Molecular characterization of HAMP rs10421768 gene and phenotypic expression of hepcidin; a case-control study among sickle cell anaemia patients in Ghana.

Background: The sporadic nature of blood transfusion therapy coupled with the alteration of HAMP genes may exacerbate the risk of iron burden in sickle cell anaemia (SCA) patients. The study determined the polymorphic distribution of the HAMP promoter gene rs10421768 and hepcidin levels in SCA patients.

Method: Sixty participants aged ≥12years [45 SCA patients and 15 controls (HbA)] were recruited from 15th March, 2023 to 20th July, 2023 for a case-control study at Methodist Hospital Wenchi, Ghana.

Contamination of herbal medicinal products in low-and-middle-income countries: A systematic review.

The use of herbal medicinal products (HMPs) has grown significantly across low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs). Consequently, the safety of these products due to contamination is a significant public health concern. This systematic review aimed to determine the prevalence, types, and levels of contaminants in HMPs from LMICs.

Giant primary scrotal lipoma in a low-resource setting: challenges with diagnosis and review of literature.

Lipoma is the commonest benign mesenchymal tumor composed of matured adipocytes. A literature search revealed few reported cases of giant scrotal lipoma. This article aims to report a giant scrotal lipoma weighing 1100 g and illustrate our challenges with the diagnostic process in a low-resource setting.

Prevalence of oral conditions and associated factors among schoolchildren in Accra, Ghana: a cross-sectional study.

Objective: The impact of oral diseases on children cannot be overemphasized because their effects may go beyond the individual to the household and the community at large. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of common oral conditions in children between the ages of 9 and 16 years in Accra.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out among participants from 16 selected junior high schools in Accra.

Dorsal Onlay Oral Mucosa Graft Urethroplasty: A Case Report and Review of Literature.

The use of buccal mucosa grafts in urethral reconstruction for complex anterior urethral strictures has gained popularity over the years with very good outcomes reported in literature. We report on the successful repair of a complex anterior urethral stricture in a 14-year-old boy following catheterization using this method at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital. The aim is to describe the method of dorsal onlay oral mucosa graft urethroplasty and to review the literature.

Paediatric maxillofacial fractures in Ghana: Pattern, household cost, and distress.

Background: Maxillofacial fractures in the paediatric population are peculiar in risks, management, and potential complications.

Aim: To determine the pattern, psychological distress to parents, and economic cost of paediatric maxillofacial fractures in Ghana.

Design: This study combined a retrospective evaluation with a cross-sectional cost-of-illness (COI) analysis to describe the pattern and economic cost of paediatric maxillofacial fractures in Ghana.

Prostate-specific antigen and risk of bone metastases in west Africans with prostate cancer.

We aimed to assess the relationship between bone scintigraphy findings and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and Gleason score in a group of treatment naïve West Africans with prostate cancer. The age, PSA, and Gleason scores of 363 patients with prostate cancer were collected. Patients were risk stratified using the D'Amico criteria.

Predictors of the international prostate symptoms scores for patients with lower urinary tract symptoms: A descriptive cross-sectional study.

Background: Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTSs) can significantly reduce men's quality of life and may point to serious pathology of the urogenital tract. This study aimed at finding predictors of symptoms score on the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) for patients with LUTS.

Materials And Methods: The study was cross-sectional conducted among 225 Ghanaian men visiting the urology clinic at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital.

Circumcision-related tragedies seen in children at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi, Ghana.

Background: Circumcision is a common minor surgical procedure and it is performed to a varying extent across countries and religions. Despite being a minor surgical procedure, major complications may result from it. In Ghana, although commonly practiced, circumcision-related injuries have not been well documented.

Intravesical migration of an intrauterine device.

Background: Intrauterine contraceptive device is the most common method of reversible contraception in women. The intrauterine contraceptive device can perforate the uterus and can also migrate into pelvic or abdominal organs. Perforation of the urinary bladder by an intrauterine contraceptive device is not common.

Glanuloplasty with Oral Mucosa Graft following Total Glans Penis Amputation.

This is a report on the technique of neoglans reconstruction in a patient with amputated glans penis following guillotine neonatal circumcision. A 4 cm long and 2 cm wide lower lip oral mucosa graft was harvested and used to graft the distal 2 cm of the corporal bodies after 2 cm of the distal penile skin had been excised. One edge of the lower lip oral mucosa graft was anastomosed to the urethral margins distally and proximally to the skin.

Polymerase chain reaction-based tests for pan-species and species-specific detection of human Plasmodium parasites.

Background: There is still a need to improve the sensitivity of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for malaria to detect submicroscopic asexual stage Plasmodium infections during the early phase and chronic, asymptomatic phase of infection when the parasite burden is very low.

Study Design And Methods: The inhibitory effect of hemoglobin (Hb) on PCR limits the volume of blood that can be used in the PCR-based detection of intraerythrocytic Plasmodium parasites. We lysed red blood cells with saponin to reduce the Hb concentration in extracted nucleic acid and, as a result, significantly increased the volume of blood that can be tested by PCR.

Identification of Intrinsic Airway Acidification in Pulmonary Tuberculosis.

Exhaled breath condensate acidification reflects the presence of airway acidification. Mycobacterium tuberculosis is an organism particularly sensitive to acidity. We aimed to determine if there is evidence of airway acidification in a cross section of patients with active tuberculosis.

Acute effects of five Ghanaian carbohydrate diets on serum glucose, triglyceride and insulin in NIDDM.

Glycemic indices have been used to predict useful carbohydrate sources of food for patients with non-insulin-dependent diabeties mellitus (NIDDM) on dietary management programs. The present study has revealed that glycemic indices alone are not adequate predictors of useful carbohydrate meal sources. We observed for the first time that glycemic indexes inversely correlate with triglyceride indices.

Landry Guillain-Barre-Strohl syndrome in pregnancy: case report.

Landry-Guillain-Barre-Strohl Syndrome (LGBS) is a rare occurrence in pregnancy with only 38 previously reported cases in the literature. A case of a 26 year old Ghanaian woman who presented at thirty weeks gestation with limb weakness, facial diplegia, dysarthria, dysphagia and CSF cytoalbuminic dissociation and who made complete recovery before delivery of a normal full term baby is described. This is the thirty ninth reported case of LGBS in pregnancy in the literature and the first reported case from Black Africa.