Reasons for requesting removal of the hormonal implant, Implanon NXT, at an urban reproductive health clinic in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

BACKGROUND: The contraceptive implant, Implanon NXT, was introduced in South Africa (SA) in 2014 and, although it offers multiple advantages, users may request to have it removed early for several reasons. The number of insertions of Implanon NXT has declined in SA and there have been concerns about early removals. OBJECTIVES: To gain an understanding of patterns of Implanon NXT use, reasons for requesting removal and duration of use at the time of requesting removal. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study conducted at an urban public-sector reproductive health clinic in the eThekwini District of KwaZulu-Natal, SA. A total of 120 women ≥18 years of age requesting removal of Implanon NXT completed an interviewer-administered questionnaire that probed experiences of use and reasons for removal. Data were collected electronically on Wits REDCap (Research Electronic Data Capture) and analysed using Stata 14 (StataCorp, USA). The study was conducted from 2017 to 2018. RESULTS: A total of 120 women were interviewed. Their mean age was 28 (range 19 - 44) years and most women (n=103; 85.8%) had completed secondary school. The majority were black (n=115; 95.8%) and unmarried (n=102; 85%). Implants had been inserted primarily by nurses (n=110; 91.7%) at public-sector clinics (n=91; 75.8%). Three-quarters of the women (n=91; 75.8%) requested removal of Implanon NXT because it had reached the intended 3-year duration. Reasons for early removal were mainly due to side-effects, e.g. bleeding problems (n=19; 15.8%), weight gain (n=7; 5.8%), loss of libido (n=2; 1.7%), headaches (n=5; 4.2%), dizziness (n=4; 3.3%) and pain/numbness in the arm (n=2; 1.7%). Just more than half (57.1%) of the women who had received the implant for the intended 3-year duration had requested reinsertion of Implanon NXT. CONCLUSIONS: The main reason for requesting removal was that Implanon NXT had reached its intended 3-year duration, and more than half of the women requested reinsertion of the device following removal. Implanon NXT is a highly effective, safe, acceptable, long-acting contraceptive and important in the SA contraceptive method mix.

Changes to the World Health Organization guideline on hormonal contraceptive eligibility for women at high risk of HIV: South African perspective and response.

The World Health Organization (WHO) published guidelines for hormonal contraceptive eligibility for women at high risk of HIV in March 2017. This guidance followed from a technical consultative meeting convened by the WHO in December 2016, where all the available evidence on hormonal contraceptives and risk of HIV acquisition was reviewed. This was an expert meeting with representation from global experts in family planning and HIV management, including clinicians, epidemiologists, researchers and civil society. The guideline development group, through a consensus, made recommendations to change the medical eligibility criteria for contraceptive use from category 1 to category 2 for progestogen-only injectable contraceptives among women at high risk of HIV. There was no change in the recommendation for all other methods of hormonal contraception. The data that informed this decision are from observational studies, which have limitations; therefore, causality or association of hormonal contraception and risk of HIV acquisition have not been proven. This guidance will have an impact on countries that have a high HIV disease burden and where progestogen-only injectable contraceptives are the highest used, as in South Africa (SA). The information has to be communicated in line with the WHO's sexual and reproductive health rights principles of ensuring that all women should receive evidence-based recommendations. This will empower them to make informed choices about their reproductive needs. This article seeks to clarify the decision-making process of the WHO and how the new recommendations were formulated. It also gives SA's response to the guidance and a perspective of what informed the National Department of Health's position, taking into account the effect this will have on SA's contraceptive guidelines.

Development of a test grid using Eye Movement Perimetry for screening glaucomatous visual field defects.

