Epidemiological profile of cancer at the laboratory of anatomy and pathological cytology of mungbere in the Democratic Republic of Congo

INTRODUCTION

Cancer is the second leading cause of death worldwide, causing about 10 million deaths per year, 70 % of which occur in low- and middle-income countries. In the DRC, the absence of a national cancer registry is a handicap to the definition of a strategy to combat this disease. The purpose of this study is to establish an epidemiological profile of cancer in this laboratory in order to overcome this deficit in this part of the country.

METHODOLOGY

We conducted a descriptive study of 1636 histopathological analysis reports from 2015 to 2021 at the Anatomy and Pathological Cytology Laboratory of Anualite Hospital in Mungbere.

RESULTS

A total of 502 cases of cancer have been identified; female accounted for 51.4 % of cases; all age groups are affected; The most common cancers in both sexes are Kaposi's sarcoma (17.9 %), breast cancer (15.3 %), lymphoma (13.7 %), cervical cancer (9.6 %) and squamous cell carcinoma of the skin (9 %). In women, breast cancer (27.1 %), cervical cancer (18.6 %), Kaposi's sarcoma (10.1 %), lymphoma (7.4 %) and squamous cell carcinoma of the skin (5.8 %) and in men Kaposi's sarcoma (26.2 %), lymphoma (20.5 %), liver cancer (13.1 %)) and squamous cell carcinoma of the skin (12.3 %).

CONCLUSION

Cancer affects all age groups with a slight female predominance. The most common in both sexes are Kaposi's sarcoma, breast cancer, lymphoma, cervical cancer and squamous cell carcinoma of the skin. For an effective fight against cancer, the creation of a national cancer registry is an emergency in our country.

Correction: Stunting is not a synonym of malnutrition

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Do I need treatment? Insight and therapy adherence in a group of patients in treatment with aripiprazole long acting injectable

Introduction

Relapse prevention is one of the major goals in psychiatry because it will mark the prognosis and quality of life in patients. In this aspect, plays a very important role insight and adherence to treatment. Some studies show that long acting injectable treatments improve adherence as compared with oral medications.

Objective

The objective of this study is to analyse the degree of insight and adherence to treatment of a group of patients with aripiprazole long acting injectable ALAI treatment.

Methodology

Descriptive study in a group of patients treated with ALAI. Three months of follow-up. To assess the insight we had use the 3 first items of the Unawareness of Mental Disorder SUMD. Adherence to treatment is evaluated by monitoring if patients come to administrate ALAI.

Results

n = 6, 2 women (33.3%) and 4 men (66.7%). The mean age of the sample was 37 years. Diagnoses were 4 patients with psychotic disorder (66.7%;) 2 with bipolar disorder (33.3%). At the SUMD, mean score for the items consciousness of having a disorder and awareness of the effects of medication was 3, and for the item awareness of the social consequences of mental disorder 4. The mean score for the total punctuation was 10. Five (83.3%) had a 100% of adherence, just 1 patient discontinued de treatment on the third month.

Conclusions

On our sample adherence, it was almost complete in all patients. To highlight the scores for SUMD which means low insight. A large sample is required to increase the reliability of the study.

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Isokinetic muscle strengthening after acquired cerebral damage: a literature review

OBJECTIVE

Isokinetic strengthening is a rehabilitation technique rarely used in stroke patients. However, the potential benefits of force and endurance training in this population are strongly suspected.

METHOD

This literature review synthesizes the results of clinical trials on this topic. The research was conducted on PubMed, using "Stroke", "rehabilitation", "isokinetic", "upper limb" and "training" as keywords.

RESULTS

Seventeen studies focusing on the use of isokinetics in assessment or rehabilitation (six studies) following stroke were reviewed. For the lower limb, muscle strength and walking ability improved after isokinetic rehabilitation programs. For the upper limb, the only two studies found in the literature suggest improvement in the strength of the trained muscles, of grip force, of the Fugl-Meyer motor score and of global functional capacities. This review does not reveal any consensus on the protocols to be implemented: type of muscle contraction, velocities….

CONCLUSION

While isokinetic strengthening has not proven its efficiency in rehabilitation of the upper limb following stroke, its interest with regard to rehabilitation of the lower limbs has been recognized. Randomized controlled trials in this field are necessary to confirm its efficiency, especially concerning upper arm rehabilitation.

