Beneficial effect of isoniazid preventive therapy and antiretroviral therapy on the incidence of tuberculosis in people living with HIV in Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: IPT with or without concomitant administration of ART is a proven intervention to prevent tuberculosis among PLHIV. However, there are few data on the routine implementation of this intervention and its effectiveness in settings with limited resources. OBJECTIVES: To measure the level of uptake and effectiveness of IPT in reducing tuberculosis incidence in a cohort of PLHIV enrolled into HIV care between 2007 and 2010 in five hospitals in southern Ethiopia. METHODS: A retrospective cohort analysis of electronic patient database was done. The independent effects of no intervention, "IPT-only," "IPT-before-ART," "IPT-and-ART started simultaneously," "ART-only," and "IPT-after-ART" on TB incidence were measured. Cox-proportional hazards regression was used to assess association of treatment categories with TB incidence. RESULTS: Of 7,097 patients, 867 were excluded because they were transferred-in; a further 823 (12%) were excluded from the study because they were either identified to have TB through screening (292 patients) or were on TB treatment (531). Among the remaining 5,407 patients observed, IPT had been initiated for 39% of eligible patients. Children, male sex, advanced disease, and those in Pre-ART were less likely to be initiated on IPT. The overall TB incidence was 2.6 per 100 person-years. As compared to those with no intervention, use of "IPT-only" (aHR = 0.36, 95% CI = 0.19-0.66) and "ART-only" (aHR = 0.32, 95% CI = 0.24-0.43) were associated with significant reduction in TB incidence rate. Combining ART and IPT had a more profound effect. Starting IPT-before-ART (aHR = 0.18, 95% CI = 0.08-0.42) or simultaneously with ART (aHR = 0.20, 95% CI = 0.10-0.42) provided further reduction of TB at ∼ 80%. CONCLUSIONS: IPT was found to be effective in reducing TB incidence, independently and with concomitant ART, under programme conditions in resource-limited settings. The level of IPT provision and effectiveness in reducing TB was encouraging in the study setting. Scaling up and strengthening IPT service in addition to ART can have beneficial effect in reducing TB burden among PLHIV in settings with high TB/HIV burden.

Meniscal repair using the inside-out suture technique.

Operations to treat meniscal injuries rank among the most frequent procedures performed by orthopedic surgeons. Ongoing research into the natural history, basic science, and biomechanics of meniscal injury has highlighted the importance of preserving the meniscus to maintain normal knee biomechanics and function. The arthroscopic inside-out suture repair is currently the gold standard by which other meniscal repair techniques are judged. Although it is difficult to identify meniscal tears amenable to repair preoperatively, an assessment of patient factors and tear characteristics on the basis of magnetic resonance imaging and intraoperative findings will aid the decision to excise or repair. For successful repair the meniscal tear must have appropriate location and characteristics, without evidence of fraying or degeneration. Repair with the arthroscopic inside-out method affords anatomic reduction of the meniscus tear and allows stimulation of circulation, factors which contribute to healing of the repair. Coupled with careful dissection and needle placement, this method minimizes complications associated with meniscus repair.