Spectrum of cardiovascular diseases among Ethiopian patients at Tikur Anbessa Specialized University Teaching Hospital, Addis Ababa.

Background: Cardiovascular disorders vary throughout the world in type and distribution especially between the developed and the developing countries. Data on spectrum of cardiovascular diseases in Ethiopia is scarce.

Objective: To assess the spectrum of cardiovascular disorders at Tikur Anbessa Specialized Tertiary Referral Hospital.

Pattern of admissions to the medical intensive care unit of Addis Ababa University Teaching Hospital.

A case-series study of all admissions using patient registers was carried out to analyse patterns of medical admissions into the Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU) of the Addis Ababa University Teaching Hospital, and evaluate for any changes in that pattern over a study period. All patients admitted to the MICU of a 500-bed Teaching Hospital in Addis Ababa between 1985-2000 were the study subjects. Demographic variables, specific categories of diagnoses and their outcomes were recorded A total of 3548 patients (male to female ratio of 1.

Rheumatic heart disease in Ethiopia: could it be more malignant?

The objectives of the study were to evaluate severity of rhenumatic heart disease (RHD) using age at time of death as its indicator and to look for factors associated with the severity. Retrospective study of consecutive cardiovascular deaths in the medical wards of Tikur Anbassa Teaching Hospital (TAH) from January 1995 to December 2001 was carried out. Information on age at the time of death, sex, type of valve lesions, status of secondary prophylaxis, presence or absence of arrhythmia, infective endocarditis, embolic phenomena, co-morbid illness, immediate cause(s) of death and duration of follow up at health institutions were obtained There were a total of 457 cardiovascular deaths including cerebrovascular accidents (CVA).

Potential for medical transmission of HIV in Ethiopia.

The potential medical transmission of HIV through unsafe medical injections was evaluated in 16 rural health institutions in Ethiopia. Most institutions reported re-using disposable needle/syringes, and 12% of observed injections were given with used, disposable syringes prepared for re-use. Analysis of used needle flushes showed no HIV RNA; however, the sensitivity of our method was limited.