Publications by authors named "Jesslee M du Plessis"
Introduction: this study aimed to determine the prevalence of receptor status and molecular subtypes in women with breast cancer treated at Potchefstroom Regional Hospital, South Africa and to analyze the association of molecular subtypes with some clinicopathologic characteristics of the tumor.
Methods: the study population for this cross-sectional study consisted of 116 women with primary invasive breast cancer, treated at the hospital from 1 January 2012 to 31 December 2018. Molecular subtypes were classified by immunohistochemical surrogates as luminal A (estrogen receptor (ER) positive and/or progesterone receptor (PR) positive, HER2-; Ki-67 <30%), luminal B HER2- (ER+ and/or PR+, HER2-; Ki-67 ≥30%), luminal B HER2+ (ER+ and/or PR+, HER2+; any Ki-67), HER2 enriched (ER- and PR-, HER2+; any Ki-67), or triple-negative (ER-, PR-, HER2-, any Ki-67).
Background: Prophylactic venous thromboembolism (VTE) strategies have the greatest impact on patient outcomes. Both global and local guidelines support VTE prophylaxis for hospitalised patients. However, studies have reported that these measures are routinely under-prescribed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Breast cancer is the second most diagnosed cancer worldwide. We aimed to depict the diagnostic approach as well as the epidemiological and clinical profile of patients with breast cancer at Potchefstroom regional hospital, South Africa.
Methods: This descriptive open-cohort study included patients with primary invasive breast cancer, confirmed by histology results and treated at the hospital from 01 January 2012 to 31 December 2018.
Background And Aim: Patients struggle to adhere to prescribed pain medication after surgery because of, inter alia, side effects, sleep disturbances and pain severity. This study aimed to determine the influence of various factors on, the extent of adherence to prescribed post-operative pain medication (POPM) measured by participant-reported pill count (PRPC) following day case orthopaedic surgery at a private South African hospital.
Methods: This prospective, quantitative cross-sectional study involving 120 participants (51 males, 69 females), used a structured questionnaire completed through a telephonic survey, 4 days after orthopaedic surgery.
Background: Hypertriglyceridaemia (HTG) is an important risk factor for pancreatitis and cardiovascular disease (CVD), depending on severity. Hypertriglyceridaemia is common in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and is also a common complication of lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/r).
Objectives: To evaluate the risk of pancreatitis associated with HTG in patients six months post initiation of LPV/r-based therapy in a regional public hospital.
Background Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are among the most commonly used pharmaceutical agents worldwide. NSAIDs are considered nephrotoxic and should therefore be used with caution or be avoided completely in high risk patients, such as chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients. Objective This study aimed to investigate the prescribing of NSAIDs in CKD patients in order to generate awareness and improve the outcome of these patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRationale, Aims And Objectives: To evaluate asthma management and control in primary care clinics so as to design improvements based on guideline-directed outcomes.
Methods: In this study, all medical records of asthma-diagnosed patients (children as well as adults, entire lifespan, asthma-related visits or not) were retrospectively reviewed as a basis for assessing the level of guideline adherence and asthma control. Six primary health care clinics were visited in the Dr Kenneth Kaunda Municipal District, Potchefstroom, South Africa during May to July 2008, 2009 and 2010.