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Peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) is a relatively rare cardiac disease that manifests in the final stage of pregnancy and in the first months after delivery in women with no preexisting heart disease. Many etiological processes have been suggested: viral myocarditis, abnormal immune response to pregnancy, excessive prolactin excretion, prolonged tocolysis and a familiar predisposition to PPCM. Its diagnosis is often delayed because its symptoms, which include fatigue, dyspnea and palpitations are nonspecific. For this reason the diagnosis of PPCM is still made by exclusion of other etiologies. The long-term prognosis, once the acute phase is over, is a function of myocardial damage, this varies from complete functional recovery to chronic HF. The outcome of PPCM is highly variable with an alevated risk of fetomaternal morbidity and mortality. We report a serious case of a 40 years old female with biamniotic bicorionic twin pregnancy (PMA) who delivered by caesarean section and developed acute PPCM on post-operative. Symptoms occurred two hours after an intramuscular injection of two vials of methylergonovine the same day of cesarean delivery. These manifested in sudden tachypnoe, tachycardia and the appearance itchy maculopapular rash on her chest. On further evaluation, ECHO revealed cardiomegaly with reduced ejection fraction (< 15%). The case was successfully managed by a multidisciplinary team, using drugs like levosimendan and cabergoline, which rapresent emerging strategy in this clinical context.

Aim: To examine the relationship between the levels of HbA1c and hospital admission rates.Methods: We recorded HbA1c levels of all diabetic patients in Tripoli University Hospital over one year.Results: The mean HbA1c was 8.03%, with no difference between males and females. Over half of patients (56.5%) were admitted through their diabetes was well-controlled. Over half of the patients with type 1 diabetes (57/102, 55.9%) had a high HbA1c at admission compared to 42.1% of patients with type 2, who were mainly admitted with HbA1c level within the acceptable range set for this study. The HbA1c level was positively and significantly correlated with the length of hospital stay (R = 0.93, p = 0.000), and was significantly associated with hyperglycemia, diabetic ketoacidosis, coronary artery disease, limb ischemia, cataract, osteomyelitis, and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis.Conclusion: HbA1c is correlated significantly with hospitalization in type 1 diabetes but not in type 2.

We describe successful percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) of significantly diseased ostial left main (LM) and distal LM bifurcation (Medina 1,1,1) in a patient with a reduced left ventricular ejection fraction and a recent valve-in-valve balloon-expandable TAVR using the DK-Crush technique with the support of a percutaneous left ventricular assist device.

Background: End-Stage Kidney Disease and its maintenance hemodialysis treatment force patients to make several lifestyle changes to cope with this debilitating illness. These changes often trigger the onset of notable psychological distress and depressive symptoms. Furthermore, these negative psychological experiences can undermine the effectiveness of the treatment and consequently worsening the health and quality of life of patients. Objective: The study assessed the psychological well-being among hemodialysis patients in Kumasi Metropolis. Further, it explored the relationship between these psychosocial factors and demographic characteristics.Materials and Methods: 30 hemodialysis patients were recruited from two dialysis units in Kumasi, Ghana. Participants were aged 18 and above and had been on hemodialysis treatment for more than three months. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale (HADS) was used to assess depression and anxiety whiles the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support was used to assess perceived social support of participants. Results: The majority of respondents were males (60%), relative to females. The study revealed that 80% were severely depressed, 20% met the criteria for severe anxiety.  Some participants reported moderate social support 53.3%; perceived social support being inversely correlated with both depression (r = 0.41; n = 30; p < 0.05) and anxiety (r = -0.59; n = 30; p < 0.05). Income levels were inversely correlated with depression (r = -0.41, n = 30; p < 0.05). Conclusion: Findings of the study suggest that the psychological wellbeing of hemodialysis patients is compromised. Social support appears to alleviate depression and anxiety. Implications for patient treatment are discussed.

Introduction: In the present study we evaluated and compared RBC parameters, iron status, and ferritin for discriminating between patients with iron deficiency anemia and anemia of chronic disease. Anemia that accompanies infection, inflammation, and cancer, is commonly termed anemia of chronic disease (ACD). Methods: We compared the ability of serum ferritin concentration, using the microplate immunoenzymometric assay method with other, more traditional indicators of iron status like total iron binding capacity [TIBC], mean corpuscular volume [MCV], percent transferrin saturation [%TS], RBC distribution width [RDW], and serum iron concentration [SIC]. The ferritin concentration was determined in 80 serum samples selected from men and women above the age of 18 years. The patients were assigned to IDA and ACD groups based on serum ferritin concentration.Observation: By studying the ROC Curve for various red cell parameters for the diagnosis of IDA and ACD, we found that diagnostic accuracy of various indicators was as follows TIBC>TS%>MCV>MCH>SI>MCHC for anemia of chronic diseases, and TIBC>MCH>MCV>MCHC>TS%>SI for iron deficiency anemia. When both the value of AUCs (Area under Curve) of ROC were compared it is apparent that TIBC, TS%, MCV, and MCH are important discriminating factors between IDA and ACD. Conclusion: Conventional laboratory parameters play an important role in distinguishing overt causes of IDA and ACD. MCV, MCH, and TIBC were found to be (p -value < .05) significantly discriminated against IDA and ACD. Serum ferritin is an important diagnostic tool with reasonable accuracy for the detection and differentiation of iron deficiency anemia and anemia of chronic disease.

