South African medical journal = Suid-Afrikaanse tydskrif vir geneeskunde
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The burden of cardiovascular disease in patients requiring non-cardiac surgery in Africa is not known. These patients are at increased risk for postoperative cardiovascular complications. ⋯ The substantial burden of cardiovascular disease in patients presenting for non-cardiac surgery in Africa is shown in the principal findings of this study. The RCRI has moderate discrimination for major cardiac complications and major adverse cardiac events in African patients undergoing non-cardiac surgery.
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Estimates of prevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody positivity (seroprevalence) for tracking the COVID-19 epidemic are lacking for most African countries. ⋯ Our study conducted between the first and second waves of the pandemic shows high levels of current infection among patients attending public health facilities in Gauteng Province.
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A previously healthy 10-year-old girl, living in a sheep-farming community in South Africa with exposure to dogs, presented to her local hospital with generalised tonic-clonic seizures. The initial clinical assessment and laboratory work-up were unremarkable. When she presented with further seizures 6 months later, attempts to arrange neuroimaging and specialist assessment were unsuccessful owing to restrictions on routine healthcare services during the SARS-CoV-2 nationwide lockdown. ⋯ An emergency burr-hole procedure was performed to relieve the raised intracranial pressure, followed by definitive neurosurgical excision of cysts. Hydatid protoscolices and hooklets were seen on microscopy of cyst fluid, and treatment with albendazole and praziquantel was initiated. While her infection was treated successfully, long-term sequelae including permanent blindness and hemiparesis could potentially have been prevented with early neuroimaging and surgical intervention.
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Respiratory diseases account for >10% of the global burden of disease when measured in disability-adjusted life-years. The burden of chronic respiratory diseases (CRDs) increases as the world's population ages, with a much greater increase in low- to middle-income countries. ⋯ Over a 9-month period, acute respiratory presentations to a tertiary hospital were mainly for primary/secondary level of care indications, highlighting disparity in accessing tertiary services. COPD and PTLD predominated among CRDs, while infections and cancers were common. A high readmission rate was found for several diseases, suggesting the potential for targeted interventions to prevent both admissions and readmissions and reduce acute hospital utilisation costs.
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The discovery of human leucocyte antigen (HLA), serological matching and HLA-typing techniques, combined with the development of immunosuppressive medicines and improvements in infection control, have opened the way to cell, tissue and vascularised organ transplantation. Since the early 1960s, more than a million haematopoietic progenitor cell (HPC) transplantations have been performed worldwide to restore haematopoiesis and support immune system recovery after bone marrow ablation. ⋯ Research in biological sciences supported by new technologies is increasingly translated into therapeutic products intended to augment, repair, replace or regenerate genes, cells, tissues, organs and metabolic processes in the body. These products are referred to as regenerative medicine therapies or advanced therapy medicinal products, and include gene therapies, cell-based therapies and engineered tissue products.