Spleen stiffness in a healthy pediatric population undergoing liver magnetic resonance elastography.

Background: Splenic stiffness is a potential imaging marker of portal hypertension. Normative spleen stiffness values are needed to define diagnostic thresholds.

Objective: To report stiffness measurements of the spleen in healthy children undergoing liver magnetic resonance (MR) elastography across MRI vendors and field strengths.

Pre-term and post-term births: predictors and implications on neonatal mortality in Northern Ethiopia.

Background: Pre-term and post-term births are major determinants of neonatal mortality, including short- and long-term morbidity. In developing countries, where pre-term and post-term births are disproportionately common, the magnitude and underlying causes are not well understood, and evidence is required to design appropriate interventions. This study measured the incidence and identified risk factors of pre-term birth and post-term births in Ethiopia.

Survival of neonates and predictors of their mortality in Tigray region, Northern Ethiopia: prospective cohort study.

Background: Neonatal mortality accounts for an estimated 2.8 million deaths worldwide, which constitutes 44 % of under-5-mortality and 60 % of infant mortality. Neonatal mortality predictors vary by country with the availability and quality of health care.

Multilevel analysis of individual and community level factors associated with institutional delivery in Ethiopia.

Background: Improving maternal health is one of the eight millennium development goals to reduce maternal mortality (MM) by three quarters between 1990 and 2015. Institutional delivery is considered to be the most critical intervention in reducing MM and ensuring safe motherhood. However, the level of maternal morbidity and mortality in Ethiopia are among the highest in the world and the proportion of births occurring at health facilities is very low.

The effect of isoniazid preventive therapy on incidence of tuberculosis among HIV-infected clients under pre-ART care, Jimma, Ethiopia: a retrospective cohort study.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is a major public health problem that accounts for almost half a million human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) associated deaths. Provision of isoniazid preventive therapy (IPT) is one of the public health interventions for the prevention of TB in HIV infected individuals. However, in Ethiopia, the coverage and implementation of IPT is limited.