Outcomes post Ozaki procedure among children with aortic valve disease at Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: a retrospective descriptive study.

BACKGROUND: Aortic valve reconstruction using glutaraldehyde-treated autologous pericardium, also called Ozaki procedure, is a surgical procedure for patients with aortic valve disease. Gratifying results have been reported in adult patients, however, limited published data is available in paediatric population. This study looked at clinical characteristics and early outcomes of children who underwent Ozaki procedure at our Institute. METHODS: This was a retrospective descriptive study conducted on children who underwent aortic valve reconstruction at Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute (JKCI) from January 2019 through December 2022. Medical records of these children were reviewed to extract data on demographics, clinical characteristics, redo surgical interventions and survival. RESULTS: A total of 10 children underwent Ozaki procedure during the study period. Eight children had severe aortic regurgitation while 2 had severe aortic stenosis preoperatively. All children had either none or trivial aortic regurgitation immediately after surgery. None of them had redone operations throughout the follow-up period. There was no in-hospital mortality, however, one child died one-year after surgery. The mean follow-up period was 1.6 years with the longest follow-up time of 4 years. CONCLUSION: Ozaki procedure showed encouraging early results among children with aortic valve disease who underwent surgical repair by this technique. Future studies with larger sample sizes and longer follow up periods to evaluate long-term results in this population are recommended.

Content validation of needs assessment survey for remote education initiative in Tanzania.

Background: Historically, educational initiatives in global health have involved expert lectures by visitors. However, incomplete understanding of the target population and resources can limit the efficacy of lectures by international faculty. Little data exists on the magnitude of this problem. The goal of this study was to create and validate a needs assessment tool to guide lecture development as part of a larger study to implement virtual lectures for a residency program in Tanzania by members of an American faculty. Methods: Two study authors familiar with the Tanzanian hospital and residency program derived surveys for local residents and faculty. An expert panel consisting of two faculty members and one resident from each institution evaluated the questions. Each item was rated from 1 to 4 for clarity and relevance respectively. A content validity index (CVI) was calculated for each item using the proportion of experts who rated it as valid. Items with a CVI < 0.8 were revised and resubmitted. A CVI was then calculated for each instrument. Results: On the initial resident survey, 20 of 26 items were clear and 25 of 26 items were relevant with a CVI > 0.8. One item was deemed irrelevant and deleted. For the faculty survey, 10 of 12 items were clear and all items were relevant with CVI > 0.8. Five questions from the resident survey and two from the faculty survey deemed relevant but unclear were rewritten and resubmitted to experts. They all achieved CVI>0.8. Each survey obtained a CVI of 1. Conclusions: Using this approach, we validated a needs assessment tool to guide the creation of didactics for audiences that practice in a different setting from the lecturer.  This validated tool is an important step in the creation of a process to develop appropriate content and could be replicated by other groups planning similar initiatives.

The burden and management strategies of hypertensive crisis in adult patients presenting to emergency departments of district and regional hospitals in Sub-Saharan Africa.

BACKGROUND: Hypertensive crisis is among the causes of morbidity and mortality in adult patients with hypertension in Sub-Saharan Africa. We aimed to determine the burden, risk factors and describe the management strategies of hypertensive crisis among adult patients seen at emergency departments of district and regional hospitals in Tanzania. METHODS: This was a prospective multicenter longitudinal study which included all 162 district and regional hospitals in Tanzania. It was part of the Tanzania Emergency Care Capacity Survey (TECCS), a large assessment of burden of acute illness and emergency care capacity in Tanzania. Adult patients who presented to emergency departments with blood pressure ≥ 180/110mmHg were enrolled. Demographics, clinical presentation, management, and 24-hours outcomes were recorded using a structured case report form. Descriptive statistics were summarized in frequency and median, while logistic regression was used to evaluate the association between risk factors and presence of hypertensive crisis. RESULTS: We screened 2700 patients and enrolled 169 adults, henceforth proportion of adult patients with hypertensive crisis was 63 per 1000. Median age was 62 years (IQR 50-70 years) and predominantly females, 112 (66.3%). Majority 151(89.3%) were self-referred with two-wheel motorcycle being the commonest 46 (27.2%) mode of arrival to the hospital. Hypertensive emergency was found in over half 96 (56.8%) of the patients with hypertensive crisis, with oral medications administered in more than half of them, 71 (74%) as means to control the high blood pressure, and one-third 33 (34.4%) were discharged home. On multivariate analysis increasing age (AOR 4.53, p < 0.001), use of illicit drug (AOR 4.14, p-0.04) and pre-existing hypertension (AOR 8.1, p < 0.001) were independent risk factors for hypertensive crisis occurrence. CONCLUSION: Hypertensive crisis among adult patients attending district and regional hospitals is common (63 patients per every 1000 patients). Increasing age, use of illicit drug and pre-existing hypertension are independent associated factors for developing hypertensive crisis.

