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.

Evaluating the equivalence of clomiphene citrate with and without metformin in ovulation induction in PCOS patients.

Objective: To evaluate the benefit of Metformin added to Clomiphene Citrate in a primary ovulation induction protocol in PCOS patients.

Design: Prospective randomised controlled study.

Setting: Tygerberg Academic Hospital, Stellenbosch University and the Institute of Reproductive Medicine at Vincent Pallotti Hospital, Cape Town.

Recurrence of cardiotoxicity after lipid rescue from bupivacaine-induced cardiac arrest.

Accidental intravascular administration of bupivacaine during performance of a brachial block precipitated convulsions followed by asystole. The patient was rapidly resuscitated using cardiopulmonary resuscitation, supplemented by 150 mL of 20% lipid emulsion. Nonetheless, cardiac toxicity reappeared 40 min after completion of the lipid emulsion.

The early bactericidal activity of anti-tuberculosis drugs: a literature review.

Quantification of mycobacteria in sputum from pulmonary tuberculosis patients has been used to evaluate patient's response to treatment since the earliest days of anti-tuberculosis chemotherapy. More recently the early bactericidal activity (EBA) of anti-tuberculosis agents, measured as the fall in viable colony forming units of Myco-bacterium tuberculosis in sputum early in therapy, has been shown to be an objective, repeatable measure of the ability of an agent to kill the metabolically active bacilli found in the sputum of patients with sputum microscopy smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis. EBA offers an opportunity to rapidly demonstrate that a new agent has a detectable anti-tuberculosis effect in a relatively small number of patients, what the most appropriate dose is to take forward to more extensive clinical trials and allows the study of the relationship between pharmacokinetics and bactericidal activity and toxicity of the relevant agent.

Consumer testing of the preliminary paediatric food-based dietary guidelines for healthy children aged 1-7 years, among English- and Afrikaans-speaking mothers in the city of Cape Town, South Africa.

Objective: The aim of this qualitative study was to test the comprehensibility of the preliminary food-based dietary guidelines (FBDG) for healthy South African children aged 1-7 years. Objectives included assessing exposure to FBDG, comprehension of the proposed paediatric FBDG (PFBDG) and whether the guidelines can be used in meal planning.

Design: Focus group discussions were used to collect data.

Semen profiles of male partners in females presenting with endometriosis-associated subfertility.

Objective: To establish fertile and subfertile groups of males in couples presenting with endometriosis-related infertility in the female.

Design: Retrospective study of semen profiles on partners of women undergoing surgery for endometriosis-related infertility.

Setting: University-affiliated assisted reproduction center.

Parapneumonic pleural effusion and empyema.

At least 40% of all patients with pneumonia will have an associated pleural effusion, although a minority will require an intervention for a complicated parapneumonic effusion or empyema. All patients require medical management with antibiotics. Empyema and large or loculated effusions need to be formally drained, as well as parapneumonic effusions with a pH <7.

Stair climbing in the functional assessment of lung resection candidates.

Background: Algorithms for the pre-operative evaluation of lung resection candidates with impaired lung function invariably include maximum oxygen uptake (VO(2)MAX) as a critical parameter of functional reserves, with a VO(2)MAX >or=20 ml/kg/min generally considered sufficient for pneumonectomy. Stair climbing is a low-cost alternative to assess exercise capacity.

Objectives: As stair climbing is not standardised, we aimed to compare the altitude reached and the speed of ascent with VO(2)MAX measured by cycle ergometry.

Arterial oxygenation and one-lung anesthesia.

Purpose Of Review: In the presence of the obligatory shunt during one-lung ventilation, arterial oxygenation is determined by the magnitude of the shunt in addition to the oxygen content of the mixed venous blood coursing through that shunt. The present discussion aims to heighten awareness of factors determining arterial oxygenation during one-lung anesthesia, other than the magnitude of the shunt and dependent lung low-ventilation perfusion units.

Recent Findings: A convenient way to increase mixed venous and thereby arterial oxygenation is to raise cardiac output.

Clinical and radiological grading of superior vena cava obstruction.

Background: Superior vena cava obstruction (SVCO) is commonly caused by neoplastic venous compression and presents with typical symptoms and signs. Its clinical severity presumably depends on the degree of obstruction and the adequacy of venous collateral formation.

Objectives: The development of novel clinical and radiological scoring systems based on the postulate that a reproducible relationship exists between the degree of SVCO, the presence of collateral circulation and the extent of clinical symptoms.

An assessment of preliminary food-based dietary guidelines for infants 6-12 months of age in the Little Karoo area of the Western Cape Province of South Africa.

Objective: This study aimed to assess mother's/caregiver's understanding, practical application and cultural acceptability of a preliminary set of South African food-based dietary guidelines (FBDGs) for children aged 6-12 months living in the Little Karoo area of the Western Cape Province.

Design: An observational, descriptive and cross-sectional study design was followed. Focus group interviews, recorded on videotape, were analysed for qualitative data.

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 National Food Consumption Survey (NFCS): South Africa, 1999.

Objective: The aim of the National Food Consumption Survey (NFCS) in South Africa was to determine the nutrient intakes and anthropometric status of children (1-9 years old), as well as factors that influence their dietary intake.

Design: This was a cross-sectional survey of a nationally representative sample of all children aged 1-9 years in South Africa. A nationally representative sample with provincial representation was selected using 1996 Census information.

Review of the South African nutrition policy 1994-2002 and targets for 2007: achievements and challenges.

Primary and secondary nutrition interventions are essential in South Africa, a country with mortality rates of 45.2 deaths per 1000 live births and 61 per 1000 for children younger than 5 y and an estimated prevalence of 8.3% for low birth weight.

Oxytocin use in South Africa--a review.

Objective: Oxytocin is one of the most frequently used drugs in labour and there are many different dosage regimens. The aim of this study was to examine the use of oxytocin by obstetricians in South Africa.

Methods: A specially designed questionnaire was drawn up and distributed to specialists according to an address list obtained from the South African Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

Headaches in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: a comparative study.

The incidence and nature of headaches in 85 systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients attending an outpatient clinic were studied and compared to those experienced by 61 nurses. The two groups were similar in age, sex and ethnicity. Test-retest assessment of reliability gave both groups 95% confidence limits of 0.

Infective endocarditis: improving the diagnostic yield.

Introduction: Isolating aetiological agents in patients with infective endocarditis (IE) remains problematical. We postulated that the high local incidence of culture-negative IE resulted from antibiotic exposure prior to blood cultures and that a structured delay in therapy in the subacute presentation would improve the diagnostic yield.

Aim: We aimed to prospectively observe the diagnostic approach and give an overview of supplementary laboratory tests.