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Actinomycosis is an uncommon chronic disease caused by filamentous Actinomyces, a Gram-positive anaerobic bacterium that usually colonizes in the human oral cavity, digestive tract, and genital area. Actinomycosis is rarely seen chronic infectious disease in the head-and-neck region. The clinical presentations are often nonspecific and mimic several diseases of the head-and-neck area such as malignancy and tuberculosis. Moreover, investigations such as imaging, fine-needle aspiration, and biopsy are often nonspecific. The diagnosis of actinomycosis is still difficult for the diagnosis at present time. Bacterial culture and histopathological study are the cornerstones of the diagnosis but a particular situation is needed to get the exact diagnosis. The prolonged bacterial cultures in anaerobic conditions are required to confirm the bacterium and classical microscopic findings like necrosis with yellowish sulfur granules and filamentous Gram-positive fungal-like pathogens. The surgical excision of the lesion/mass along with appropriate antibiotic therapy is important treatment options. Clinicians must be aware of the typical clinical presentations of actinomycosis in the head-and-neck region as it may mimic the malignant process in the head-and-neck area. Actinomycosis patients need prolonged high doses of penicillin G or amoxicillin and the period of antimicrobial treatment can be shortened to a minimum of 3 months in patients in whom optimum surgical resection of the infected tissues has been useful.

Introduction: Stapedius muscle is the smallest bone in the human body and it has an important role for preventing loud noise exposing to the inner ear. This stapedius muscle has also a very significant role during stapes surgery for otosclerosis. Materials and Methods: We studied the microscopic anatomy of the 36-stapedius muscle at our temporal bone dissection laboratory during the period of March 2019 to April 2021. All the 36 fresh temporal bones were dissected with the help of the microdrill, burr, and Zeiss microscope. Details of the stapedius muscle anatomy such as origin, extension, and attachment were studied. Results: The length of the stapedius muscle was ranging from 8 to 11 mm. The tendon of the stapedius muscle was ranging from 1.5 to 2.5 mm. The classical shape of the stapedius muscle was sickle shape. The bulky bell of the stapedius muscle was from 1.5 to 3.5 mm. Discussion and Conclusion: Clear anatomical knowledge of the stapedius muscle is needed for the postgraduates and during learning period of the otologist. If anatomical knowledge is not clear, it may lead to confusion between the stapedius muscle and facial nerve. Awareness regarding microscopic anatomic is required for avoiding the confusion between the facial nerve and stapedius muscle or during the facial nerve grafting.

Introduction: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is defined as an illness caused by a novel coronavirus which is an emerging respiratory infection that was first discovered in December 2019, in Wuhan city, Hubei Province, China, finally named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. This study aimed to evaluate the current level of knowledge regarding transmission, symptoms, and preventive measures of COVID-19 among the general population in Sudan. Objective: The objective of the study was to assess knowledge, attitude, and practice toward COVID-19 among Sudanese resident. Methodology: This was a cross-sectional, descriptive, community-based study for 1000 respondents selected by convenience sampling technique in seven localities of Khartoum state, Sudan between the periods April 9 and June 9, 2020. Data were collected using a pre designed pretested questionnaire and analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software, version 23.0 (IBM SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). Results: Sixty-four percent of the population had good knowledge regarding COVID-19 clinical presentations transmission routes, prevention method, and self-isolation. Forty-four percent of the population had poor attitude regarding COVID-19 situation. Forty-two percent of the population had poor practice regarding COVID-19 preventive measures. There is a positive association between knowledge and attitude (P = 0.000001), positive association between knowledge and practice (P = 0.000001), and an insignificant negative association between attitude and practice (P = 0.453). Conclusions: Sudanese had a good level of knowledge and good practices compared to other nearby countries despite their economic state and lack of possibilities. The stressor experienced by the Sudanese citizens had huge effect on their negative attitude. Recommendations: Because good practices depend on good knowledge, it recommends to increase the level of knowledge about the disease, ways of transmission and prevention especially for women, elderly retired, unemployed, and those with low education level, rural resident using all the means of communication available (television and radio, awareness seminars, posters for guidance and alert in mosques, and the houses of worship) by clear, easy, simple language suitable for the elderly and uneducated.

Background: Deep neck abscess is a life-threatening clinical entity. It can result in significant morbidity for the patients. Deep neck abscess continues to be commonly found in developing countries like India. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted at tertiary care teaching hospital in eastern India from September 2016 to October 2021. The medical records of patients diagnosed with deep neck abscesses with an age range between 18 years and 65 years were reviewed. This study analyzes the etiology, clinical manifestations, diagnosis, and treatment of the deep neck abscess. Results: There was a predominance of male patients with deep neck abscesses (62.12%) and a mean age of 32.4 years. The most common clinical manifestation was fever (26.51%), followed by odynophagia (23.48%), neck swelling (20.45%), restricted neck movement (13.63%), otalgia (12.12%), trismus (11.36%), neck pain (10.60%), and stridor (2.27%). The peritonsillar abscess (28.78%) was the most commonly affected space of the deep neck abscess of this study. The important life-threatening complication in this study was stridor (2.27%). Conclusion: Early diagnosis, aggressive surgical intervention, and proper airway management are important factors for reducing the morbidity and mortality associated with deep neck abscesses.

Background: Prostate cancer is the most common visceral cancer in males, ranking as the second most common cause of cancer-related deaths in men older than 50 years of age, after carcinoma of the lung. It is predominantly a disease of older males, with a peak incidence between the ages of 65 and 75 years. This study aimed to estimate the plasma zinc level and plasma prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level in patients suffer from prostate cancer. Materials and Methods: A case–control study was conducted in Khartoum on 100 males aged more than 50 years old which were divided into 50 apparently healthy as control and 50 with prostate cancer as case. A 5 ml of blood specimens was collected in lithium heparin anticoagulants for the estimation of plasma zinc level using Buck model 210 VGP Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (East Norwalk, CT 06855) made in the USA and the plasma total PSA that was measured by immunoassay Sandwich principle HITACHI ROCHE COBAS E 411 (serial number 04641655190 V 13.0). Results: The mean level of plasma zinc was 0.35 mg/L ± standard deviation [SD] 0.14 in case and in control was 0.68mg/L ± SD 0.13, so the P value was 0.002 and PSA was 43.08 ng/ml ± SD 20.08 in case and 3.53 ng/ml ± SD 3.90 in control, so the P value was 0.000, the correlation between the level of plasma PSA with plasma zinc in patients with prostate cancer give R was 0.01 and R² was 0.001. Conclusion: This study concluded that PSA is significantly increased in patients with prostate cancer and plasma zinc level is significantly decreased in patients with prostate cancer. However, it is statistically significant.

Online since 2^nd November 2018.