Early Detection of Paediatric Cancer: Equipping Primary Health‑Care Workers in Nigeria

Background: Paediatric cancer patients in Nigeria continue to arrive at specialist centers with advanced‑stage disease. The reasons for this are myriad, not least of which are delays in detection, diagnosis, and referral for treatment. While delayed presentation has often been reported from the perspective of delays from caregivers’ decisions, institutional deficiencies in the health care system may account for an unmeasured portion of the factors leading to delayed presentation. This project centered around training of health‑care professionals at community level to detect potential paediatric cancer signs and refer appropriately. Aim: The aim of the study is to access the immediate impact of training on early detection and referral of possible paediatric cancer cases in the community and primary level health care workers and professionals in the Southwest Nigeria. Materials and Methods: This was a retrospective review of the training impact in three South‑Western states in Nigeria. Scores before and after the training were analyzed using the IBM SPSS statistics, version 23 (IBM, Armonk, NY, USA). Results: A total of 732 primary health care workers were trained. In the pre assessment evaluations, 44.8% of participants reported that cancer did not occur in children, 47.2% did not know any referral pathway for a child suspected of cancer. The post training assessment indicated an improvement in participants’ understanding of common paediatric cancers types and how to refer a suspected case for specialist diagnosis and attention. Mean scores before and after the training were 3.5/15 and 12.5/15, respectively. Conclusion: Training health-care professionals working at the community level can have an immediate and measurable impact on early detection and referral for paediatric cancers, as seen by the difference in pre training and post training assessment scores. There remains a need for continuous training to ensure early referral and ultimately increase survival indices of children diagnosed with cancer in Nigeria

Rabbit anti‐thymocyte globulin administration to treat rejection in simultaneous pancreas and kidney transplant recipients with recent COVID‐19 infection

Transplant recipients may be more susceptible to COVID‐19 and itsrelated complications.1‐3Despite most patients being managed with reduction of immunosuppression, the risk of rejection or graft loss does not seem to be increased during COVID‐19

Bamlanivimab for Mild to Moderate COVID-19 in Kidney Transplant Recipients

Kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) are at an increased risk of hospitalization, complications, and mortality from COVID-19 compared with the general population.1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Among KTRs with COVID-19 in the United States, studies have shown hospitalization rates ranging from 32% to 100%,1,3, 4, 5, 6 intensive care unit (ICU) admission rates from 20% to 61%,2,4 and overall mortality of 13% to 39%.1,2,4, 5, 6 A high incidence of acute kidney injury was noted, ranging from 30% to 89%,2,4, 5, 6 while renal replacement therapy was required in 13% to 21% of patients.1,7 Given the natural history of COVID-19 pneumonia, most of these complications occurred ≥1 week after the diagnosis of COVID-19. Given the high impact of COVID-19 infection on KTRs, early COVID-19–directed therapies are critical. Bamlanivimab (LY-CoV555) was given Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) by the US Food and Drug Administration on November 9, 2020.8 It is a neutralizing IgG1 monoclonal antibody that binds to the receptor-binding domain of the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, inhibiting attachment to human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 receptor. This EUA was given for treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19 in patients ≥12 years of age weighing >40 kg who are positive with a direct viral testing for SARS-CoV-2 and have high risk for progressing to severe COVID-19 and/or hospitalization.8 KTRs with COVID-19 are considered high risk because of immunosuppressive medication use.9 Studies on the use of bamlanivimab among KTRs are limited. To provide more insight on the use of bamlanivimab in KTRs we report our experience with 24 KTRs

Global Retinoblastoma Presentation and Analysis by National Income Level.

Importance: Early diagnosis of retinoblastoma, the most common intraocular cancer, can save both a child's life and vision. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that many children across the world are diagnosed late. To our knowledge, the clinical presentation of retinoblastoma has never been assessed on a global scale. Objectives: To report the retinoblastoma stage at diagnosis in patients across the world during a single year, to investigate associations between clinical variables and national income level, and to investigate risk factors for advanced disease at diagnosis. Design, Setting, and Participants: A total of 278 retinoblastoma treatment centers were recruited from June 2017 through December 2018 to participate in a cross-sectional analysis of treatment-naive patients with retinoblastoma who were diagnosed in 2017. Main Outcomes and Measures: Age at presentation, proportion of familial history of retinoblastoma, and tumor stage and metastasis. Results: The cohort included 4351 new patients from 153 countries; the median age at diagnosis was 30.5 (interquartile range, 18.3-45.9) months, and 1976 patients (45.4%) were female. Most patients (n = 3685 [84.7%]) were from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Globally, the most common indication for referral was leukocoria (n = 2638 [62.8%]), followed by strabismus (n = 429 [10.2%]) and proptosis (n = 309 [7.4%]). Patients from high-income countries (HICs) were diagnosed at a median age of 14.1 months, with 656 of 666 (98.5%) patients having intraocular retinoblastoma and 2 (0.3%) having metastasis. Patients from low-income countries were diagnosed at a median age of 30.5 months, with 256 of 521 (49.1%) having extraocular retinoblastoma and 94 of 498 (18.9%) having metastasis. Lower national income level was associated with older presentation age, higher proportion of locally advanced disease and distant metastasis, and smaller proportion of familial history of retinoblastoma. Advanced disease at diagnosis was more common in LMICs even after adjusting for age (odds ratio for low-income countries vs upper-middle-income countries and HICs, 17.92 [95% CI, 12.94-24.80], and for lower-middle-income countries vs upper-middle-income countries and HICs, 5.74 [95% CI, 4.30-7.68]). Conclusions and Relevance: This study is estimated to have included more than half of all new retinoblastoma cases worldwide in 2017. Children from LMICs, where the main global retinoblastoma burden lies, presented at an older age with more advanced disease and demonstrated a smaller proportion of familial history of retinoblastoma, likely because many do not reach a childbearing age. Given that retinoblastoma is curable, these data are concerning and mandate intervention at national and international levels. Further studies are needed to investigate factors, other than age at presentation, that may be associated with advanced disease in LMICs