Prevalence of anaemia and associated factors among preterm infants at six weeks chronological age at Muhimbili National Hospital, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: a cross-sectional study.

Introduction: preterm infants are vulnerable to several medical complications including anaemia, a significant public health problem with consequences on neurodevelopment. This study looked at the magnitude of anaemia and its associated factors among preterm infants at 6 weeks chronological age in a paediatric clinic of Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH). Methods: this was a hospital based cross-sectional study conducted among preterm infants at 6 weeks chronological age attending follow-up clinic at MNH from October 2019 to March 2020. Parental interviews, medical records reviews and haemoglobin assessment was done during the clinic visits. Logistic regression was used to determine the association between studied factors and anaemia. Results: the proportion of preterm infants with anaemia at 6 weeks chronological age was 38.4% (142/370) with 74% of these infants having moderate anaemia. Morphological types of anaemia were normocytic (56.3%) and microcytic anaemia (4.9%). Two-thirds of preterm infants (62%) were on haematinics supplementation. Moderate preterm born at gestation age 32 to <34 weeks (OR=2.21, 95% CI 1.15-4.25, p=0.017), two or less phlebotomies (OR=2.3; 95% CI 1.23-4.30; P=0.010) and more than two phlebotomies (OR=7.2, 95% CI 3.62-14.16, p≤0.001) were significantly associated with anaemia. Conclusion: the proportion of preterm infants with anaemia at 6 weeks chronological age is high despite two-thirds being on haematinics supplementation. Moderate preterm and multiple phlebotomies significantly contributed to the occurrence of anaemia. Screening preterm infants for anaemia, appropriate management, and close follow-up are recommended to reduce its burden.

Late surgical ventricular septal defect closure in a low middle-income country setting: a case series.

BACKGROUND: Ventricular septal defect (VSD) is the commonest type of congenital heart lesion accounting for up to 40% of congenital heart defects. Well timed VSD closures are reported to yield excellent long-term outcomes. Late surgical VSD closures, particularly from the developing countries, are infrequently reported. CASE PRESENTATION: We report three cases of African children aged between 13 and 14 years who had late VSD presentations. They reported complaints of growth failure and recurrent respiratory infections since early infancy which necessitated frequent visits to primary health care facilities. They were found to have large ventricular septal defects by thoracic echocardiography. Diagnostic cardiac catheterization was done to all three patients to rule out irreversible pulmonary hypertension. After promising cardiac catheterization findings, they all underwent successful surgical VSD repair with good early outcomes. CONCLUSION: VSD surgical closure is ideal in children below 2 years, however, it can be done in children who present at advanced age despite being considered high risk patients. All three of our patients who presented late had successful surgical VSD repairs with promising immediate outcome. The role of genetics in the protection against developing irreversible pulmonary vascular disease in these patients is a possible area for future studies.

Patterns and Predictors of Timely Presentation and Outcomes of Polytrauma Patients Referred to the Emergency Department of a Tertiary Hospital in Tanzania.

Background: Polytrauma patients require special facilities to care for their injuries. In HICs, these patients are rapidly transferred from the scene or the first-health facility directly to a trauma center. However, in many LMICs, prehospital systems do not exist and there are long delays between arrivals at the first-health facility and the trauma center. We aimed to quantify the delay and determine the predictors of mortality among polytrauma patients. Methodology. We consecutively enrolled adult polytrauma patients (≥18 years) with ISS >15 referred to the Emergency Medicine Department of Muhimbili National Hospital, a major trauma center in Tanzania between August 2019 and January 2020. Based on a pilot study, the arrival of >6 hours after injury was considered a delay. The outcome of interest was factors associated with delayed presentation and the association of timeliness with 7-day mortality. Results: We enrolled 120 (4.5%) referred polytrauma adult patients. The median age was 30 years (IQR 25-39) and the ISS was 29 (IQR 24-34). The majority (85%) were males. While the median time from injury to first-health facility was 40 minutes (IQR 33-50), the median time from injury to arrival at EMD-MNH, was 377 minutes (IQR 314-469). Delayed presentation was noted in more than half (54.2%) of participants, with the odds of dying being 1.4 times higher in the delayed group (95% CI 0.3-5.6). Having a GCS <8 (AOR 16.3 (95% CI 3.1-86.3), hypoxia <92% (AOR 8.3 (95% CI 1.4-50.9), and hypotension <90 mmHg (R 7.3 (95% CI 1.6-33.6) were all independent predictors of mortality. Conclusion: The majority of polytrauma patients arrive at the tertiary facilities delayed for more than 6 hours and a distance of more than 8 km between facilities is associated with delay. Hypotension, hypoxia, and GCS of less than 8 are independent predictors of poor outcome. In the interim, there is a need to expedite the transfer of polytrauma patients to trauma care capable centers.

