Systemic lupus erythematosus in an African Caribbean population: incidence, clinical manifestations, and survival in the Barbados National Lupus Registry.

Objective: To assess the epidemiology, clinical features, and outcomes of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in the predominantly African Caribbean population of Barbados.

Methods: A national registry of all patients diagnosed with SLE was established in 2007. Complete case ascertainment was facilitated by collaboration with the island's sole rheumatology service, medical practitioners, and the lupus advocacy group.

Dialysis in Barbados: the cost of hemodialysis provision at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the health service cost of hemodialysis delivered at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in St. Michael, Barbados.

Methods: A cost analysis was performed from the viewpoint of the tertiary hospital studied here, using treatment protocols based on current practice for establishing vascular access sites (surgical set-up) and dialysis maintenance.

Genetic influences on the increase in blood pressure with age in normotensive subjects in Barbados.

The authors tested the single and combined effects of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA genotypes on the phenotypes of systolic blood pressure (SBP) and weight, and their changes over 5 years in normotensive subjects living in Barbados. The nuclear genotypes were gender (Y chromosome), haptoglobin (HP), and group specific component (Gc). A mitochondrial genotype was chosen as a marker for maternal lineage.