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Despite the rising burden of fungal infections across the globe, the World Health Organization's efforts remained questionable in fungal infection-related projects. Most of the developing countries consequently lost focus on the need for assessment and establishment of national surveillance set up or advanced technology hubs against mycological infections. The current study aimed to the determination of the local burden of cutaneous fungal infections in 2019-2021. Among 497 suspected fungal cultures, 22.5% depicted fungal growth. Among males, the prevalence of dermatomycosis was 0.75 times higher than in females. Penicillium species followed by Epidermophyton and Candida species were common among subjects of < 30 years of age. The Aspergillus spp, Penicillium spp, mucormycosis agents, and Candida albicans infections were more common among subjects 30 to 60 years of age. Aspergillus species were more commonly observed among patients > 60 of age. 22.2% of the fungal infections were Penicillium species, 9% of the infections were Aspergillus species, followed by 4.4% of Epidermophyton, mucormycosis, Candida species, and Candida albicans respectively. There is an urgent need for the establishment of national policy for the prevention of fungal disease.

The success of vaginal birth after cesarean section (VBAC) has been correlated with a variety of maternal characteristics such as age, ethnicity, and body mass index (BMI, calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared). The patient’s BMI just prior to delivery has been shown to be a better prognostic indicator of success than pre-pregnancy BMI. Gestational weight gain was previously associated with a decreased rate of successful VBAC. More recent research has not supported such an association. The objective of our study was to further validate these findings with a larger population. We performed a retrospective cohort study of women undergoing trial of labor after cesarean (TOLAC) at our institution from January 2010 to December 2019. Women were divided into three groups based on weight gain in pregnancy as compared to the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) recommendations (i.e. < 25 pounds (lbs), 25-35 lbs, > 35 lbs). We further subdivided the pregnancies between term and preterm deliveries. The primary outcome was a successful VBAC. Of 1087 patients attempting a TOLAC, 772 (71%) were successful and 315 (29%) failed VBAC. When grouped according to ACOG weight gain recommendations, 303 (31%) women were below ACOG guidelines, 318 (33%) met guidelines, and 339 (35%) exceeded guidelines. There was no difference in the rate of VBAC success among the three groups. When counseling patients, providers should still promote healthy dietary habits but should not correlate excess weight gain with chance of TOLAC success.

Nocardia is a ubiquitous organism and often causes serious fatal infections in immuno-compromised individuals. Staphylococcus aureus infection stimulates an inflammatory response that causes lung damage and facilitates subsequent chronic infection. Patients of allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) on steroids and immunosuppressants are particularly at risk of these infections. We present the case of a middle-aged man who was diagnosed to have ABPA by serological and radiographic criteria. He presented with fever, cough, and mucopurulent sputum. Subsequent sputum culture for bacteria and fungus revealed the growth of Staphylococcus aureus and Nocardia spp. respectively.

Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) by definition is a disease characterized by irreversible elimination of renal function, which keeps propagating as corroborated by an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) of < 60 ml/min/1.73m2, the constant existence of presentation which pointed to Kidney injury (proteinuria, active sediments of urine, histological injury, structural aberrations or prior history with regards to Kidney transplantation) or both that are persistent for greaterthan 3 mths [1].

Being one of the basic principles of clinical research, informed consent is definitely a legal responsibility and ethical duty for health professionals.

Background: Neonatal Near-miss is defined as complications of neonates so severe as to be imminently life-threatening but survived due to chance or treatment. The number of neonates who survived morbidities were approximately 3 to 6 times greater than those who died. There was little evidence about neonatal near miss in Ethiopia. This study attempted to identify the determinants of neonatal near miss among neonates admitted to the Ambo University Referral Hospital and Ambo General Hospital. Methods: Hospital-based quantitative unmatched case-control study was conducted at the Ambo University Referral Hospital and Ambo General Hospital from March 1 to 28, 2019. The respondents, 134 cases and 268 controls were recruited by simple random technique. Data were coded, entered and cleaned in EpiInfo version 7 and exported to SPSS. Both Bivariable and multivariable logistic regression was computed at 95% CI and the final model was checked by Hosmer and Lemeshow goodness -of-fit test. Multi collinearity and cofounders were not detected. Result: Multivariate analysis showed that distance more than 15km away from health facilities [AOR=2.11, 95% CI: (1.09, 4.095)], Unwanted, and unplanned current pregnancy [AOR=3.71, 95% CI: (1.28, 10.79)], less than four Antenatal care visit [AOR=6.55, 95% CI: (3.07, 13.98)], Instrumental delivery [AOR=4.62, 95% CI: (1.78, 11.98)] were positively associated with Neonatal Near Miss. Whereas Term Neonates [AOR= 87%, 95% CI: (0.05, 0.32)], and Normal birth weight [AOR=91%, 95% CI: (0.03, 0.28)] were negatively associated with Neonatal Near Miss. Conclusion: Distance from health facilities, Antenatal care visit, current pregnancy type, birth weight, gestational age and mode of delivery were determinants of Neonatal Near Miss. Therefore, providing adequate Antenatal services, health education and training is needed to improve neonatal health.