Predictors and outcome of cardiac arrest in paediatric patients presenting to emergency medicine department of tertiary hospitals in Tanzania.

BACKGROUND: The survival of children who suffer cardiac arrest is poor. This study aimed to determine the predictors and outcome of cardiac arrest in paediatric patients presenting to an emergency department of a tertiary hospital in Tanzania. METHODOLOGY: This was a prospective cohort study of paediatric patients > 1 month to ≤ 14 years presenting to Emergency Medicine Department of Muhimbili National Hospital (EMD) in Tanzania from September 2019 to January 2020 and triaged as Emergency and Priority. We enrolled consecutive patients during study periods where patients' demographic and clinical presentation, emergency interventions and outcome were recorded. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the predictors of cardiac arrest. RESULTS: We enrolled 481 patients, 294 (61.1%) were males, and the median age was 2 years [IQR 1-5 years]. Among studied patients, 38 (7.9%) developed cardiac arrest in the EMD, of whom 84.2% were ≤ 5 years. Referred patients were over-represented among those who had an arrest (84.2%). The majority 33 (86.8%) of those who developed cardiac arrest died. Compromised circulation on primary survey (OR 5.9 (95% CI 2.1-16.6)), bradycardia for age on arrival (OR 20.0 (CI 1.6-249.3)), hyperkalemia (OR 8.2 (95% CI 1.4-47.7)), elevated lactate levels > 2 mmol/L (OR 5.2 (95% CI 1.4-19.7)), oxygen therapy requirement (OR 5.9 (95% CI 1.3-26.1)) and intubation within the EMD (OR 4.8 (95% CI 1.3-17.6)) were independent predictors of cardiac arrest. CONCLUSION: Thirty-eight children developed cardiac arrest in the EMD, with a very high mortality. Those who arrested were more likely to present with signs of hypoxia, shock and acidosis, which suggest they were at later stage in their illness. Outcomes can be improved by strengthening the pre-referral care and providing timely critical management to prevent cardiac arrest.

Predictors and outcome of time to presentation among critically ill paediatric patients at Emergency Department of Muhimbili National Hospital, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

BACKGROUND: Mortality among under-five children in Tanzania remains high. While early presentation for treatment increases likelihood of survival, delays to care are common and factors causing delay to presentation among critically ill children are unknown. In this study delay was defined as presentation to the emergency department of tertially hospital i.e. Muhimbili National Hospital, more than 48 h from the onset of the index illness. METHODOLOGY: This was a prospective cohort study of critically ill children aged 28 days to 14 years attending emergency department at Muhimbili National Hospital in Tanzania from September 2019 to January 2020. We documented demographics, time to ED presentation, ED interventions and 30-day outcome. The primary outcome was the association of delay with mortality and secondary outcomes were predictors of delay among critically ill paediatric patients. Logistic regression and relative risk were calculated to measure the strength of the predictor and the relationship between delay and mortality respectively. RESULTS: We enrolled 440 (59.1%) critically ill children, their median age was 12 [IQR = 9-60] months and 63.9% were males. The median time to Emergency Department arrival was 3 days [IQR = 1-5] and more than half (56.6%) of critically ill children presented to Emergency Department in > 48 h whereby being an infant, self-referral and belonging to poor family were independent predictors of delay. Infants and those referred from other facilities had 2.4(95% CI 1.4-4.0) and 1.8(95% CI 1.1-2.8) times increased odds of presenting late to the Emergency Department respectively. The overall 30-day in-hospital mortality was 26.5% in which those who presented late were 1.3 more likely to die than those who presented early (RR = 1.3, CI: 0.9-1.9). Majority died > 24 h of Emergency Department arrival (P-value = 0.021). CONCLUSION: The risk of in-hospital mortality among children who presented to the ED later than 48 h after onset of illness was 1.3 times higher than for children who presented earlier than 48 h. It could be anywhere from 10% lower to 90% higher than the point estimate. However, the effect size was statistically not significant since the confidence interval included the null value Qualitative and time-motion studies are needed to evaluate the care pathway of critically ill pediatric patients to identify preventable delays in care.

Authorship representation in global emergency medicine: a bibliometric analysis from 2016 to 2020.

