Coagulation disturbance can be quite detrimental to health, whether as a primary disorder or secondary to other medical conditions. The risk of thrombosis has been previously reported in breast cancer. This case- control study purposively enrolled 50 newly diagnosed female breast cancer patients. Quick's One-stage method was used for prothrombin time (PT) and activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) tests, while fibrin plate lysis method was used for euglobulin lysis time (ELT) assessment. Data analysis was carried out on statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 20.0. A p-value ≤ 0.05 was considered significant. Mean values of PT, APTT and ELT of newly diagnosed breast cancer patients were compared to values from control subjects. The ELT was significantly prolonged in the breast cancer patients compared to that of controls (p = 0.001). These measured parameters were further compared within the breast cancer group on the basis of hours of immobility per day into three categories (<3 hours, 3-6 hours and >6 hours). Subjects with more than 6 hours of immobility Subjects with more than 6 hours of immobility per day had significantly prolonged ELT compared to those with lesser hours of immobility. This study concludes that fibrinolytic challenge exists in breast cancer prior to commencement of treatment particularly among patients with increasing immobility.
Introduction: Although viremia has been greatly addressed in the management of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection by the advancement in antiretroviral therapy, not all HIV-associated morbidities have been resolved. Observations of increased cardiovascular risk in relation to antiretroviral therapy have been reported. Full blood count continues to be useful in disease management, and efforts are directed towards optimising its utility in medical practice. Derivatives of blood cell counts have in recent times proved to be informative with regards to the inflammatory-thrombotic cycle. The utility of these derived parameters in HIV within the study locality is worth exploring. Methods: This single-site study was carried out at University of Calabar Teaching Hospital in Calabar, Cross River State of Nigeria. White blood cell and platelet counts were carried out by automation, while blood cell ratios were calculated. Statistical analysis of data was done using SPSS 22.0. A p-value of ≤ 0.05 was considered to infer a statistically significant difference. Results: Significant reductions of white blood cell parameters were recorded in HIV, particularly among infected persons on antiretroviral therapy. Platelet count and plateletcrit were significantly lower, while mean platelet volume and platelet distribution width were higher in newly diagnosed persons compared to HIV-infected subjects on therapy and control subjects. Platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio was significantly higher among subjects on therapy compared to the rest of the groups. Conclusion: Increase in platelet count following antiretroviral therapy could be posing a risk of platelet-driven morbidities as typified in the observed elevated thrombotic marker.
Breast tumour could be benign or malignant in nature, thus early detection is of the essence for good management outcome. Associated morbidity and mortality in relation to breast cancer, in particular, are of great concern. Among the different challenges in the management of breast cancer, cytopenia is commonly reported, while, associated blood transfusion dependence has received little attention. This study, therefore, looked into the features of breast cancer patients particularly with regards to disease staging and average blood transfusion needs. This cross-sectional descriptive study enrolled 46 female patients accessing medical care for breast tumour in Southern Nigeria. Bio-data and information on clinical assessment were obtained from patients’ case files. Blood sample was collected from each enrolled subject for assessment of carcinoembryonic antigen level by immunochromatographic assay method. Breast tumour was observed to be prevalent among women of reproductive age with a peak at the age range of 36-45 years. Majority of the cases (82.6 %) turned out to be malignant, while 17.4% were benign conditions. Advanced stage 4 cases accounted for 47.4% of the studied group. Increasing prevalence of mortality during therapy was recorded alongside advancement in age as well as stage of the cancer. The carcinoembryonic antigen level varied significantly across the various breast cancer stages. Stage 4 breast cancer showed significantly elevated mean value compared to both stages 1 and 2. There is prevailing late detection of breast cancer in the Nigerian population contributing to high mortality rate and more demands on blood transfusion.
Surgical operations constitute an integral part of medical management of different health challenges. Developing countries suffer from under-reporting of health conditions even when such conditions are fairly common in occurrence. This study observed common surgical cases with a view to highlighting possible associations with gender. A retrospective cross-sectional descriptive approach was adopted. A total of 626 cases presenting for surgical review between a two-year periods from September 2020 to August 2022 at University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Calabar in Nigeria were reviewed. Data analysis to test for gender association was carried out using chi-square analysis on SPSS 22.0 at 95% confidence level with p-value of ≤ 0.05. The highest frequency of 56% was recorded for breast tumour. This was followed by hernia and goitre which accounted for 20% and 15 of surgical cases respectively. Lesser frequencies were observed for lipoma (4%), appendicitis (2%) and fistula (2%). The least among the commonly observed cases was testicular torsion which was recorded to be 1%. Breast tumour and goitre were significantly higher in females compared to males, while hernia was seen to be significantly higher in males compared to females. Testicular torsion occurred solely in males. This study concludes that significant gender associations exist in the distribution of surgical cases at the study centre. While female preponderance was observed for breast tumour and goitre cases, hernia was prevalent among the males.
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