5 research outputs found
Recommended from our members
Characteristics and outcomes of admitted patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 in Uganda
© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2020. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.Rationale: Detailed data on the characteristics and outcomes of patients with COVID-19 in sub-Saharan Africa are limited. Objective: We determined the clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes of patients diagnosed with COVID-19 in Uganda . Measurements: As of the 16 May 2020, a total of 203 cases had been confirmed. We report on the first 56 patients; 29 received hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and 27 did not. Endpoints included admission to intensive care, mechanical ventilation or death during hospitalisation. Main results: The median age was 34.2 years; 67.9% were male; and 14.6% were 130/90 mm Hg, and 27.8% had BP of >140/90 mm Hg. Laboratory derangements were leucopenia (10.6%), lymphopenia (11.1%) and thrombocytopenia (26.3%). Abnormal chest X-ray was observed in 14.3%. No patients reached the primary endpoint. Time to clinical recovery was shorter among patients who received HCQ, but this difference did not reach statistical significance. Conclusion: Most of the patients with COVID-19 presented with mild disease and exhibited a clinical trajectory not similar to other countries. Outcomes did not differ by HCQ treatment status in line with other concluded studies on the benefit of using HCQ in the treatment of COVID-19.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe
Breast diseases histologically diagnosed at a tertiary facility in Uganda (2005–2014)
Abstract Background The prevalence and distribution of histologically diagnosed breast disease are not well documented in low income countries, Uganda inclusive. Although the greater majority of breast lesions globally are benign, breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer all over the world. We aimed at documenting the prevalence of different breast diseases histologically diagnosed at the histopathology laboratory of the Department of Pathology of the Makerere University College of Health Sciences (MakCHS Lab) over a decade (2005–2014). We also describe the demographic characteristics of the patients in Uganda diagnosed with breast disease at the MakCHS Lab during the same period. Methods This was a 10 year retrospective study of histologically diagnosed breast disease between 2005 and 2014 inclusive at the MakCHS Lab. We extracted information from hard copies of all 2510 histopathology reports retrieved from archives of the Department of Pathology at the MakCHS Lab. 640 records that were either damaged beyond recognition of key details, were duplicated, were implausible or had no conclusive diagnosis made were excluded. Information to be analyzed was then entered into Epidata (version 3.1) on a password protected laptop. Data analysis was done using SPSS software (v16 for Windows × 64). Results From the 1870 patients’ records eventually analyzed, breast disease was most diagnosed in female patients (97.1%). The overall mean age for breast disease diagnosis was 33 years (S.D ± 16.46) and median age 26 years (IQR: 20–43). Fibroadenoma (40.1%) was the most diagnosed breast disease overall. We noticed steadily increasing frequency of diagnosis of cancerous breast diseases over the last half of the study period. Invasive ductal carcinoma was the most diagnosed breast cancer (326 cases, 55.6%). A high female to male breast cancer ratio of 48:1 was observed. The highest regional breast cancer proportion was from the Western region of the Country. Conclusions There is need for more research into the picture of breast disease in the country, covering various demographic characteristics of the country’s population for all regions and informing about its incidence rates and prevalence and also the breast cancer risk estimate for benign breast disease