Evaluation of venous thromboembolism (VTE) risk assessment and thrombo-prophylaxis practices in hospitalized medical and surgical patients at Aga Khan Hospital Dar es Salaam: single-centre retrospective study.

Introduction: venous thromboembolism is a complication among admitted medical and surgical patients. International guidelines recommend patients are assessed upon admission and appropriate thromboprophylaxis should be initiated. However, studies have shown that thromboprophylaxis for patients at risk of venous thromboembolism is underutilized.

Predicting Mortality in Low-Income Country ICUs: The Rwanda Mortality Probability Model (R-MPM).

Introduction: Intensive Care Unit (ICU) risk prediction models are used to compare outcomes for quality improvement initiatives, benchmarking, and research. While such models provide robust tools in high-income countries, an ICU risk prediction model has not been validated in a low-income country where ICU population characteristics are different from those in high-income countries, and where laboratory-based patient data are often unavailable. We sought to validate the Mortality Probability Admission Model, version III (MPM0-III) in two public ICUs in Rwanda and to develop a new Rwanda Mortality Probability Model (R-MPM) for use in low-income countries.

Hospital Incidence and Outcomes of the Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome Using the Kigali Modification of the Berlin Definition.

Rationale: Estimates of the incidence of the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in high- and middle-income countries vary from 10.1 to 86.2 per 100,000 person-years in the general population.

Acute respiratory distress syndrome in the global context.

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a clinically defined syndrome of hypoxia and bilateral pulmonary infiltrates due to inflammatory pathways triggered by pulmonary and nonpulmonary insults, and ARDS is pathologically correlated with diffuse alveolar damage. Estimates of ARDS's impact in the developed world vary widely, with some of the discrepancies attributed to marked differences in the availability of intensive care beds and mechanical ventilation. Almost nothing is known about the epidemiology of ARDS in the developing world, in part due to a clinical definition requiring positive pressure ventilation, arterial blood gases, and chest radiography.

Tetanus in developing countries: a case series and review.

Purpose: Few anesthesiologists have expertise in the diagnosis and treatment of tetanus, a disease that remains prevalent in developing countries. We report on a series of four cases of tetanus cases recently encountered in Rwanda. We review the clinical epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis and the treatment of tetanus, and provide implications for anesthesiologists and critical care physicians.