BACKGROUND: Eye Movement Perimetry (EMP) uses Saccadic Eye Movement (SEM) responses for visual field evaluation. Previous studies have demonstrated significant delay in initiation of SEMs among glaucoma patients in comparison with healthy subjects. The aim of the current study was to develop an EMP-based screening grid to identify glaucomatous visual field defects. METHODS: An interactive test consisting of 36 locations and two stimulus contrasts (162 cd/m2 and 190 cd/m2 on a background of 140 cd/m2) was evaluated in 54 healthy subjects and 50 primary glaucoma patients. Each subject was presented a central fixation target combined with the random projection of Goldmann size III peripheral targets. Instructions were given to look at each peripheral target on detection and then re-fixate at the central fixation target while the saccades were assessed using an eye tracker. From each seen peripheral target, the Saccadic Reaction Time (SRT) was calculated for contrast level 162 cd/ m2. These values were used to plot Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves for each test locations and the Area Under the Curve (AUC) values were used to identify the locations with highest susceptibility to glaucomatous damage. Each stimulus location with an AUC less than 0.75 along with its mirrored test location around the horizontal axis were eliminated from the grid. RESULTS: The mean age was 48.1 ± 16.6 years and 50.0 ± 14.5 years for healthy subjects and glaucoma patients respectively. A significant increase of SRT values by 76.5% (p < 0.001) was found in glaucoma patients in comparison with the healthy subjects. From the ROC analysis, ten out of 36 locations meeting the cut-off criteria of AUC were eliminated resulting in a new grid containing 26 test locations. SRT values were significantly different (p < 0.05) between the healthy subjects and glaucoma irrespective of the grids used. CONCLUSIONS: The present study resulted in a screening grid consisting of 26 locations predominantly testing nasal, superior and inferior areas of the visual field. An internal validation of the modified grid showed 90.4% of screening accuracy which makes it a potential approach for population based glaucoma screening.

Synthesis and Characterisation of Nanocomposites of TiO2 and MgAl2O4 for Gas Sensing Applications.

In this study, a conventional mixed oxide method was used to prepare nanocomposites of titanium dioxide and magnesium aluminate samples. The synthesis process of a low concentration of posttransition metal oxide like TiO2 with pre-transition metal oxides like MgO and Al2O3 and its gas sensing behaviour were investigated. The present work focuses on applying different nanocomposite samples of (TiO2) x and MgAl2O4 (at x = 0 magnesium aluminate namely MA; x = 0°25 and 0.75 N namely MAT0.25 and MAT0.75 at 4 and 10 wt% of TiO2 in MgAl2O4 respectively and TiO2 namely T) for gas sensing applications (O2, CO and H2 gases). The composite samples were characterized by their X-ray diffraction pattern, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, a particle size analyzer, X-ray fluorescent spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, ultraviolet visible spectroscopy, and Brunauer­Emmett­Teller methods. The response to changes in gas pressure (from 0.5 to 2 bar) was quantitatively studied in all samples (MA, MAT0.25, MAT0.75 and T) at different operating temperatures from 300 to 600 K. All samples showed a fast and improved gas response at different operating temperatures. Moreover, it was observed that the gas response of the composite sample, MAT0.75 increased by 11% more than the pure titanium sample at an operating temperature of 360 K, on the passage of O2 gas.

Mechanisms of vascular preservation by a novel NO donor following rat carotid artery intimal injury.

We studied the effects of a novel organic nitric oxide (NO) donor, 4-hydroxymethyl-furazan-3-carboxylic acid-2-oxide (CAS-1609), in a rat carotid artery intimal injury model. The NO donor, CAS-1609, or its non-NO-donating control compound, 4-hydroxymethyl-furazan-3-carboxylic acid (C-93-4845), was infused intravenously at 30 micrograms/day. Seven days after injury, carotid artery rings contracted only 56 +/- 6 mg to NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester in C-93-4845-treated rats, compared with 120 +/- 17 mg in CAS-1609-treated rats (P < 0.02), indicating a preservation of endogenous NO release. Improved responses to the endothelium-dependent dilator, acetylcholine, also occurred in injured arteries treated with CAS-1609. Morphometric analysis of injured carotid arteries given the inactive compound showed marked intimal thickening with an intimal-to-medial ratio (I/M) of 0.76 +/- 0.02, compared with a significantly lower I/M of 0.32 +/- 0.04 (P < 0.01) in injured carotid arteries given CAS-1609. Additionally, CAS-1609 was found to have a concentration-dependent stimulatory effect on cultured rat aortic endothelial cell proliferation (P < 0.01) but and inhibitory effect on platelet-derived growth factor-BB (10 ng/ml)-stimulated rat aortic smooth muscle cell proliferation (P < 0.01). This is the first study to demonstrate that NO plays a dual role in vascular cell proliferation, stimulating endothelial cells but inhibiting smooth muscle cell proliferation. This dual effect of NO on cell proliferation is associated with an in vivo reduction in neointimal thickening and an acceleration of endothelial recovery determined by both anatomic and functional methods.