Academic performance in Jamaican children with sickle cell disease.

Objective: Children with sickle cell disease (SCD) are at risk for neurocognitive deficits that can affect school performance, and psychosocial functioning. The aim of this study was to assess the academic performance of school-aged children with SCD in Jamaica compared to their school peers.

Method: A cross-sectional survey of academic performance was done in a group of children 11 to 13 years of age, using a standardized state administered examination, the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT), covering 5 subjects.

Liver fat in adult survivors of severe acute malnutrition.

The association between severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in early childhood and liver fat in adults is unknown. We hypothesized that exposure to SAM, especially severe wasting, is associated with fatty liver later in life. In this observational study, abdominal CT was used to quantify mean liver attenuation (MLA) and liver:spleen attenuation ratio (L/S).

Hydroxycarbamide treatment reduces transcranial Doppler velocity in the absence of transfusion support in children with sickle cell anaemia, elevated transcranial Doppler velocity, and cerebral vasculopathy: the EXTEND trial.

EXpanding Treatment for Existing Neurological Disease (EXTEND) investigated whether hydroxycarbamide lowers transcranial Doppler (TCD) velocities in Jamaican children with sickle cell anaemia (SCA) and elevated TCD velocity with or without previous stroke. Forty-three children (age 2-17 years) with baseline maximum time-averaged mean velocity (TAMV) ≥ 170 cm/s were stratified into three risk categories based on treatment status and stroke history: Group 1 (no history of stroke, on hydroxycarbamide, n = 12); and Groups 2 (no stroke, no hydroxycarbamide, n = 21) and 3 (previous stroke, no hydroxycarbamide, n = 10). Open-label hydroxycarbamide at 20 mg/kg/day was commenced, with escalation to maximum tolerated dose (MTD) based on mild marrow suppression (average dose 25·4 ± 4·5 mg/kg/day).

Knowledge, skills, and barriers to management of faecal incontinence in Australian primary care: a cross-sectional study.

Background: GPs play an important role in the diagnosis and management of patients with faecal incontinence (FI). However, their confidence and ability in this role are unknown.

Aim: This study aimed to investigate the knowledge, skills, and confidence of GPs to manage FI in primary care, and identify barriers to optimal management.

Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Nonobese Subjects of African Origin Has Atypical Metabolic Characteristics.

Background: Nonobese nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is reported in several populations. However, because persons of African origin display unique fat accumulation, insulin resistance, and lipid profiles, we investigated fatty liver in nonobese persons of African origin.

Method: We recruited 78 urban Jamaican volunteers.

Transcranial Doppler velocity among Jamaican children with sickle cell anaemia: determining the significance of haematological values and nutrition.

This study investigated the association of nutritional and haematological variables with maximum time-averaged mean velocity (TAMV) measured by transcranial Doppler (TCD) velocity and the agreement of classification between two protocols. TCD categories included: normal (<170 cm/s), conditional (170-199 cm/s) and abnormal (≥200 cm/s) based on TAMV in distal internal carotid artery (dICA), middle cerebral artery (MCA), internal carotid bifurcation, anterior and posterior cerebral arteries. Of 358 children with sickle cell anaemia (SCA) examined, the mean age (±standard deviation) was 7·4 ± 2·7 years; 13·1% and 6·7% had conditional and abnormal velocities, respectively.

Acute lower gastrointestinal haemorrhage: outcomes and risk factors for intervention in 949 emergency cases.

Purpose: Outcomes of acute lower gastrointestinal haemorrhage (ALGIH) are mostly derived from studies performed in the sub-acute/elective rather than the emergency department (ED) setting. The aims of this study were to determine the incidence and outcomes of patients presenting to a tertiary hospital ED with ALGIH and to identify associated clinicopathological risk factors.

Method: A retrospective observational cohort study of consecutive patients presenting with ALGIH to a tertiary hospital ED was performed.

EXpanding Treatment for Existing Neurological Disease (EXTEND): An Open-Label Phase II Clinical Trial of Hydroxyurea Treatment in Sickle Cell Anemia.

Background: Cerebral vasculopathy in sickle cell anemia (SCA) begins in childhood and features intracranial arterial stenosis with high risk of ischemic stroke. Stroke risk can be reduced by transcranial doppler (TCD) screening and chronic transfusion therapy; however, this approach is impractical in many developing countries. Accumulating evidence supports the use of hydroxyurea for the prevention and treatment of cerebrovascular disease in children with SCA.

Stress and wellbeing of junior doctors in Australia: a comparison with American doctors and population norms.

