Benign follicular tumors

Benign follicular tumors comprise a large and heterogeneous group of neoplasms that share a common histogenesis and display morphological features resembling one or several portions of the normal hair follicle, or recapitulate part of its embryological development. Most cases present it as clinically nondescript single lesions and essentially of dermatological relevance. Occasionally, however, these lesions be multiple and represent a cutaneous marker of complex syndromes associated with an increased risk of visceral neoplasms. In this article, the authors present the microscopic structure of the normal hair follicle as a basis to understand the type and level of differentiation of the various follicular tumors. The main clinicopathological features and differential diagnosis of benign follicular tumors are then discussed, including dilated pore of Winer, pilar sheath acanthoma, trichoadenoma, trichilemmoma, infundibuloma, proliferating trichilemmal cyst/tumor, trichoblastoma and its variants, pilomatricoma, trichodiscoma/fibrofolliculoma, neurofollicular hamartoma and trichofolliculoma. In addition, the main syndromes presenting with multiple follicular tumors are also discussed, namely Cowden, Birt-Hogg-Dubé, Rombo and Bazex-Dupré-Christol syndromes, as well as multiple tumors of follicular infundibulum (infundibulomatosis) and multiple trichoepitheliomas. Although the diagnosis of follicular tumors relies on histological examination, we highlight the importance of their knowledge for the clinician, especially when in presence of patients with multiple lesions that may be the cutaneous marker of a cancer-prone syndrome. The dermatologist is therefore in a privileged position to recognize these lesions, which is extremely important to provide further propedeutic, appropriate referral and genetic counseling for these patients.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Globalization and Health: developing the journal to advance the field

Founded in 2005, Globalization and Health was the first open access global health journal. The journal has since expanded the field, and its influence, with the number of downloaded papers rising 17-fold, to over 4 million. Its ground-breaking papers, leading authors -including a Nobel Prize winner- and an impact factor of 2.25 place it among the top global health journals in the world. To mark the ten years since the journal’s founding, we, members of the current editorial board, undertook a review of the journal’s progress over the last decade. Through the application of an inductive thematic analysis, we systematically identified themes of research published in the journal from 2005 to 2014. We identify key areas the journal has promoted and consider these in the context of an existing framework, identify current gaps in global health research and highlight areas we, as a journal, would like to see strengthened

Data for local decision-making, not a mere reporting requirement: development of an index to measure facility-level use of HMIS data

# Background Well-functioning health management information systems (HMIS) enable decision-making at all health system levels. This study develops an index to measure the use of HMIS data at the facility level. # Methods We used two rounds of cross-sectional data collected from 305 health facilities in Ethiopia in 2019 (pre-COVID-19) and 2020 (post-COVID-19). We constructed a summative, 10-item index using exploratory factor analysis and 2019 index development data; and used Cronbach's alpha to assess reliability. To examine content validity, we mapped items against a previously published conceptual framework and consulted Ethiopian experts. We then employed one-way ANOVA and t-tests comparing the mean index scores overall and by key facility characteristics between 2019 and 2020. # Results The 10-item index loaded on one factor (Cronbach's alpha=0.74), and the index scores did not differ significantly by facility characteristics in 2019. The mean index score increased from 7.2 in 2019 to 7.9 in 2020 (*P*\<0.01). During this period, more facilities received feedback on HMIS reports from facility leadership (19.3% difference); received actionable recommendations on performance targets and resource allocation (7.5% and 12.3% difference, respectively); and reviewed maternal deaths (15.1% difference); conversely, the proportion of facilities that held participatory performance review meetings monthly or more often decreased by 13.8% (all *P* \<0.05). # Conclusions We propose a facility-level HMIS data use index and document an upward trend in HMIS data use in Ethiopia immediately after the COVID-19 pandemic was declared. Future research should further evaluate and refine the proposed index to support the measurement of HMIS data quality and utilization in Ethiopia and like settings