In our study, we aimed to show that alternative iron salts containing different additives are safe to use in patients who have type 1 hypersensitivity reactions to iron drugs and need iron replacement therapy.Materials and methods: Between January 2022 and June 2022, patients who had previously developed type 1 hypersensitivity reactions with iron preparations and needed iron replacement were included in the study. The study was designed retrospectively. Skin tests were first performed on patients to demonstrate a type 1 hypersensitivity reaction. If skin tests were negative and there was no history of life-threatening anaphylaxis, oral provocation tests were continued. If the absence of variability in symptoms and perimeter values, the drug allergy test was considered negative. Results: Twenty-two patients were included in the study. Twenty-one of the patients were female and one was male. Iron deficiency anemia was found in nine patients, and low iron stores in thirteen patients without anemia were found. Type 1 hypersensitivity reaction developed with Iron 3 Carboxymaltose in 7 patients, Iron 2 Sulfate in 5 patients, Iron 2 Glycine in 4 patients, Iron 3 Hydroxy Polymaltose in 4 patients, Iron 2 Fumarate in 1 patient and Iron 3 Hydroxide Sucrose in 1 patient. Allergy tests with all alternative iron drugs containing additional additives were negative.Conclusion: If patients with allergic reactions cannot be referred to allergy clinics, we think that oral iron salts with different additives can be used after the first dose is given in the hospital under general anaphylaxis precautions. We show that oral iron salts containing different additives can be safely used.

Background: Children with congenital heart diseases (CHD) often require palliative or definitive surgical heart interventions to restore cardiopulmonary function. Lack of early cardiac intervention contributes to large numbers of potentially preventable deaths and sufferings among children with such conditions. Objectives: The aim of this study was to highlight our experience and the importance of international and regional collaboration for open heart surgery in children with CHD and capacity building of local cardiac teams in Bayelsa and Enugu States. Methodology: In November 2016, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed by the managements of FMC, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, UNTH, Enugu and an Italian-based NGO- Pobic Open Heart International for collaboration in the area of free open heart surgery for children with CHDs and training of local cardiac teams from both institutions either in Nigeria or in Italy. Patients for the program were recruited from Bayelsa and Enugu States with referrals from all over the country with combined screening and selection done in UNTH. Selected patients were operated on and funded free of charge by the Italian NGO. Hands on training of the local cardiac teams and cardiac intervention was done twice yearly in Nigeria. Result: From inception of the program in November, 2016 to May, 2019 a total of 47 children (21 Males, 26 Females; age range 6 months to 14 years) with various types of congenital heart defects had free open heart surgery from the program with 41 surgeries done in UNTH & 6 in Italy (complex pathologies). Also, home cardiac teams from UNTH and FMC, Yenagoa gained from on-site capacity training & retraining from the Italian cardiac team both in Nigeria and in Italy. The Success rate was 95.7% (44) and Case Fatality rate was 4.3% (2). Conclusion: There is a great efficacy in early cardiac intervention. This is with respect to a high success rate and minimal Case Fatality seen in this study. This was achieved through Regional and international collaboration.

Background: Down syndrome (DS), or Trisomy 21, is the most common genetic disorder in the world and congenital heart disease (CHD) contributes significantly to morbidity and mortality in this population. Early diagnosis and prompt cardiac intervention improve their quality of life. This study was done to determine the prevalence and pattern of congenital heart disease among children with Down syndrome seen at the Paediatric Cardiology Unit of Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Bayelsa State.Method: A prospective study of children with Down syndrome referred for cardiac evaluation and echocardiography at the Paediatric Cardiology Unit of FMC, Bayelsa State over four years from 1st January 2016 to 30th December 2019. Data on socio-demographic information, echocardiographic diagnosis, and outcome were retrieved from the study proforma and analyzed.Results: A total of 24 children with Down syndrome were seen over the study period. Their age ranged from 0 to 16years. The majority, 20 (83.3%) of the children with Down syndrome were aged 5 years and below. There were 13 males and 11 females with a male to female ratio of 1.2:1. A total of 23 (95.8%) of the children with Down syndrome had CHD. The most common CHD was AVSD (including complete, partial, isolated, or in association with other defects) in 66.6% followed by TOF in 8.3%. Multiple CHDs were seen in 43.5% of the children. Only one child (4.2%) had a structurally normal heart on echocardiography. All the children with Down syndrome had pericardial effusion of varying severity while 33% had pulmonary artery hypertension (PAH). The fatality rate among the children seen with Down syndrome over the study period was 34.8% and only one child (4.2%) had open-heart surgery with the total repair of cardiac defect during the study period. Conclusion: Morbidity and mortality are high among children with Down syndrome due to the high prevalence of CHD. Early referral, diagnosis, and prompt intervention are encouraged.

Cardiac angiosarcomas are rare malignant neoplasms with an aggressive clinical course. These are characterized by the absence of specific clinical findings, rapid growth with frequent metastasis at the time of diagnosis, correlated with poor prognosis, and reduced response to treatment. But with early diagnosis, more possibilities for treatment and survival can be provided. We report the case of a young woman diagnosed with right atrial angiosarcoma locally advanced with bone metastases detected by 18F-FDG PET/CT, which revealed distant disease extent at diagnosis, consequently, chemotherapy was started.

Pseudofungus structures in lymph node tissues have been reported on multiple occasions. Despite a variety of investigative tests including histochemical special stains and energy dispersive spectral analysis, the underlying nature and origin of these pseudofungus structures has never been clearly defined. The most common hypothesis suggests that they represent collagen fibers that become coated with iron and calcium. Herein, evidence is given that the pseudofungus structures identified in the lymph node tissues represent fragments of polyurethane catheters. The evidence includes both a comparison of these pseudofungus structures to fragments of polyurethane well documented in the literature and a comparison of polyurethane catheter scrapings to the pseudofungus structures identified in the literature. In both of these comparisons, the morphology of the polyurethane fragments are identical to the pseudofungus structures. This is the first definitive report identifying polyurethane catheter fragments as representing the true nature and etiology of pseudofungus structures in lymph node tissues.