Background: Making prognosis and identifying the patients at higher risk of mortality are important issues in breast cancer (BC) treatment. The aim of this study was to stratify BC case receiving mastectomy into prognostic risk categories using the Nottingham Prognostic Index (NPI).Methods: This was a retrospective review from January 2002 to December 2014 Results: Approximately 35% of all BCs diagnosed in our institution had undergone mastectomy. The mean age was 51.9 years. The mean size of...
Background: There is paucity of published data on head and neck tumours (HNTs) in Ghana, even the few studies available were conducted in the middle and southern belts of the country. The present study in northern Ghana, was conducted to study the histopathological characteristics of HNTs and offer recommendations. Methods: This retrospective study analysed HNTs for the past 10 years at the Tamale Teaching Hospital in northern Ghana. Results: There were 576 HNTs, with 66.0% benign and 34.0% m...
Background: Primary malignant orbito-ocular tumours (OOTs) frequently affect the younger age groups. Though mostly curable, they are a major cause of morbidity and even mortality in developing countries. The aim of this review was to describe the spectrum and clinico-pathological features of primary malignant OOTs in northern Ghana. Material and Methods: This study was a retrospective histopathological review from 1st June, 2013 – 30th June, 2019. Data were analysed using SPSS version 23 (S...
Background: More recently, contraception has been increasingly studied with regards to adolescent reproductive health. This study sought to investigate the knowledge, attitudes and perceptions of adolescents on contraception in the Bongo District. Material and methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study using structured questionnaires. Data was analysed using SPSS software (version 20) at two levels: gender and education. Results: The average age of first intercourse was 15.8 and 15...
Galactocele is a non-neoplastic cystic breast lesion found commonly in postpartum or lactating women.It may mimic neoplastic lesion because of the timing of its occurrence and or the clinicopathological changes in the affected breast tissue. It may thus pose a diagnostic challenge to clinicians in the absence of advanced imaging technology and histopathological examination. We present a 30-year-old woman para 7(5 alive, 2 dead) from the northern region of Ghana with an ulcerated giant galacto...
Background: Post-transfusion malaria in children under five years is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. The RDTs currently are used to supplement microscopy in the diagnosis of malaria in many endemic countries. However their efficiency as a screening tool for the detection of malaria in donors or in transfusion recipients has not been well evaluated. This study aimed to determine the efficiency of malaria RDT in the detection of post transfusion malaria. Material and methods:...
Background: Malignancies of the thyroid gland are common in certain parts of the world. In Ghana there are no available data on the trends and gender characteristics of thyroid malignancies (TMs). The aim of this retrospective study was to determine the trends and gender characteristics of TMs in the Department of Pathology. Keywords: Thyroid malignancies; Trends; Gender characteristics; Ghana Introduction Malignancies of the thyroid gland are relatively rare neoplasms worldwide, accounting f...
ABSTRACT Published data on GIT cancers in Northern Ghana is scanty. The aim of this review was to document the spectrum and the clinico-pathological characteristics of GIT cancers diagnosed in northern Ghana as a baseline data. Material and Methods: This was a histopathological review (n = 238) from 1st January, 2013 to 31st December, 2020. Data were analysed using SPSS software, version 26.0 (Chicago). Fisher’s exact test with a significance level of 0.05 was performed using GraphPad Prism...
Background. Follicular thyroid cancer (FTC) has historically been linked to iodine deficiency. Although Ghana is among the iodine deficient regions of the world, the proportions, trends, and the clinical features of FTCs have not been studied as a single disease entity. The aim of this study was to determine the relative frequencies, trends, and the clinicopathological characteristics of FTCs among all thyroid malignancies in our institution. Materials and Methods. This was a retrospective st...
Abstract/Overview A study of patterns and trends of malaria morbidity was conducted in Kericho district in Kenya western highlands prone to occurrences of malaria epidemics. Kericho district supports small scale and large scale tea farming, sugarcane, horticulture, maize, wheat, potatoes, beans and vegetables besides livestock keeping. Results has shown that malaria hospitalization cases grew by 111.13% and 109.52% per annum in 1988-2002 and 1998-2005 respectively. Hospital records in the...
Abstract/Overview Background: Cervical cancer, a common cause of death among women, is attributable to human papilloma virus (HPV). Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection can potentially alter the incidence of cervical cancer. Prophylactic HPV vaccines are a major advance against cervical cancer. Epidemiological research on HPV and cervical cancer is therefore justified. Objective: To determine the impact of HIV and HPV co-infection on the HPV genotype distribution and cervical lesi...
Abstract/Overview Schistosomiasis is caused by parasitic trematodes. Individuals can accumulate hundreds of intravascular worms, which secrete a myriad of antigenic molecules into the bloodstream. Some of these molecules suppress immunity to microbial Toll-like receptor (TLR) ligands, such as lipopolysaccharides, which may increase host susceptibility to coinfecting pathogens. We show that schistosomiasis is associated with extremely high levels of endotoxemia as well as high mobility gro...
Abstract Monkeypox is a DNA virus that belongs to the orthopox virus family with two distinct clades known as West African and Congo Basin. This virus was initially discovered in crab-eating Macaques in 1958 and in 1970s it spread among people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Initially, there were several outbreaks of the disease reported in Africa and other regions of the world. The simultaneous spread in 19 countries in 2022 prompted severe worries. The monkeypox virus is closely r...
Abstract The global food security and plant resources levels are continuously under threat from climate change, environmental pollution, population pressure, co-evolving plant pests and pathogens. Currently, scientists across the world are in pursuit of plant genotypes that can be resilient in growth and development amidst these stresses to enable survival of humans in the changing times. Therefore, to effectively select plants that have known and favorable resistance or tolerance levels aga...
Abstract Zoonotic diseases, such as brucellosis, Q fever and Rift Valley fever (RVF) caused by Brucella spp., Coxiella burnetii and RVF virus, respectively, can have devastating effects on human, livestock, and wildlife health and cause economic hardship due to morbidity and mortality in livestock. Coinfection with multiple pathogens can lead to more severe disease outcomes and altered transmission dynamics. These three pathogens can alter host immune responses likely leading to increased mo...