Background: Glomerular hyperfiltration (GH) is a common feature of sickle cell nephropathy (SCN) starting at infancy and represents an early marker of incipient glomerular injury and renal dysfunction. Methods: This study aimed to determine the prevalence and correlates of GH among children (≤ 16 years) with sickle cell disease (SCD) at their steady state, recruited over 6 months at the Pediatric Outpatient Clinic in Al-Sadaqa General Teaching Hospital, Aden, Yemen. Glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was estimated using the Schwartz formula. Data on clinical history, anthropometry, blood pressure (BP) and laboratory investigations were collected. Results: Of 101 children (mean age 7.2 ± 3.9 years), 65 (64.4%) were males. The prevalence of GH was observed in 36 (35.6%) children, who were significantly older (10.7 ± 3.2 vs. 5.2 ± 2.7 years, p < 0.001) and had a lower fetal Hb level (5 ± 3.3 vs. 9 ± 7.1, p = 0.02). All children were normotensive, but hyperfiltrating children showed significantly higher systolic (97.2 ± 7.3 vs. 89.7 ± 5.2 mmHg) and diastolic pressure (55.1 ± 5.0 vs. 49 ± 4.3 mmHg) (all p < 0.001). Among evaluated children, 25.7% had hyperfiltration alone, whereas 9.9% had an associated microalbuminuria (MA), and no significant difference in eGFR between those with and without MA (158.4 ± 33.7 vs. 160.7 ± 29.8 ml/min/173m2, p = 0.84). Conclusion: This study demonstrated a relatively high prevalence of GH in Yemeni children with SCD that increased with age. Recognition of hyperfiltration and other early markers of nephropathy in this population could help to develop renal protective strategies to prevent progressive loss of kidney function.

Coronary artery aneurysm is an uncommon condition defined as abnormal dilatation of the coronary artery.We report the case of a man admitted to the Emergency Department for suspected intestinal obstruction. At abdominal/thoracic Computed Tomography (CT) it was reported a suspected pericardial cyst. Contrast echocardiography showed a clear pattern of blood flow inside the mass with a probable origin at a very limited region where it was also possible to sample an ECG-synchronized system-diastolic Pulse-Wave (PW)-Doppler pattern, typical for a coronary artery flow. Our suspicion of a giant coronary artery aneurysm was then confirmed by coronary CT and coronary angiography. The patient was transferred to a Cardiac Surgery center where he underwent surgical treatment for the aneurysm.Most coronary aneurysms are clinically silent and are often incidentally detected. Coronary angiography is the ‘‘gold standard’’ for diagnosis and evaluation of coronary artery aneurysms. Among non-invasive diagnostic techniques, Computed Tomography Coronary Angiography is the best method for coronary artery anatomy and coronary abnormalities. However, echocardiography with the use of a contrast agent, a cost-effective non-radiation nature, and a widespread use method, maybe a reliable method to detect and characterize the masses, allowing a differential diagnosis.Learning objective1.    Recognition and evaluation of cardiac masses require first-line imaging methods such as echocardiography.2.    The use of additional non-invasive (cardiac CT or MRI) and/or invasive imaging methods are often required. 3.    Contrast echocardiography may be helpful, as second-line imaging methods, to better characterize the mass and approach the correct diagnosis.

Introduction: Solitary fibrous tumor is a neoplasm of mesenchymal origin with benign and malignant forms. We aimed to present a case of solitary fibrous tumor which developed in a patient operated for laryngeal cancer and originated from diaphragm in the light of the literature. Case report: A 61-year-old male patient with tracheostomy with an undiagnosed lesion that appears to be almost 10 cm was referred to our clinic. Since it was a large volume mass, we chose to perform a thoracotomy over thorachoscopic approach. Discussion: Although solitary fibrous tumors most commonly occur in the pleura but may also originated from diaphragm, and our case is valuable that originates from diaphragmatic since there are less than 5 reported cases in literature for past two decades. Conclusion: Even in the case of recurrence, the main treatment remains as total surgical excision. Solitary fibrous tumors are usually detected because of compression symptoms. That is the main reason why we chose thoracotomy.

Objective: To investigate the value of machine learning and traditional Cox regression models in predicting postoperative survivorship in patients with adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction (AEG).Methods: This study analyzed clinicopathological data from 203 patients. The Cox proportional risk model and four machine learning models were constructed and internally validated. ROC curves, calibration curves, and clinical decision curves (DCA) were generated. Model performance was assessed using the area under the curve (AUC), while calibration curves determined the fit and clinical significance of the model.Results: The AUC values of the 3-year survival in the validation set for the Cox regression model, extreme gradient boosting, random forest, support vector machine, and multilayer perceptron were 0.870, 0.901, 0.791, 0.832, and 0.725, respectively. The AUC values of 5-year survival in the validation set for each model were 0.915, 0.916, 0.758, 0.905, and 0.737, respectively. The internal validation AUC values for the four machine learning models, extreme gradient boosting, random forest, support vector machine, and multilayer perceptron, were 0.818, 0.772, 0.804, and 0.745, respectively.Conclusion: Compared with Cox regression models, machine learning models do not need to satisfy the assumption of equal proportionality or linear regression models, can include more influencing variables, and have good prediction performance for 3-year and 5-year survival rates of AEG patients, among which, XGBoost models are the most stable and have significantly better prediction performance than other machine learning methods and are practical and reliable.