Rapid Transition to Virtual Learning in Postgraduate Medical Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Tanzania: A Qualitative Study.

Background: The effect of the progressive utilization of virtual learning (VL) in postgraduate medical education (PGME) is contentious. During the COVID-19 pandemic, VL was up-scaled to bridge the education delivery gap. How this impacted learning experiences in PGME is an area that needs to be explored for the progressive context-specific application of VL.

The Pattern of Admission, Clinical Characteristics, and Outcomes Among Patients Admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of a Tertiary Hospital in Tanzania: A 5-Year Retrospective Review.

Introduction: Despite the implementation of complex interventions, ICU mortality remains high and more so in developing countries. The demand for critical care in Sub-Saharan Africa is more than ever before as the region experiences a double burden of rising rates of non-communicable diseases (NCD) in the background battle of combating infectious diseases. Limited studies in Tanzania have reported varying factors associated with markedly high rates of ICU mortality.

Risk Assessment Score and Chi-Square Automatic Interaction Detection Algorithm for Hypertension Among Africans: Models From the SIREN Study.

Background: This study aimed to develop a risk-scoring model for hypertension among Africans.

Methods: In this study, 4413 stroke-free controls were used to develop the risk-scoring model for hypertension. Logistic regression models were applied to 13 risk factors.

Development and initial validation of the Kiswahili version of the Migraine Disability Assessment (MIDAS-K) questionnaire.

Background: The Migraine Disability Assessment Scale (MIDAS) is one of the tools for measuring and understanding disability caused by migraine. The purpose of this study was to validate a Kiswahili translation of the MIDAS (MIDAS-K) among patients suffering from migraines in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Methods: A psychometric validation study of MIDAS was conducted after translation to Kiswahili.

Neuroimaging findings in DYT1 dystonia and the pathophysiological implication: A systematic review.

Background: Primary generalized dystonia due to the DYT1 gene is an autosomal dominant disorder caused by a GAG deletion on chromosome 9q34. It is a well-defined, genetically proven, isolated dystonia syndrome. However, its pathophysiology remains unclear.

Global Impact of COVID-19 on Stroke Care and IV Thrombolysis.

Objective: To measure the global impact of COVID-19 pandemic on volumes of IV thrombolysis (IVT), IVT transfers, and stroke hospitalizations over 4 months at the height of the pandemic (March 1 to June 30, 2020) compared with 2 control 4-month periods.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional, observational, retrospective study across 6 continents, 70 countries, and 457 stroke centers. Diagnoses were identified by their ICD-10 codes or classifications in stroke databases.

COVID-19 and stroke in sub-Saharan Africa: case series from Dar es Salaam.

Low and middle-income countries including those in sub-Saharan (SSA) Africa are experiencing a steady increase in the number of COVID-19 cases. To the best of our knowledge, reports of COVID-19 related strokes are scarce in SSA. The peculiar situation of stroke care in SSA makes COVID-19 associated stroke a bothersome entity as it adds other dynamics that tilt the prognostic balance.

F-wave parameters and body mass index in carpal tunnel syndrome.

Background: Severe carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) readily lends itself to both clinical and electrophysiological recognition. The uncertainty sometimes is in identifying and quantifying motor involvement in mild and, perhaps, in moderate CTS. Our study aimed to evaluate F responses in mild and moderate CTS and determine the contribution of BMI to the F-wave parameters.

COVID-19 and Teleneurology in Sub-Saharan Africa: Leveraging the Current Exigency.

Africa has over 1.3 billion inhabitants, with over 60% of this population residing in rural areas that have poor access to medical experts. Despite having a ridiculously huge, underserved population, very few African countries currently have any form of sustained and organized telemedicine practice, and even fewer have dedicated tele-neurology services.

The changing trend of teleconsultations during COVID-19 era at a tertiary facility in Tanzania.

Introduction: the current COVID-19 pandemic has occasioned the increased adoption of telemedicine. This study reports the uptake and trend of a new teleconsultation service in a Tanzanian hospital.

Methods: this is a retrospective observational study that profiled requests for teleconsultations and uptake of the service between April 1, 2020, and June 30, 2020.

Inadvertent Stone Migration During Pneumatic Lithotripsy: Still a Conundrum in the 21st Century.

Currently, an ideal gadget to stop retrograde stone migration remains a holy grail, and the hunt for such a device is still ongoing in the 21st century. The quest for an ideal instrument is driven by the need to reduce cost, minimize ancillary procedure rates, reduce the device's operative time, and improve the stone-free rate. The purpose of the present review is to provide an update on the use of preventive measures that are used to stop retrograde stone migration during pneumatic lithotripsy for ureteric stone management.

Post-Vaccination Pharyngeal-Cervical-Brachial Variant of Guillain-Barré Syndrome.

The pharyngeal-cervical-brachial (PCB) variant of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is very rare. It is characterized by weakness of the upper extremities associated with bulbar symptoms and facial diplegia. Documented cases were post-infectious, a post-vaccination occurrence has not been documented in the available literature.

Out-patient neurological disorders in Tanzania: Experience from a private institution in Dar es Salaam.

Background And Introduction: Low and middle-income countries (LMIC) have a considerable burden of neurological disorders. Available profile of neurological disorders in our environment is biased towards neurological admissions. There is a paucity of data on out-patient neurological conditions in sub-Saharan Africa.

