning proSoviet regime in Syria was uncovered, initiating a regional crisis that quickly evolved into an international crisis. Nasser effectively countered the diplomatic manoeuverings of Saudi Arabia's King Saud in the latter's attempt to use the crisis as a vehicle that would vault him into leadership of the Arab world, at Nasser's expense. The objectives of Nasser's machinations in this complex diplomatic game were to trump Saud, maintain Syria's bent toward Egypt, improve the position of pro-Nasser elements within Syria, and prevent Syria from embracing the Soviet Union as its sole patron. He was successful in each case, in the process amply displaying the limitations of Saudi Arabia (and King Saud) in the inter-Arab arena and the considerable wherewithal of Egypt at this time to influence events at the regional and international levels. Indeed, despite the fact that the Eisenhower Doctrine was designed to 'rollback' Nasserism, the United States was forced to seek a modus vivendi with Egypt in the latter stages of the American-Syrian crisis. The regional dynamics of the incident, particularly Nasser's actions, significantly affected the course of the crisis itself. On a methodological level, the results of this examination support the adoption of an increased emphasis on the regional level of activity when analysing various events and relationships in the Middle East. Saud ibn Abd al-Aziz, the King of Saudi Arabia, must have felt pleased with himself on the morning of 13 October 1957. He was in Beirut preparing to preside over some athletic events, confident that he had in fact achieved his objective of leapfrogging Egypt's President Gamal Abd al-Nasser in becoming the putative leader of the Arab world. Saud was riding high following what appeared to be his successful mediation of the American-Syrian crisis of 1957 and his outmanoeuvering of Nasser in

Leadership and negotiation in the Middle East

Lebanon's Elias Sarkis, Bashir Gemayal, and Amin Gemayal Israel's Menachem Begin The PLO's Yasser Arafat Syria's Hafez Al-Assad Egypt's Hosni Mubarak Jordan's King Hussein Saudi Arabia's King Khaled and King Fahd The Soviet Union's Leonid Brezhnev The United States's Ronald Reagan Commentary: The Leader versus the Academic Analyst Commentary: On Negotiating the Non-Negotiable Bibliography Index