High rates of HIV in surgical patients in Soweto, South Africa: impact on resource utilisation and recommendations for HIV testing.

Interactions between HIV and surgical diseases are relatively poorly described in high HIV prevalence settings. We report HIV prevalence and its associations in a prospective study of adults admitted to surgical units in Soweto, South Africa. Voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) for HIV was offered to surgical inpatients.

Gunshot injuries of the abdominal aorta: a continuing challenge.

This is a retrospective study of 57 patients with gunshot injuries of the abdominal aorta. The aortic repair was achieved by various means: lateral aortorraphy, patch aortoplasty and graft insertion. There was an 85 per cent mortality rate from bleeding or secondary coagulopathy directly related to the aortic injuries.