Relationship Between Obesity and Severity of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in Tanzania.

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is the most common focal mononeuropathy in the general population, and obesity is one of its established independent risk factors The prevalence of obesity in CTS patients and its association with CTS severity are yet to be fully studied among Tanzanians. In this study, we determined the frequency of obesity in patients with CTS and its relationship with the electrophysiological severity of CTS in a Tanzanian private tertiary level hospital. This is a retrospective observational and analytical study of patients referred for electrodiagnostic (EDX) evaluation of suspected CTS at the clinical neurophysiology laboratory of the Aga Khan Hospital, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Menstrual-Related Headaches Among a Cohort of African Adolescent Girls.

Introduction: Migraine attacks associated with menstruation are generally perceived as more severe than attacks outside this period.

Aim And Objective: The study aimed at determining the frequency of menstrual-related headaches among a cohort of senior secondary school girls in Abeokuta, Nigeria. We also determined its burden among these school girls.

EMG indications and findings in a sub-Saharan African neurorehabilitation center.

Objective: This study aims to assess the frequency and indication for electrodiagnostic referrals as well as to summarize the findings from the procedure at a neurorehabilitation center in Ibadan, Nigeria.

Methods: This is a retrospective cross-sectional study. Data from referrals to Blossom Medical Centre/World Federation for Neurorehabilitation (BMC/WFNR) center, Ibadan, Nigeria, from April 2014 to December 2016 were collated and analyzed.

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and Other Entrapment Neuropathies.

Entrapment neuropathy is the result of pressure on a peripheral nerve as it passes through a narrow canal that is bounded by stiff tissues. In spite of their ubiquitous nature, they are underdiagnosed, underreported, and sometimes not properly managed, especially in developing countries. Entrapment neuropathies are of various types, but the most common type is carpal tunnel syndrome.

Erectile Dysfunction in Men with and without Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms in Nigeria.

Purpose: Much attention has been focused in recent decades on the effects of erectile dysfunction (ED) secondary to lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS), potentially underestimating its effects in men without LUTS. This study aimed to compare the prevalence and predictors of ED in men with and without LUTS.

Materials And Methods: The International Index of Erectile Function questionnaire was administered to 303 patients between January 2014 and June 2016.

Patients' feelings about the presence of medical students in a New Teaching Hospital in Southwestern Nigeria.

Background: This study aimed to evaluate how patients feel about the introduction of medical students into a former general hospital transformed to a teaching hospital in southwestern Nigeria and to also assess the extent to which they are willing to involve medical students in the management of their conditions.

Methods: In a descriptive cross-sectional study, a sample of 251 randomly selected patients were interviewed using a pretested questionnaire that assessed patients' demography, patients' acceptance of and reaction to the involvement of medical students in their clinical care including the specific procedures the patients would allow medical students to perform.

Results: Two hundred and fifty-one patients with mean age ± standard deviation of 37.

Prevalence and Prognostic Features of ECG Abnormalities in Acute Stroke: Findings From the SIREN Study Among Africans.

Background: Africa has a growing burden of stroke with associated high morbidity and a 3-year fatality rate of 84%. Cardiac disease contributes to stroke occurrence and outcomes, but the precise relationship of abnormalities as noted on a cheap and widely available test, the electrocardiogram (ECG), and acute stroke outcomes have not been previously characterized in Africans.

Objectives: The study assessed the prevalence and prognoses of various ECG abnormalities among African acute stroke patients encountered in a multisite, cross-national epidemiologic study.

Dyke-Davidoff-Masson syndrome in a Nigerian.

Dyke-Davidoff-Masson syndrome (DDMS) is a rare, but important cause of drug-resistant seizures. Dyke-Davidoff-Masson syndrome is a constellation of clinical features that consists of hemiparesis, seizure, facial asymmetry, and intellectual disability with distinct neuroimaging features. A 27-year-old lady presented to us with drug-resistant epilepsy, hemiparesis, and intellectual disability that necessitated her withdrawal from school.

Comparison of Neuropsychological Patterns in Nigerians with different Heart Failure Phenotypes.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the influence of left ventricular dysfunction type on the pattern of neuropsychological dysfunctions among heart failure (HF) subjects.

Method: A sub-analysis of the data of subjects recruited in a cross-sectional survey of cognitive dysfunction among Nigerians with HF was performed. Cognitive performance on the Community Screening Interview for Dementia (CSI'D), Word List Learning Delayed Recall (WLLDR), Boston Naming Test (BNT), and Modified Token Test (MTT) were compared between heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF).

Profile and Determinants of Neurocognitive Dysfunction in a Sample of Adult Nigerians With Heart Failure.

Background: Heart failure (HF) in Africans is peculiar because subjects are younger than whites and have lower socioeconomic and educational level in addition to the high prevalence of hypertension-related etiology and increased mortality. Whereas cognitive dysfunction have been demonstrated among whites with HF, the prevalence and pattern of cognitive dysfunction among sub-Saharan African patients with HF have not been evaluated against this background.

Objectives: The aim of this study is to determine the 1-year prevalence and the factors contributing to cognitive dysfunction in a cohort of Nigerian patients with HF.