Non-infectious Complications of Peritoneal Dialysis among Sudanese Patients: Five Years Experience

Introduction: The technique of Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis (CAPD) is known to be associated with various infectious and non-infectious complications. The latter term includes anatomical/mechanical complications as well as hemoperitoneum, inflow pain, electrolyte disturbances, metabolic derangements and delayed gastric emptying. Methods: We retrospectively evaluated all patients who were maintained on CAPD for a minimum of 90 days in Sudan, in the period between May 2005 and Apr 2010. We examined the incidence of various non-infectious complications and their possible associations. Results: The analysis included 296 patients including 71 children (24%). Males constituted 62.2% of the study population and 13.9% were diabetic. The incidence per 100 patient-years of various non-infectious complications was as follows: hypokalemia (30.4), catheter dysfunction (10.8), dialysate leak (5.3), hernia (4.7), hemorrhagic effluent (4.7), inflow pain (2.3), upper gastrointestinal symptoms (2) and cuff extrusion (0.9). Catheter block and hernia were diagnosed with a median duration after catheter insertion of 6 and 7.5 months, respectively. Catheter block was significantly more prevalent among children (22.5% versus 9.3%; P = 0.006). A high body mass index (BMI) was the only identified independent predictor for leak (OR 1.4, P = 0.005). More than half of the 16 hernias were umbilical, and four of the five inguinal hernias were bilateral. Non-infectious complications were responsible for 32% of technique failures. Conclusion: Non-infectious complications were fairly common among our CAPD patients and led to catheter removal in a considerable number of patients. Care is, therefore, needed to screen CAPD patients for these complications in order to timely address and manage problems. Keywords: Peritoneal Dialysis; Non-infectious Complications; Sudan; Herni

On-farm testing of selected cassava clones

Many local cassava(Manihot esculenta Crantz) varieties grown in Zanzibar are sweet and acceptable to farmers, but are prone to common virus diseases and pests. Unfortunately, these are low yielders. Most of the introduced varieties were not accepted by farmers. In order to enhance the acceptance of new high yielding new materials (five local bred breeding lines ZNZ/98/010, ZNZ/98/036, ZNZ/98/084, ZNZ/98/043 and ZNZ/98/034) were tested on-farm at UYT stage at 7 sites against Boma (local best) and a long time introduced variety, H.46106/27, a participatory evaluation trial was conducted. Farmers prefered clones ZNZ/98/036, ZNZ/98/034 and ZNZ/98/084 due to sweetness, disease resistance, root yields and dry matter content. Key Words: Diseases, Manihot esculenta, pests RÉSUMÉ Plusieurs variétés locales de manioc (Manihot esculenta Crantz) plantées au Zanzibar sont sucrées et acceptables pour les fermiers. Cependant, elles sont sujettes aux virus et pestes. Malheureusement, elles ont un faible rendement. Toutes les variétés introduites n'étaient pas acceptées par les fermiers. Pour augmenter les chances d'acceptation des nouvelles variétés au rendement élévé, de nouveaux matériaux (cinq variétés locales ZNZ/98/010, ZNZ/98/036, ZNZ/98/084, ZNZ/98/043 et ZNZ/98/034) étaient testées sur ferme au stage UYT sur sept sites contre Boma (meilleur variété locale) et une variété longtemps introduite, H46106/27, utilisant une évaluation participative des essais. Les fermiers ont préféré les clones ZNZ/98/036, ZNZ/98/034 et ZNZ/98/084 à cause de la concentration en sucre, la résistance aux maladies, les rendements des raciness, et le contenu en matière sèche. Mots clés: Maladies, Manihot esculenta, pestes African Crop Science Journal Vol.12(3) 2004: 283-28