Reproducibility of isokinetic peak torque assessments of the hip flexor and extensor muscles

OBJECTIVES

Isokinetic assessment is currently the reference method for measuring dynamic muscle strength. We have sought to evaluate the reproducibility over time of isokinetic testing of the hip flexor (FI) and extensor (Ext) muscles and to establish whether there is a significant difference in peak torque (PT) between the left and right hips.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Ten adults were tested once a week for 3 weeks by the same investigator and according to the same protocol, with two velocities (60 degrees /s and 180 degrees /s) for the hip FI and Ext in concentric tests and one velocity (30 degrees /s) for the Ext only in eccentric tests. The reproducibility of the measured PT was analyzed by using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and a Bland and Altman plot. The difference in PT between the right and left hips was tested using Student's T test.

RESULTS

The ICC for the observed PT values revealed very good reproducibility (with a value of between 0.75 and 0.96) for the hip FI and Ext measurements (regardless of the body side, test velocity or contraction mode). We did not observe any significant PT differences between the right and left hips.

CONCLUSION

The isokinetic assessment of the concentric and eccentric PT values generated by the hip FI and Ext is highly reproducible. There is no difference between dominant and nondominant body sides, which enables the use of the contralateral limb as a reference.

[Extension reserve of the hip in relation to the spine: Comparative study of two radiographic methods]

SUMMARY

Free-hip movement is necessary for good spinal function. Limitation generally affects extension. The range of hip extension from the standing position can be considered as the hip's "extension reserve". The amplitude of this reserve must be known because any deficit requires a pathological solicitation of the vertebral column. Measurement of the extension reserve of the hip is useful for analyzing spinal disease and for preoperative planning. Physical examination can measure extension, but cannot differentiate movement produced by the hip from that originating in the spine. We have been unable to locate any radiographic method in the literature. The purpose of this study was to evaluate radiographic measurements and to propose a novel method. The study was conducted with 37 patients with spinal disease. Two radiographic methods were compared. Four lateral views, including the lumbar spine, the pelvis and the femur were obtained in each patient: neutral position, retroversion of the pelvis and extension of each hip in lunge position. The X-rays were digitalized for computer processing. The extension reserve of the hip was calculated for each radiographic method. Extension reserve was defined as the difference in the pelvis-femoral angle between the neutral position and extension. There was a positive correlation between the two methods (p<0.0006; p<0.0009). Mean extension using the pelvis retroversion method was 1.8 degrees +/-6.77; with the hip-extension method, it was hip I (side with the superior value): 15.9 degrees +/-6.57; hip II 10.0 degrees +/-7.89. The pelvis-retroversion method gave a lower measurement compared with the lunge position method (p<0.0001). For 13 of 37 subjects (35%), this method gave negative values, that is, failure of the measurement method. The method of hip extension in lunge position was superior to the pelvis-retroversion method, which gave lower measurements that were often incoherent and unable to provide specific information for each hip. The method using the lunge position for hip extension appears to be preferable. We are currently conducting a clinical trial to include extension reserve in the analysis of sagittal balance and for determining curvature corrections. We propose a mathematical formula using extension reserve for determining sagittal correction. Radiographic determination of extension reserve of the hip joint is of major importance for assessing spinal disease in addition to its contribution to the analysis of hip and pelvic disease. The methods presented here enable radiographic measurement of the extension reserve of the hip.

Influence of Socioeconomic Status on the Prevalence of Stunted Growth and Obesity in Prepubertal Indonesian Children

This cross-sectional study assesses the prevalence of stunting, overweight, and obesity in prepubertal children from different socioeconomic groups in Indonesia. Children from rural, poor urban, and nonpoor urban communities were studied ( n = 3,010). The prevalences of stunting, wasting, overweight, and obesity were 19.3%, 5.0%, 2.7%, and 0.8%, respectively. The odds ratios (OR) for stunting, as compared with nonpoor urban children, were higher among rural children (2.92; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.37–3.59) than among poor urban children (1.58; 95% CI, 1.18–2.13). The prevalence of wasting was not influenced by socioeconomic status. Both rural and poor urban children were significantly less likely to be overweight than were nonpoor urban children: in comparison with nonpoor urban children, the OR values were 0.19 (95% CI, 0.10–0.36) for rural and 0.13 (95% CI, 0.04–0.43) for poor urban children. Boys were more likely to be stunted or obese than girls: OR for stunting, 1.75 (95% CI, 1.44–2.12); OR for obesity, 4.07 (95% CI, 1.40–11.8). Stunted children were less likely than non-stunted children to be overweight: OR, 0.10 (95% CI, 0.03–0.43). In Indonesia, undernutrition is still related to poverty, whereas obesity is more related to prosperity.

Hydrogenolysis and One-Electron Reduction of Alkoxy Sulfones

The readily available 1-t-butoxyalkyl sulfones were converted by hydride reduction into alkyl t-butyl ethers. Reductive coupling with sodium metal or amalgam in an aprotic solvent led to glycol bis-1,2-O-t-butyl ethers. Polyethers such as 18-crown-6 can be synthesized by this procedure.