Effects of self-management education on clinical outcomes of adults with rheumatic heart disease: A quasi-experimental study.

As the burden of rheumatic heart disease (RHD) increases in Ethiopia, there is a growing need for low-cost interventions to mitigate its impact. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of chronic disease self-management education (CDSME) on clinical outcomes, depression, and anxiety among patients with RHD. A quasi-experimental study was deployed among 166 patients with RHD at Jimma Medical Center between April and July 2024. A multi-component CDSME was endured for four consecutive months. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 25.0. Systolic blood pressure decreased from 131.31 mmHg (SD±15.68) at pre-education to 113.77 mmHg (SD±20.98) at post-education (t- 12.251, p<0.001). Diastolic blood pressure decreased from 94.87 mmHg (SD±19.41) pre-education to 79.28 mmHg (SD±9.33) post-education (t-12.306, p<0.001). Hemoglobin level changed from 11.97 g/dl (SD±1.99) to 13.84 g/dl (SD±1.37) after the intervention (t -11.96, p < 0.001). Similarly, hospital depression subscale decreased from 11.93 (SD±3.43) to 9.48 (SD±3.67) (t - 8.37, p < 0.001) post intervention. Regarding the hospital anxiety subscale, the mean score before education program was 8.59 (SD±2.91) and decreased to 7.30 (SD±1.97) (t -6.44, p < 0.001) after education. This intervention is simple, cost-effective, and has the potential to be scaled up and implemented in the current healthcare system in Ethiopia.

Hypereosinophilic syndrome with cardiac and cutaneous involvement: Missed treatment opportunity of a case from Ethiopia.

Understand the importance of considering alternative diagnosis in patients presenting with atypical features. Understand the importance of considering common presentations of rare cases. Underscoring the critical importance of timely recognition and appropriate management of potentially life-threatening condition.

Prevalence of abnormal electrocardiographic findings and associated factors among patients with epilepsy at Jimma Medical Center, Ethiopia; Hospital-based cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: A person with epilepsy experiences recurrent seizures as a result of a persistent underlying disorder. About 50 million people globally are impacted by it, with 4 million of those being in Sub-Saharan Africa. One of the most frequent comorbidities that raise the mortality and morbidity rates of epileptic patients is abnormal Electrocardiographic (ECG) findings. Thus, the purpose of this study is to evaluate the prevalence of abnormal ECG findings in epileptic patients that might lead to increased risk of sudden cardiac death. METHODOLOGY: A hospital based cross-sectional study was at Jimma Medical Center of Ethiopia on epileptic patients who were on follow-up at neurologic clinics during the data collection period. The malignant ECG characteristics and was identified using the ECG abnormality tool. To facilitate analysis, the gathered data was imported into Epidata version 3.1 and exported to the SPSS version 26. The factors of abnormal ECG and sudden death risk were examined using bivariate logistic regression. RESULTS: The study comprised 190 epileptic patients, with a mean age of 32 years. There were more men than women, making up 60.2%. A 43.2% (n = 80) frequency of ECG abnormalities was identified. According to the study, early repolarization abnormalities were the most common ECG abnormalities and increased with male sex and the length of time a person had seizures (AOR) of 4.751 and 95% CI (.273,.933), p = 0.029, compared to their female counterparts. CONCLUSION: The frequency of malignant ECG alterations in epileptic patients on follow-up at Jimma Medical Center in Ethiopia is described in the study. According to the study, there were significant ECG alterations in epileptic individuals. Male gender and longer duration of epilepsy raise the risk of abnormal ECG findings that could result in sudden cardiac death.

Echocardiographic Parameters and Complication Profiles Among Adult Patients with Rheumatic Heart Disease at Jimma Medical Center.

Background: Despite the fact that patients with rheumatic heart disease (RHD) need early medical attention and follow-up, most patients in developing countries tend to present with debilitating complications. The objective of this study was to evaluate the echocardiographic features of adult individuals diagnosed with RHD and examine the associated complications among patients who started follow-up at Jimma Medical Center's (JMC) cardiac follow-up clinic. Methods: A prospective cross-sectional study was conducted at JMC between January 5 and April 15, 2023. Echocardiographic patterns were taken by senior cardiologists; socio-demographic variables, anthropometric measurements, and behavioral factors were collected through a structured questioner. Results: The study recruited a total of 115 participants, of whom 86 (74.8%) were female and 29 (25.2%) were male. The mean age of the patients was 32.31 (SD± 12.16) years. The mitral valve was affected in 98.26% of cases, while the aortic and tricuspid valve abnormalities were diagnosed in 49.5% and 21.7%, respectively. The most frequent combinations of valve lesions were mitral regurgitation (MR) + mitral stenosis (MS) + aortic regurgitation (AR) (15.7%), followed by MR + AR + TR (8.7%). The occurrence of MR+MS+AR was higher in females (17.4%) compared to males (10.3%), whereas the occurrence of MS+MR was higher in males (24.1%) compared to females (20.9%). Females have a severely reduced ejection fraction compared to males (84.8% vs 15.2%, P = 0.044). Nearly two-thirds (63.5%) of individuals experienced RHD-related complications; the most commonly encountered complications were pulmonary hypertension (26.1%) and atrial fibrillation (19.1%). Conclusion: RHD predominantly affects individuals in their active and productive years, particularly females. Most patients have multiple-valve lesions.

Author Correction: Treatment response and predictors in patients with newly diagnosed epilepsy in Ethiopia: a retrospective cohort study.

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

Treatment response and predictors in patients with newly diagnosed epilepsy in Ethiopia: a retrospective cohort study.

Epilepsy is a chronic neurological disease with a variable therapeutic response. To design effective treatment strategies for epilepsy, it is important to understand treatment responses and predictive factors. However, limited data are available in Africa, including Ethiopia. The aim of this study was therefore to assess treatment response and identify prognostic predictors among patients with epilepsy at Jimma university medical center, Ethiopia. We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 404 newly diagnosed adult epilepsy patients receiving antiepileptic treatment between May 2010 and May 2015. Demographic, clinical, and outcome data were collected for all patients with a minimum follow-up of two years. Cox proportional hazards model was used to identify predictors of poor seizure remission. Overall, 261 (64.6%) of the patients achieved seizure remission for at least one year. High number of pre-treatment seizures (adjusted hazard ratios (AHR) = 0.64, 95% CI: 0.49-0.83) and poor adherence (AHR = 0.57, 95% CI: 0.44-0.75) were significant predictors of poor seizure remission. In conclusion, our study showed that only about two-thirds of patients had achieved seizure remission. The high number of pre-treatment seizures and non-adherence to antiepileptic medications were predictors of poor seizure remission. Patients with these characteristics should be given special attention.