INTRODUCTION: High-income country (HIC) authors are disproportionately represented in authorship bylines compared with those affiliated with low and middle-income countries (LMICs) in global health research. An assessment of authorship representation in the global emergency medicine (GEM) literature is lacking but may inform equitable academic collaborations in this relatively new field. METHODS: We conducted a bibliometric analysis of original research articles reporting studies conducted in LMICs from the annual GEM Literature Review from 2016 to 2020. Data extracted included study topic, journal, study country(s) and region, country income classification, author order, country(s) of authors' affiliations and funding sources. We compared the proportion of authors affiliated with each income bracket using Χ2 analysis. We conducted logistic regression to identify factors associated with first or last authorship affiliated with the study country. RESULTS: There were 14 113 authors in 1751 articles. Nearly half (45.5%) of the articles reported work conducted in lower middle-income countries (MICs), 23.6% in upper MICs, 22.5% in low-income countries (LICs). Authors affiliated with HICs were most represented (40.7%); 26.4% were affiliated with lower MICs, 17.4% with upper MICs, 10.3% with LICs and 5.1% with mixed affiliations. Among single-country studies, those without any local authors (8.7%) were most common among those conducted in LICs (14.4%). Only 31.0% of first authors and 21.3% of last authors were affiliated with LIC study countries. Studies in upper MICs (adjusted OR (aOR) 3.6, 95% CI 2.46 to 5.26) and those funded by the study country (aOR 2.94, 95% CI 2.05 to 4.20) had greater odds of having a local first author. CONCLUSIONS: There were significant disparities in authorship representation. Authors affiliated with HICs more commonly occupied the most prominent authorship positions. Recognising and addressing power imbalances in international, collaborative emergency medicine (EM) research is warranted. Innovative methods are needed to increase funding opportunities and other support for EM researchers in LMICs, particularly in LICs.

Traumatic hemifacial avulsion and degloving injury: a case report.

Gross maxillofacial injuries are challenging to manage because they can be complicated by airway obstruction, injuries to the cervical spine, and cranial structures. Deformities from such injuries have lasting psychological effects which if not addressed can be devastating. We present a 21-year-old male motorcyclist who was involved in a motor traffic collision and sustained avulsion and degloving of the forehead skin, left eyebrow, left upper and lower eyelids, the nose, the left cheek and part of the right cheek, upper and lower lips, and the skin overlying the chin. His airway was compromised; hence rapid sequence intubation was done to secure it. Thereafter single-stage primary reconstruction and repair were done. A multidisciplinary team approach involving different specialties yielded good outcomes for this patient's condition.

Clinical profile and mortality among adult patients presenting with altered mental status to the emergency departments of a tertiary hospital in Tanzania: a descriptive cohort study.

Introduction: Altered mental status (AMS) in the Emergency Department (ED) can be associated with morbidity and mortality. In high income countries, mortality rate is under 10% for patients presenting with AMS. There is a paucity of data on the profile and mortality amongst this group of patients in limited income countries. Methods: this was a prospective cohort study of adults ≥18 years presenting to the Emergency Departments of Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH) Upanga and Mloganzila in Tanzania with Altered Mental Status (AMS) unrelated to psychiatric illness or trauma, from August 2019 to February 2020. Patient demographic data, clinical profile, disposition and 7-day outcome were recorded. The outcome of mortality was summarized using descriptive statistics. Results: among 26,125 patients presenting during the study period, 2,311 (8.9%) patients had AMS and after exclusion for trauma and psychiatric etiology, 226 (9.8%) patients were included. The median age was 56 years (43-69 years) and 127 (56.2%) were male. Confusion 88 (38.9%) was the most common presenting symptom. Hypertension 121 (53.5%) was the most frequent associated comorbidity. The overall mortality was 80 (35.4%) within 7 days. Of 173 patients admitted to the wards, 54 (31.2%) died and of the 46 (20.4%) admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU), 20 (43.5%) died within 7 days. Six (2.7%) patients died in the emergency department. Conclusion: patients with AMS presenting to two EDs in Tanzania have substantially higher mortality than reported from Hospital Incident Command System (HICS). This could be due to underlying disease, comorbidities or management. Further research could help identify individual etiologies involved and high risk groups which can cater to better understanding this population.

Colon perforation by foreign body insertion for sexual gratification: a case report.

Occurrence of retained rectal foreign bodies with bowel perforation resulting from auto-eroticism is rare among males in Africa. Embarrassment attached to this condition may delay or derail acquisition of information and management. A 30-year-old male presented with abdominal pain and constipation for 3 days. Abdominal X-rays revealed free air-stripes under both hemidiaphragms and in the peripherals, a 25cm x 5.9cm lucent foreign body on the left side with proximal tapering. There was no evidence of intestinal obstruction. This was consistent with bowel perforation secondary to foreign body introduction. Exploratory laparotomy was performed, a plastic bottle of 250mls was removed from the colon. Transverse repair of a 10cm laceration extending from the rectum to the sigmoid was done and a colostomy placed. A high index of suspicion, a systematic approach and a lower threshold for imaging studies were key to successful management and favorable outcomes of this patient.