Publications by authors named "Samuel Acquah"

The phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) gene acts as a tumor suppressor by regulating the PI3K/AKT pathway, crucial for cell growth and survival. Mutations or loss of PTEN are common in breast cancer, leading to uncontrolled cell growth. Understanding PTEN's role is vital for targeted therapies.

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Background: Malaria in pregnancy can have adverse outcomes if untreated. Both malaria and pregnancy are associated with insulin resistance and diabetes. Although malaria is treated prophylactically with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) screened for in pregnancy as part a routine antenatal care, their impacts have not been examined in terms of other forms of dysglycaemia.

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Background: Neonatal sepsis is a clinical emergency that requires sound evaluation supported by accurate laboratory analysis and timely clinical intervention for its management. This study, therefore, was conducted to identify bacteria causing neonatal sepsis and their susceptibility to the commonly prescribed antibiotic at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of a tertiary health care facility in the Northern Region of Ghana.

Methods: Neonatal biodata were collected from patient folders, after which identification, isolation, and susceptibility of isolated bacteria to prescribed anti-bacterial (Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method) were carried out on single venipuncture blood samples aseptically drawn from 275 neonates clinically diagnosed with sepsis.

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Background And Aims: Obesity and overweight are major public health threat affecting many people globally. This study aimed to examine the role of nutrition knowledge (NK), attitude, practices, and dietary diversity (DD) on the prevalence of obesity among market women in Cape Coast, Ghana.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at Abura and Kotokuraba markets in the Cape Coast Metropolis of Ghana.

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Background And Aim: Neonatal sepsis is a systemic inflammatory response to infection during the first 4 weeks of an infant's life. It is a significant cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality in low- and middle-income countries. This study aimed to determine the predictors of the onset of sepsis at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of the Tamale Teaching Hospital, Ghana.

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Background: There is a clinical need for therapeutics for COVID-19 patients with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure whose 60-day mortality remains at 30-50%. Aviptadil, a lung-protective neuropeptide, and remdesivir, a nucleotide prodrug of an adenosine analog, were compared with placebo among patients with COVID-19 acute hypoxaemic respiratory failure.

Methods: TESICO was a randomised trial of aviptadil and remdesivir versus placebo at 28 sites in the USA.

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Urinary tract infection (UTI) is frequently encountered during pregnancy and is associated with adverse maternal, fetal, and neonatal effects. However, very little information is available on the prevalence of UTI among pregnant women in the northern part of Ghana, a region with a high birth rate. This study employed a cross-sectional analysis of the prevalence, antimicrobial profile, and risk factors associated with UTI in 560 pregnant women attending primary care for antenatal check-ups.

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Objective: To describe a physician (MD) and registered nurse (RN) led palliative care consultation team embedded in the medical intensive care unit (MICU). To compare patterns of palliative care consultation, and rates of goals of care documentation and in-ICU mortality before and after the implementation of the embedded team.

Context: By embedding MD/RN palliative care team in the MICU, more critically ill patients with unmet palliative care needs could receive an earlier palliative care consultation.

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The effect and safety of bivalirudin compared with heparin in patients undergoing extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) remains unclear. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to compare the effectiveness and safety of heparin and bivalirudin in patients who underwent ECMO. We searched Embase, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and MEDLINE.

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Although it has been more than 2 years since the start of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, COVID-19 continues to be a worldwide health crisis. Despite the development of preventive vaccines, therapies to treat COVID-19 and other inflammatory diseases remain a major unmet need in medicine. Our study sought to identify drivers of disease severity and mortality to develop tailored immunotherapy strategies to halt disease progression.

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Objective: We conducted an abattoir-based cross-sectional study in the five administrative regions of Northern Ghana to determine the distribution of bovine tuberculosis (BTB) among slaughtered carcasses and identify the possibility of zoonotic transmission.

Methods: Direct smear microscopy was done on 438 tuberculosis-like lesions from selected cattle organs and cultured on Lowenstein-Jensen media. Acid-fast bacilli (AFB) isolates were confirmed as members of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) by PCR amplification of IS6110 and rpoß.

