Ghana Medical Journal

A tailgut cyst is a rare congenital lesion that develops from a residual posterior remnant of the intestine and presents as a mass in the presacral space. They are generally asymptomatic or have atypical symptoms, are usually benign but may rarely become malignant. We report a case of a 37-year-old female who initially presented to the Surgical Department of Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra, Ghana with a malignant tailgut cyst after having repeated surgical procedures for recurrent perianal infective pathologies but still had persistence of symptoms...

Amputation of the penis is a rare and devastating injury. The etiologies vary from accidental, self-inflicted to attacks due to sexual jealousy and revenge. In the present era of microvascular surgery, replantation is the standard care. However, replantation of the penis comes with its own set of difficulties and complications. Knowledge of the anatomy and prior knowledge of the possible complications makes the surgeon aware of the course of events after a replantation. It helps in devising strategies to overcome these challenges methodically...

Objective: To describe how seizure severity in children with epilepsy may be affected by certain socio-demographic and clinical variables. Design: A cross-sectional study. Setting: At the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital, Bauchi, Nigeria. Participants: Sixty children and adolescents who were being followed up for seizure disorder at the child neurology clinic. Intervention: Information on socio-demographic characteristics was obtained with a questionnaire, details of neurological co-morbidities were extracted from the participants' records, and seizure severity was assessed with the National Hospital Seizure Severity Score 3 tool...

Objective: This study assessed the coping strategies of Nigerian medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Design: We conducted an online descriptive cross-sectional study among medical and dental students attending three of the largest Colleges of Medicine in the Southwestern zone of Nigeria. Settings: Our study involved students across the pre-clinical and clinical levels of the three Colleges of Medicine. Participants: We selected the respondents through a purposive sampling technique and disseminated questionnaires applied using an online survey platform (Google forms https://forms...

Objective: To document the epidemiological, clinical characteristics, believed triggers and associated behaviour in hair greying. Design: A community based cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in February 2020 following ethical approval and written informed consent from participants. All participants were clinically evaluated for hair greying, its pattern and location on the scalp. Socio-demographic data were documented. Data was entered and analyzed using the IBM statistics software version 22...

Objective: To determine the Computed Tomography (CT) patterns of intracranial infarcts. Design: A retrospective cross-sectional study. Setting: The CT scan unit of the Radiology Department, Cape Coast Teaching Hospital (CCTH), from February 2017 to February 2021. Participants: One thousand, one hundred and twenty-five patients with non-contrast head CT scan diagnosis of ischaemic strokes, consecutively selected over the study period without any exclusions...

Tumour thrombus is the presence of tumour cells in great vessels. The reported incidence of tumour thrombus in thyroid carcinoma is about 0.2-3.8%. Being asymptomatic, detection of tumour thrombosis clinically is difficult. We present the report of internal jugular vein (IJV) tumour thrombosis in a known follicular thyroid carcinoma patient, detected with multimodality imaging. Grayscale ultrasound scan of the neck showed a well-defined, bi-lobed (2.4 x 1.5) cm, intraluminal solid lesion with homogeneous echotexture within the distal left IJV close to its confluence with the ipsilateral subclavian vein...

Polycythaemia vera (PV) is a rare myeloproliferative neoplasm characterized primarily by erythrocytosis and an increased risk of thrombosis. We report a case of PV in a 60-year-old female with diabetes mellitus (DM) and a past history of recurrent abdominal pain and documented oesophageal varices who was followed up for 2 years as a case of non-cirrhotic portal hypertension of unknown cause. PV was only diagnosed after persistent complaints of vaso-motor symptoms and better scrutiny of full blood count results...

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among male patients with hypertension and its associated demographic, clinical and psychosocial factors. Design: This was a facility-based cross-sectional study. Setting: This study was carried out at the outpatient department in Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital. Participants: Three hundred and fifty-eight hypertensive patients were recruited for this study...

