Women in cardiac surgery: a global workforce analysis.

Objectives: Cardiac surgery remains one of the most gender-imbalanced surgical specialties. Women constitute 6-11% of the North American workforce, while other regional data are scarce. Despite the acknowledged under-representation of women in cardiac surgery globally and evidence that surgeon-patient gender concordance enhances postoperative outcomes, precise figures remain poorly defined.

Predictive model for genital tract infections among men and women in Ghana: An application of LASSO penalized cross-validation regression model.

To enhance the capacity for early and effective management of genital tract infections at primary and secondary levels of the healthcare system, we developed a prediction model, validated internally to help predict individual risk of self-reported genital tract infections (sGTIs) at the community level in Ghana. The study involved 32973 men and women aged 15-49 years from three rounds of the Ghana Demographic Health Survey, from 2003 to 2014. The outcomes were sGTIs.

Delays in Cardiovascular Emergency Responses in Africa: Health System Failures or Cultural Challenges?

Delays in receiving care for debilitating cardiovascular emergencies, such as myocardial infarction and stroke, are multifaceted and include personal, systemic, and health facility-related factors, which must all be addressed to successfully improve cardiovascular emergency outcomes.

A Vision For the Future of Cardiovascular Medicine Practise in Ghana: Inspiration From the Yale-New Haven Health System.

The Ghana Physicians and Surgeons Foundation (GPSF) of North America sponsors Ghanaian clinical fellows to undertake an eight-weeklong clinical observation with the Yale University School of Medicine and Yale-New Haven Health (YNHH) annually, through the Residents in Training Educational Stipend (RITES) programme. This offers the opportunity to appreciate new perspectives in clinical care to improve Ghana's healthcare standard. The cardiovascular medicine workforce at the YNHH is heterogenous, with significant reliance on non-doctor cadres of health workers who demonstrate competence.

The development of Africa's first unified hypertension management guidelines.

Hypertension is a leading cardiovascular risk factor, contributing significantly to morbidity and mortality in Africa. The continent is plagued with a high incidence, coupled with low treatment and control rates. The causes are multifactorial, and among the major causes is an absence of standardized African guidelines for the management of hypertension.

Psychological Distress and Its Associated Factors Among Parents of Children With Congenital Heart Disease: A Cross-Sectional Mixed Method Study at the National Cardiothoracic Center, Ghana.

Background: The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence and factors associated with psychological distress among parents of children with congenital heart disease (PCCHD) receiving treatment at the National Cardiothoracic Centre (NCTC), Accra.

Methods: A cross-sectional mixed method study involving 248 parents of children with congenital heart disese receiving treatment at the NCTC was employed. Systematic sampling was used to select participants.

Evaluating the Effectiveness of African School of Hypertension for Non-Physician Health Workers, a Qualitative Study: QuASH Hypertension Study.

Background: The implementation of task sharing and shifting (TSTS) policy as a way of addressing the shortage of physicians and reducing the burden of hypertension in Africa birthed the idea of the African School of Hypertension (ASH). The ASH is saddled with the responsibility of training non-physician health workers across Africa continent in the management of uncomplicated hypertension.

Aim: To get feedback from some faculty members and students who participated in the first ASH programme.

Angiographic severity of coronary artery disease and the influence of major cardiovascular risk factors.

Objective: To determine the angiographic severity of coronary artery disease (CAD) and assess the influence of major cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF).

Study Design: a cross-sectional, hospital-based study.

Setting: the catheterisation laboratory of the National Cardiothoracic Centre, Accra, Ghana.

A three-year review of lung cancer patient characteristics in a tertiary hospital.

Objective: The study sought to determine clinical characteristics and histologic subtypes of a cohort of lung cancer patients in a tertiary facility.

Design: Retrospective review of the medical records of histology-confirmed lung cancer cases at the respiratory clinic over a 3-year period.

Setting: Respiratory Clinic, Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra, Ghana.

Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk among Ghanaians: A comparison of the risk assessment tools.

Objectives: Risk stratification is a cornerstone for preventing atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). Ghana has yet to develop a locally derived and validated ASCVD risk model. A critical first step towards this goal is assessing how the commonly available risk models perform in the Ghanaian population.