Population-based rates, timing and causes of maternal deaths, stillbirths, and neonatal deaths in south Asia and sub-Saharan Africa: a multi-country prospective cohort study

BackgroundModelled mortality estimates have been useful for health programmes in low-income and middle-income countries. However, these estimates are often based on sparse and low-quality data. We aimed to generate high quality data about the burden, timing, and causes of maternal deaths, stillbirths, and neonatal deaths in south Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.MethodsIn this prospective cohort study done in 11 community-based research sites in south Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, between July, 2012, and February, 2016, we conducted population-based surveillance of women of reproductive age (15–49 years) to identify pregnancies, which were followed up to birth and 42 days post partum. We used standard operating procedures, data collection instruments, training, and standardisation to harmonise study implementation across sites. Verbal autopsies were done for deaths of all women of reproductive age, neonatal deaths, and stillbirths. Physicians used standardised methods for cause of death assignment. Site-specific rates and proportions were pooled at the regional level using a meta-analysis approach.FindingsWe identified 278 186 pregnancies and 263 563 births across the study sites, with outcomes ascertained for 269 630 (96·9%) pregnancies, including 8761 (3·2%) that ended in miscarriage or abortion. Maternal mortality ratios in sub-Saharan Africa (351 per 100 000 livebirths, 95% CI 168–732) were similar to those in south Asia (336 per 100 000 livebirths, 247–458), with far greater variability within sites in sub-Saharan Africa. Stillbirth and neonatal mortality rates were approximately two times higher in sites in south Asia than in sub-Saharan Africa (stillbirths: 35·1 per 1000 births, 95% CI 28·5–43·1 vs 17·1 per 1000 births, 12·5–25·8; neonatal mortality: 43·0 per 1000 livebirths, 39·0–47·3 vs 20·1 per 1000 livebirths, 14·6–27·6). 40–45% of pregnancy-related deaths, stillbirths, and neonatal deaths occurred during labour, delivery, and the 24 h postpartum period in both regions. Obstetric haemorrhage, non-obstetric complications, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, and pregnancy-related infections accounted for more than three-quarters of maternal deaths and stillbirths. The most common causes of neonatal deaths were perinatal asphyxia (40%, 95% CI 39–42, in south Asia; 34%, 32–36, in sub-Saharan Africa) and severe neonatal infections (35%, 34–36, in south Asia; 37%, 34–39 in sub-Saharan Africa), followed by complications of preterm birth (19%, 18–20, in south Asia; 24%, 22–26 in sub-Saharan Africa).InterpretationThese results will contribute to improved global estimates of rates, timing, and causes of maternal and newborn deaths and stillbirths. Our findings imply that programmes in sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia need to further intensify their efforts to reduce mortality rates, which continue to be high. The focus on improving the quality of maternal intrapartum care and immediate newborn care must be further enhanced. Efforts to address perinatal asphyxia and newborn infections, as well as preterm birth, are critical to achieving survival goals in the Sustainable Development Goals era

Assessment of Residual Strength Based on Estimated Temperature of Post-Heated RC Columns

The experience shows that fire-damaged concrete structures both technically and economically can be reinstated after fire due to high fire resistance and high residual strength. The residual strength of fire-damaged concrete structural member depends on the peak temperature reached during fire, fire duration and the distribution of temperature within the structural member. The assessment of the residual strength of post-heated concrete structural members in a professional way is a prime factor to take a decision about the reinstatement or demolition of fire-damaged structure. This paper provides an easy and efficient approach to predict the residual strength of reinforced concrete columns based on the estimated temperature which may have occurred within the concrete cross-section during a fire. A finite element model was developed to evaluate the distribution of temperature within the cross-section of the reinforced concrete columns. Twelve reinforced concrete square columns were heated experimentally up to 500°C at 150°C/hour. A comparison of the experimental temperature values of the tested columns was made with the model results. A good agreement was found between the experimental and the finite model results. Based on the temperature distribution obtained from the finite element model, the residual strength of concrete and reinforcement could be evaluated by using the relationships for concrete, steel and temperature proposed by various researchers