Objective: This study determined the occurrence and distribution of Extended Spectrum β-Lactamase (ESBL) genotypes of E. coli isolates in Ho Teaching Hospital, Ghana. Design: A cross-sectional study. Setting: A single centre study was conducted at Ho Teaching Hospital of Ghana. Participants: Patients who visited Ho Teaching Hospital Laboratory with the request for culture and susceptibility testing. Main outcome measure: Escherichia coli were isolated, and Extended-Spectrum β-Lactamase genes were detected...

Objective: To determine causes of visual impairment (VI) among staff of the Eye Centre at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital. Design: This was a cross-sectional study. Setting: The Eye Centre, Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH), from October 2016 to March 2017 on all consenting members of staff. Participants: Eighty-four (79.3%) of 106 consenting staff members participated in this study. Data collection/Intervention: A detailed history (demographic, ocular, medical co-morbid conditions), ocular examination and relevant diagnostic investigations were conducted...

Objectives: To describe the importance of Health clubs in Asthma management in Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki, Ebonyi state. Design: a cross-sectional qualitative study using focus group discussions (FGD) and Key informant interviews (KII). Setting: the study was conducted from June to July 2019 at the Pulmonology Unit, Department of Pediatrics, Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki, a tertiary health facility in Ebonyi State, Nigeria...

Objectives: The study evaluated pre and post-operative perception and aversion to caesarean delivery (CD) among men whose partners underwent the procedure. Design: A multicentre cross-sectional study. Setting: Two tertiary and two secondary health facilities. Participants: Men whose partners underwent CD at the study sites. Methods: Participants were recruited by purposive sampling, data collection was through interaction via an interviewer-administered questionnaire first immediately the decision for CD was made and thereafter on the third postoperative day...

Bacground: Microbial Identification was done by phenotypic methods. VITEK-2 and Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) are now being increasingly used in laboratories. Objectives: To compare and evaluate the usefulness of MALDI-TOF MS and VITEK-2 in routine microbial identification. Methods: The performances of MALDI-TOF MS and VITEK 2 were compared for identifying microorganisms. Results: MALDI- TOF MS and VITEK-2 correctly identified 96 % (96/100) and 97% (97/100) of the isolates upto the genus level...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Herpes Zoster Ophthalmicus (HZO) usually affects the immunocompromised and aged. It results from the reactivation of latent varicella zoster infection in the trigeminal ganglia. Orbital apex syndrome (OAS) is a rare sequela of the disease and tends to be disfiguring and vision-threatening if not addressed. We report on a 43-year-old Ghanaian female living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus infection and on highly active antiretroviral therapy who presented with a 2-month history of a healed vesicular rash left side of the forehead and a droopy left upper eyelid...

Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a fatal disease with high perioperative morbidity and mortality. Endovascular AAA repair (EVAR) is associated with remarkable improvement in the morbidity, mortality and length of hospital stay relative to open operative repair. We report a 79-year-old man with epigastric pain, which was diagnosed to be due to AAA on a computerised tomography angiogram (CTA). His only risk factor was hypertension. He had endovascular repair in 2018, the first-ever in Ghana and West Africa...

Objectives: This study assessed and compared the risk factors for falls among older adults in rural and urban communities. Design: A comparative cross-sectional approach was used. Setting: The study was conducted among community-living older adults in the rural and urban communities of the most populated Local Government Area (Ado-Ekiti LGA) in Ekiti State. Participants: The study population consisted of 624 persons aged 65 years and above recruited into rural and urban groups using multi-stage random sampling...

Objective: This study examined whether the open-defecation (OD) free target is achievable by 2030. Design: Longitudinal study. Setting: Seven sub-Districts of Kintampo North Municipal, and five sub-Districts of Kintampo South District. Data source: Kintampo health and demographic surveillance system. Participants: Data was collected from household heads or their representatives over a 12-year period from 2005 to 2016...

Objectives: To assess the prevalence and predictors of non-adherence to clinic appointments in adult patients with poorly controlled hypertension. Design: A descriptive cross-sectional study. Setting: A primary care setting (family medicine clinic) overseen by family physicians in Kano, Nigeria. Participants: Two hundred and thirty-four randomly selected patients, aged ≥ 18 years with a diagnosis of hypertension, who had been on treatment for ≥1 year and had a current blood pressure of ≥140/90 mmHg were included...