Background: Stress in doctors adversely affects decision-making, memory, information-recall and attention, thereby negatively impacting upon the provision of safe and high quality patient care. As such, stress in doctors has been subject to increasing scientific scrutiny and has amassed greater public awareness in recent years. The aims of this study are to describe stress levels and the psychological wellbeing of current junior medical officers (JMOs), and to compare this to their predecessors, American surgical residents and population norms.

Prevention of conversion to abnormal transcranial Doppler with hydroxyurea in sickle cell anemia: A Phase III international randomized clinical trial.

Children with sickle cell anemia (SCA) and conditional transcranial Doppler (TCD) ultrasound velocities (170-199 cm/sec) may develop stroke. However, with limited available clinical data, the current standard of care for conditional TCD velocities is observation. The efficacy of hydroxyurea in preventing conversion from conditional to abnormal TCD (≥200 cm/sec), which confers a higher stroke risk, has not been studied prospectively in a randomized trial.

Subcutaneous emphysema and pneumomediastinum following cocaine inhalation: a case report.

Introduction: Subcutaneous emphysema or pneumomediastinum can occur as a complication of illicit drug use although this is rare. When occurring without a pneumothorax and spontaneously, it is usually treated conservatively, but can have serious consequences.

Case Presentation: Here, we present the case of an otherwise healthy 23-year-old Caucasian man who presented to the Emergency Department at our institution and was found to have both subcutaneous emphysema and pneumomediastinum as a result of cocaine use.

Papillary Renal Cell Carcinoma Seeding along a Percutaneous Biopsy Tract.

We report a case of tumour seeding caused by percutaneous biopsy of a papillary renal cell carcinoma detected on pathological assessment of the partial nephrectomy specimen in a 50-year-old male. Whilst percutaneous biopsy of renal masses is considered to be safe and can be a valuable tool in the assessment of certain renal lesions, it is not without risks. This rare complication should be taken into consideration before contemplating its use in a patient.

Moyamoya syndrome in sickle cell anaemia: a cause of recurrent stroke.

Summary We report a case with interesting imaging findings as well as an unfortunate but not unexpected clinical outcome. Our patient, an 8-year-old Jamaican boy of Afro-Caribbean descent with homozygous sickle cell disease, presented with left-sided upper limb weakness. He had a history of recurrent cerebrovascular accidents and transient ischaemic attacks beginning at 4 years of age.

An infected branchial cyst complicated by retropharyngeal abscess, cervical osteomyelitis and atlanto-axial subluxation.

We present a case of a 44-year-old man who visited his general practitioner for recurrent neck swelling, which was found to be a neck abscess. It was aspirated, later recurred, and then surgically excised. Histology was consistent with an infected branchial cyst.

A woman with diabetes presenting with pyomyoma and treated with subtotal hysterectomy: a case report.

Introduction: Pyomyoma (suppurative leiomyoma of the uterus) is a rare condition resulting from infarction and infection of a leiomyoma. It is more usual in pregnant women or postmenopausal women who have vascular disease. The condition is usually fatal unless treated with appropriate antibiotics and surgical intervention.

Subpubic cartilaginous cyst: an unusual cause of a vulval mass.

We present a case of a postmenopausal female who visited her doctor for a slowly growing mass in the vulval region. The mass did not show typical clinical features of a vulval neoplasm. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed a mass arising from the undersurface of the symphysis pubis.

Relation between liver fat content and the rate of VLDL apolipoprotein B-100 synthesis in children with protein-energy malnutrition.

Background: Fatty infiltration of the liver is associated with an increased morbidity and mortality in children with severe protein-energy malnutrition (PEM), but its pathogenesis remains unclear. Although impaired synthesis of VLDL apolipoprotein B-100 (VLDL-apo B-100) is generally accepted as the pathogenetic mechanism, the rate of it synthesis has not been measured in children with PEM.

Objective: The objective of the study was to ascertain the relation between the degree of hepatic steatosis and the rate of VLDL-apo B-100 synthesis in children with PEM.

Marking of wire-localized breast biopsies for mammographically detected microcalcifications.

Impalpable breast lesions that are detected during screening mammography for breast cancer must be accurately identified and adequately sampled in biopsy specimens. Open wire-localized breast biopsy using hookwires remains the main method of sampling these lesions in centres without expensive stereotactic facilities. However, the hookwires can shift or become dislodged in the biopsy specimen.

Age as a predictive factor of mammographic breast density in Jamaican women.

Aim: We sought to determine the relationship between age, and other clinical characteristics such as parity, oestrogen use, dietary factors and menstrual history on breast density in Jamaican women.

Methods And Materials: A retrospective study was done of 891 patients who attended the breast imaging unit. The clinical characteristics were extracted from the patient records.