PATTERN OF MORBIDITY OF PATIENTS ADMITTED TO NIGERIAN TERTIARY-LEVEL HOSPITALS: INSIGHTS FROM THE MOHOPA STUDY.

Background: There is a paucity of nationally representative data on the pattern of morbidity of hospitalised medical patients in Nigeria. We hereby provide insights from the MOHOPA (Pattern of Morbidities, Mortality and Healthcare Financing of Hospitalised Medical Patients in Hospitals) study on the pattern of morbidity among patients admitted to the medical wards of Nigerian tertiary-level hospitals.

Methods: At least 100 patients admitted to the medical and emergency wards of 7 tertiary-level hospitals, spread across the 6 geopolitical zones of Nigeria and the Capital City of Abuja, were consecutively recruited to join the study after obtaining written informed consent.

Prevalence of Doppler-Derived Left Ventricular Diastolic Dysfunction Among Newly Diagnosed Hypertensive Patients.

Background: The initial sign of hypertensive heart disease (HHD) is left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD), which is caused by remodeling of the left ventricle and left atrium, resulting in impaired relaxation of the left ventricle. LVDD is also partly due to left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). If left untreated, LVDD can progress to diastolic heart failure and systolic heart failure.

Social Isolation Activates Dormant Mammary Tumors, and Modifies Inflammatory and Mitochondrial Metabolic Pathways in the Rat Mammary Gland.

Although multifactorial in origin, one of the most impactful consequences of social isolation is an increase in breast cancer mortality. How this happens is unknown, but many studies have shown that social isolation increases circulating inflammatory cytokines and impairs mitochondrial metabolism. Using a preclinical Sprague Dawley rat model of estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer, we investigated whether social isolation impairs the response to tamoxifen therapy and increases the risk of tumors emerging from dormancy, and thus their recurrence.

Digoxin and Symptomatic Bradyarrhythmia: the 'demon' or a 'red herring'.

Digoxin toxicity has been implicated in all forms of cardiac arrhythmias with the notable exception of Mobitz II atrioventricular block, which is very rare. The manifestation is quite variable, ranging from being asymptomatic to gastrointestinal, cardiac, and neurologic symptoms. The manifestations can be protean in the elderly, the most vulnerable group, where degenerative cardiac conduction system diseases add another layer of intrigue by providing an intrinsic substrate for cardiac dysrhythmia.