Clinical characteristics associated with mortality of COVID-19 patients admitted to an intensive care unit of a tertiary hospital in South Africa.

Background: Over 130 million people have been diagnosed with Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), and more than one million fatalities have been reported worldwide. South Africa is unique in having a quadruple disease burden of type 2 diabetes, hypertension, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and tuberculosis, making COVID-19-related mortality of particular interest in the country. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical characteristics and associated mortality of COVID-19 patients admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) in a South African setting.

Priority Setting as an Ethical Imperative in Managing Global Dialysis Access and Improving Kidney Care.

Priority-setting dilemmas arise when trade-offs must be made regarding the kinds of services that should be provided and to whom, thereby withholding other services from individuals or groups that could benefit from them. Currently, it is practically impossible for lower-income countries to provide dialysis for all patients with kidney failure; however, the fundamental premise of the human right to health, while acknowledging the current resource constraints, is the progressive realization of access to care for all. In this article we outline the rationale for priority setting, starting with the global goal of achieving universal health coverage, the prerequisites for fair and transparent priority setting, and discuss how these may apply to expensive care such as dialysis.

Obesity and Other Nutrition Related Abnormalities in Pre-Dialysis Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) Participants.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is increasing in sub-Saharan Africa. Undernutrition has been prevalent amongst end stage CKD patients, with limited data on the prevalence of obesity. The aim of this study was to assess the nutritional status of CKD patients using various methods sensitive to over and under-nutrition.

Penile allotransplantation for penis amputation following ritual circumcision: a case report with 24 months of follow-up.

Introduction: Ritual circumcision complicated by gangrene is a leading cause of penile loss in young men in South Africa. This deeply rooted cultural tradition is unlikely to be abolished. Conventional reconstructive techniques using free vascularised tissue flaps with penile implants are undesirable in this often socioeconomically challenged group because donor site morbidity can hinder manual labour and vigorous sexual activity might lead to penile implant extrusion.

Ethical Challenges in the Provision of Dialysis in Resource-Constrained Environments.

The number of patients requiring dialysis by 2030 is projected to double worldwide, with the largest increase expected in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Dialysis is seldom considered a high priority by health care funders, consequently, few LMICs develop policies regarding dialysis allocation. Dialysis facilities may exist, but access remains highly inequitable in LMICs.

Lessons learned from the world's first successful penis allotransplantation.

We performed a successful penis allotransplantation on 11 December 2014. Sharing the lessons learned might help more patients in need to be treated this way. We divided the project into manageable segments that was each overseen by an expert.

Pharmacokinetics in stable kidney transplant recipients after conversion from twice-daily to once-daily tacrolimus formulations.

Background: A prolonged-release formulation of tacrolimus for once-daily administration (Tacrolimus QD) has been developed to offer potential improvements in patient adherence. This study compared the pharmacokinetics (PK) of tacrolimus in stable kidney transplant recipients before and after conversion from twice-daily tacrolimus (Tacrolimus BID) to Tacrolimus QD.

Methods: This was an open-label, multicenter replicate design study in stable adult kidney transplant recipients (≥6 months posttransplantation) maintained on Tacrolimus BID.

Relationship between serum protein and mortality in adults on long-term hemodialysis: exhaustive review and meta-analysis.

The aim of this exhaustive review and meta-analysis was to explore the relation among serum protein, inflammatory markers, and all-cause and cardiovascular mortalities in adult patients on maintenance hemodialysis. We searched the Medline, Science Citation Index, Academic Search Premier, Cochrane Library, and Embase electronic data bases. Data extraction and quality assessment were done independently by two reviewers and results were pooled using the random effects model.

Skin cancer in renal allograft recipients--experience in different ethnic groups residing in the same geographical region.

Cancer is a recognized long-term complication of kidney transplantation. Skin cancer is the most common post-transplant malignancy in developed countries but information is limited on the nature of skin cancer in allograft recipients from developing countries followed up over an extended period. The records of all patients (n = 542) who had received kidney transplants (n = 623) at our institution over a 23-yr period were reviewed and those with skin cancer were identified.

The long-term outcome of kidney transplantation in patients under cyclosporine--a developing country experience.

The introduction of cyclosporine revolutionized the practice of solid organ transplantation. Although early studies showed better short-term results, the long-term benefits of cyclosporine appear to be more contentious. Our study investigated the outcome of sustained cyclosporine usage on patient and renal allograft survival in a developing country setting.

Impact of age, gender and race on patient and graft survival following renal transplantation--developing country experience.

Background: Optimising renal allograft survival is crucially important in developing countries because of limited resources to treat irreversible renal failure. However, although many factors can be manipulated to improve outcome, certain demographic factors are immutable in individual patients. The present study evaluated the impact of age, gender and race on the outcome of renal transplantation.