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Though it has been 2 years since the start of the Coronavirus Disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic, COVID-19 continues to be a worldwide health crisis. Despite the development of preventive vaccines, very little progress has been made to identify curative therapies to treat COVID-19 and other inflammatory diseases which remain a major unmet need in medicine. Our study sought to identify drivers of disease severity and death to develop tailored immunotherapy strategies to halt disease progression.

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Background: Coronaviruses are important emerging human and animal pathogens. SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is responsible for the current global pandemic. Early in the course of the pandemic, New York City became one of the world's "hot spots" with more than 250,000 cases and more than 15,000 deaths.

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Objective: We conducted a cross-sectional study in the five administrative regions of Northern Ghana to determine the diversity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) sub/lineages and their susceptibility to isoniazid (INH) and rifampicin (RIF).

Methods: Sputum specimens were collected and cultured from 566 pulmonary tuberculosis patients reporting to 17 health facilities from 2015 to 2019. Mycobacterial isolates obtained from solid cultures were confirmed as members of the MTBC by PCR amplification of IS6110 and rpoß and assigned lineages and sub-lineages using spoligotyping.

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Coronavirus disease 2019 has been a worldwide pandemic since early 2020 with New York City being the epicenter in the United States during early 2020. Although cases of decreased coronavirus disease 2019 during the summer, cases began to rise once more in the fall-winter period. Little is known about trends in patient characteristics, medical care, and outcome between these time periods.

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Aim: To identify strategies to improve time to prone in ICUs during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic for patients meeting the criteria for prone position ventilation.

Background: Healthcare systems worldwide experienced an influx of COVID-19 patients, especially in critical care. COVID-19 patients are at risk of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).

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Background: COVID-19 patients requiring mechanical ventilation may develop significant pneumomediastinum and sub-cutaneous emphysema without associated pneumothorax (SWAP). Prophylactic chest tube placement or sub-fascial "blowholes" are usually recommended to prevent tension pneumothorax and clinical decline. Risk of iatrogenic lung injury and release of virus into the environment is high.

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The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues to cause havoc to many countries of the globe, with no end in sight, due to nonavailability of a given vaccine or treatment regimen. The pandemic has so far had a relatively limited impact on the African continent, which contributes more than 93% of global malaria burden. However, the limited burden of COVID-19 pandemic on the African region could have long-term implications on the health and wellbeing of affected inhabitants due to its malaria-endemic status.

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Background: Prone position ventilation (PPV) is recommended for patients with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome, but it remains underused. Interprofessional simulation-based training for PPV has not been described.

Objectives: To evaluate the impact of a novel interprofessional simulation-based training program on providers' perception of and comfort with PPV and the program's ability to help identify unrecognized safety issues ("latent safety threats") before implementation.

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Background: We encounter interstitial lung disease (ILD) patients with psoriasis. The aim of this case series was to examine clinical and radiographic characteristics of patients with concomitant psoriasis and ILD.

Methods: This is a retrospective review of our institutional experience of ILD concomitant with psoriasis, from the database in the Advanced Lung/Interstitial Lung Disease Program at the Mount Sinai Hospital.

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Background: The infant airway is particularly vulnerable to trauma from repeated laryngoscopy attempts. Complications associated with elective tracheal intubations in anesthetized infants may be underappreciated. We conducted this study of anesthetized infants to determine the incidence of multiple laryngoscopy attempts during routine tracheal intubation and assess the association of laryngoscopy attempts with hypoxemia and bradycardia.

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Background: The World Health Organization recommends the implementation of interventions focused on the early detection of clinical risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) as effective strategies for the control of CVD in low resource settings. However, due to health system resource constraints, surveillance capacity for the identification of high-risk populations for non-communicable diseases, including CVD have been inadequate. The purpose of this study was to describe the prevalence of CVD clinical risk factors among healthy adults residing in the Cape Coast metropolis of Ghana.

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Rationale: Right heart thrombi (RiHT) is characterized by the presence of thrombus within the right atrium or right ventricle (RV). Current literature suggests pulmonary embolism (PE) with RiHT carries a high mortality. Guidelines lack recommendations in managing RiHT.

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