Management & Operations

Dark Daily Travels to Saudi Arabia for Laboratory Conference

Your Dark Daily editor is writing this e-briefing from Riyadh, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. I am here this week to present and participate at "Pathology Update 2008-International Symposium on Laboratory Medicine."  It is hosted by the Department of Pathology at the Riyadh Military Hospital  and has attracted more than 500 attendees. 

Already, this conference has revealed two essential truths about laboratory medicine, based on sessions conducted over the past three days. First, the global convergence in the structure and operation of clinical laboratories continues, and laboratories in Saudi Arabia are participating in this important trend. Healthcare in Saudi Arabia is comparable to major healthcare systems across the world.  Laboratories here have the latest technology and offer testing services that are first-rank. Thus, the typical hospital laboratory in Saudi Arabia would be familiar to any lab director or pathologist from the United States and other developed nations. 

The second essential truth revealed here is that "healthcare is local."  There are specific healthcare issues that are unique to the inhabitants of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. For example, Dr. Aida I. Al Aqueel delivered a crisp, fast-paced presentation on genetic metabolic disorders in Saudi Arabia. Dr. Al Aqueel is Consultant, Pediatrics Genetics, Metabolic and Endocrinology. She is on staff at both the Riyadh Military Hospital and the King Faisal Specialist Hospital.  In the Middle East, there is a tribal culture which is heavily consanguineous. Marriage between first cousins has been a cultural norm across the region for millennia. This has led to the "founder effect," generating a significant number of autosomal recessive diseases.

In Saudi Arabia, this has led to an interesting, local health issue. Because 60% to 70% of the marriages in this country are between first cousins, this country sees uniquely common disorders that are either rare or unknown in Western countries. Dr. Al Acqueel explained that these inborn errors of metabolism range from thrombosis and certain cancers, to Austin's Disease, San Fillippo Syndrome, and Sandhof Disease. New molecular technologies make it easier to screen for these conditions, but not all metabolic disorders are clinically actionable.  Dr. Al Acqueel noted that, for a number of these conditions, early diagnosis is essential, because timely treatment can prevent neurologic crippling.

Your Dark Daily team will be conducting laboratory site visits tomorrow, so expect further useful insights on the state of pathology and laboratory medicine in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.  We are also meeting a number of pathologists, clinical chemists, and other laboratory scientists who have done extensive training in the United States and want to send their regards to specific pathologists and colleagues who helped them during their studies. That is significant for a couple of reasons. One, it means we will be contacting a number of you upon our return to communicate these greetings. Two, it demonstrates that laboratory medicine continues to be a small circle of dedicated practitioners-and the United States healthcare system has played an important role in shaping the skills of many in laboratory medicine here in Saudi Arabia.

Your intrepid Dark Daily Editor,

 
Robert Michel
rmichel@darkreport.com