Publications by authors named "Aisha Kuliya-Gwarzo"
Background: Maternal anaemia (anaemia in pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period) remains a persistent challenge, particularly in Kano State, Nigeria, which has the highest prevalence of maternal anaemia globally, at 72%.
Methods: We conducted a qualitative study in Murtala Muhammad Specialist Hospital in Kano State, Nigeria. We aimed to identify factors constraining uptake and provision of maternal anaemia care, exploring perspectives across different stakeholders.
Sickle cell disease (SCD) continues to pose physical and psychosocial burdens to patients, caregivers and health workers. Stakeholder engagement in the processes of policy making and implementation is increasingly becoming the cornerstone of best practices in healthcare. To engage stakeholders with a view to assessing the knowledge of SCD; ascertain the challenges associated with accessibility and affordability of healthcare services; improve the quality of care, and thereby effect behavioral change through increasing attendance and follow-up of patients in the clinics.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHydroxyurea (HU) has been shown to be beneficial in the management of sickle cell disease (SCD) as it improves treatment outcomes. However, despite the benefits of HU, its uptake among SCD patients in Nigeria remains low. This study aimed to assess the perception and experience of patients with SCD in Nigeria who are using or had used HU, thereby informing and promoting its use.
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- Sickle cell disease can lead to retinopathy, which may be proliferative (risking blindness) or non-proliferative, but research on this issue is limited in Africa, where the disease is most common.
- A study involving 262 participants with sickle cell disease aimed to identify the clinical and laboratory factors associated with retinopathy; most participants had a homozygous Hb S genotype, and 24.4% had non-proliferative retinopathy while only 1.9% had the proliferative form.
- Key predictors of retinopathy included elevated systolic blood pressure, moderate visual impairment, and changes in the anterior segment of the eye, highlighting the importance of early screening and prevention
Introduction: Red cell exchange (RCE) therapy is increasingly used to treat patients with acute or chronic manifestations of sickle cell disease (SCD). However, little is known regarding the most safe and effective practice parameters associated with this particular therapy.
Methods: A SCD subcommittee of members of the American Society for Apheresis (ASFA) developed a 122-question survey and administered it via email to other ASFA members.
Background/objective: Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a monogenic disease with multiple phenotypic expressions. Previous studies describing SCD clinical phenotypes in Nigeria were localized, with limited data, hence the need to understand how SCD varies across Nigeria.
Method: The Sickle Pan African Research Consortium (SPARCO) with a hub in Tanzania and collaborative sites in Tanzania, Ghana and Nigeria, is establishing a single patient-consented electronic database with a target of 13,000 SCD patients.
Article Synopsis
- The study aimed to see if educating mothers about neonatal jaundice could reduce the occurrence of acute bilirubin encephalopathy in infants with jaundice.
- It involved comparing data from infants admitted for jaundice before and after structured jaundice education was provided to mothers in several medical centers.
- Results showed that infants whose mothers received education had a significantly lower incidence of acute bilirubin encephalopathy (1.5%) compared to those without education (29%), indicating that maternal instruction effectively reduced the risk.*
Introduction: Cerebral vasculopathy, elevated transcranial Doppler velocities and stroke are linked to excessive intravascular haemolysis in sickle cell anaemia. This study determined the prevalence and pattern of abnormal blood flow velocities in children with sickle cell anaemia from Northern Nigeria using transcranial Doppler and to correlate transcranial Doppler velocities with haematological and biochemical markers of haemolysis.
Methods: Full blood count, reticulocyte count, fetal haemoglobin and some selected biochemical markers of haemolysis of 100 children with sickle cell anaemia were determined at steady state.
Background: The laboratory request form (LRF) is a communication link between laboratories, requesting physicians and users of laboratory services. Inadequate information or errors arising from the process of filling out LRFs can significantly impact the quality of laboratory results and, ultimately, patient outcomes.
Objective: We assessed routinely-submitted LRFs to determine the degree of correctness, completeness and consistency.
Background: Sickle cell disease (SCD) often leads to chronic hemolytic anemia of varying severity, and blood transfusion may be employed in the management of SCD complications.
Objective: The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of blood transfusion on the activities of some antioxidant enzymes as well as lipid peroxide and to relate transfusion status to these enzymes and malondialdehyde (MDA) in SCD patients.
Materials And Methods: Glutathione peroxidase (GPX), superoxide dismutase, catalase, MDA, and lipoproteins were assayed in 87 SCD and 20 age- and sex-matched subjects with normal hemoglobin.
Background: With effective immunization control of several devastating childhood infections in the developing world, non-infectious diseases such as malignancies have become increasingly important causes of pediatric morbidity and mortality. Therefore this 10-year retrospective study was undertaken to evaluate and document the pattern of childhood cancers in our locality.
Methods: We reviewed 438 childhood (≤15 years) malignancies diagnosed at the histopathology and hematology laboratories of our teaching hospital in a 10-year period (2001-2010).