Food insecurity and associated health and social determinants among older adults in Ghana: Analysis of the WHO's study on global AGEing and adult health (SAGE), 2014-2015.

This study was conducted to assess the prevalence and factors associated with Food Insecurity (FI) and further quantify its association with unmet need for health services and health-related outcomes among older adults aged 50 years and above in Ghana. The Ghana Study on Global AGEing and Adult Health was used. Body Mass Index (BMI), depressive episodes, functional difficulties (FD), low Quality of Life (QoL), memory decline, and Unmet Needs of Health Services (UNHS) are the the study outcomes.

Prevalence of Cardiovascular Disease and Risk Factors in Ghana: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Background: The increasing cardiovascular disease (CVD) burden threatens the global population as the major cause of disability and premature death. Data are scarce on the magnitude of CVD among the population in West Africa, particularly in Ghana. This study examined the available scientific evidence to determine the pooled prevalence (PP) of CVD and risk factors in Ghana.

Task Sharing and Task Shifting (TSTS) in the Management of Africans with Hypertension: A Call For Action-Possibilities and Its Challenges.

Hypertension is a leading cause of mortality globally and one of the most common risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Diagnosis, awareness, and optimal treatment rates are suboptimal, especially in low- and middle-income countries, with attendant high health consequences and grave socioeconomic impact. There is an enormous gap between disease burden and physician-patient ratios that needs to be bridged.

Incomplete vascular ring of the aortic arch presenting with dysphagia in an adult: case report.

Anomalies of the arterial branches of the arch of the aorta are rare, with the aberrant right subclavian artery being the most common of this anomaly. Majority of the anomalies are asymptomatic and often discovered as incidental findings. In the great majority of the symptomatic cases, the presentation may be either with breathlessness or dysphagia or both.

Traumatic rupture of anterolateral papillary muscle in a patient with congenital deficiency of left hemi-pericardium: case report.

Congenital absence or deficiency of the pericardium or hemi-pericardium is uncommon. When it happens, the protection given to the heart is greatly reduced, and blunt or penetrating trauma to the chest is transmitted directly to the heart. Valvular injuries from these traumas are however rare with a case of tricuspid valve rupture reported.

Changes in trends and patterns of glycaemic control at Ghana's National Diabetes Management and Research Centre during the era of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: Maintaining optimal glycaemic control (GC) delays the onset and progression of diabetes-related complications, especially microvascular complications. We aimed to establish the trend and pattern of GC, and its associated factors in persons living with diabetes (PLWD), and to examine the influence of COVID-19 on GC.

Methods: A retrospective study involving secondary data from 2,593 patients' physical records from the National Diabetes Management and Research Centre (NDMRC) in Accra, extracted from 2015-2021.

Management of caustic pharyngoesophageal injuries in Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra, Ghana: a 12-year retrospective review of 29 cases.

Introduction: caustic pharyngoesophageal strictures are life-threatening injuries with important management difficulties, lacking clear therapeutic guidelines. The aim of this study is to evaluate the surgical procedures and outcomes of severe caustic pharyngoesophageal strictures in our institution.

Methods: a total of 29 patients who underwent surgery for severe caustic pharyngoesophageal injury at the National Cardiothoracic Center from June 2006 to December 2018 were retrospectively reviewed.

Giant pericardial cyst, an unusual cause of right heart failure in an elderly patient with tuberculosis and HIV: A case report.

Pericardial cysts are rare mediastinal masses commonly asymptomatic and incidentally found on chest radiographs. Pericardial cysts may be acquired/inflammatory in origin and may be symptomatic. We present a case of 65-year-old male who presented with symptoms of right heart failure.

Chronic Eosinophilic Leukemia Presenting as Cardiac Failure.

Chronic eosinophilic leukemia (CEL) is a rare chronic myeloproliferative disorder characterized by sustained eosinophilia. Although the incidence of CEL is uncertain, it can be clinically devastating as it has a propensity to affect several important organ systems. This is of particular significance in Sub-Saharan Africa where helminthic infections are a more prevalent cause of eosinophilia.