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[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1186/s12878-019-0138-3.].
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Background: Even though the incidences of hematologic malignancies have received considerable attentions globally, there is paucity of information on patterns of hematologic malignancy in Eritrea. The study was conducted to determine the distribution of various hematologic malignancies among patients who have received bone marrow examination, in the Eritrean National Health Laboratory. Methods: A retrospective descriptive study design was used to determine the patterns of Hematologic malignancies diagnosed at the Eritrean National Health Laboratory from October 2015 to July 2017. Results: Out of 207 patients who did bone marrow aspiration 52 patients were hematologic malignancy cases. The male to female ratio was 1:1. The age of the patients ranged from 2 to 80 years. Of the 52 patients 19, were less than 20 years of age and the remaining 33 were 20 years and above. Acute leukemia was the most common hematologic malignancy in the study area. It affected 18 of the cases followed by chronic myelogenous leukemia, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, myelodysplastic syndromes, multiple myeloma, and myeloprofilerative neoplasms. The presenting signs and symptoms in their decreasing frequency were generalized body weakness/fatigue, splenomegaly, fever, anemia, and lymphadenopathy. More than two-third of the patients had total leukocyte count greater than 10,000/µl. Conclusion: This study shows that hematologic malignancies are not uncommon in Eritrea.
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BACKGROUND: Hydrochlorothiazide is not known to cause hearing disorder. The Eritrean Pharmacovigilance Centre, however, has received cases of hearing disorder, including irreversible deafness, associated with hydrochlorothiazide. The aim of this study is, therefore, to assess the causal relationship between hydrochlorothiazide and hearing disorder. METHODS: Data was retrieved from the WHO global adverse drug reaction database, VigiBase™. A search on VigiBase™ was made on August 6, 2017 using "hydrochlorothiazide" as drug substance, and "ototoxicity", "decreased hearing", and "vestibular disorder" as reaction terms. Cases were retrieved using VigiLyze™ and exported to an Excel spreadsheet for descriptive analysis. Causality was assessed using Austin Bradford-Hill criteria and labeledness of the reaction was evaluated through a thorough literature review including the summary of product characteristics. RESULTS: From 1972 to August 2017, 94 cases of hearing disorder associated with hydrochlorothiazide were submitted from 18 countries to VigiBase™. The median age was 64 years with almost equal male to female ratio. In 53.2% of the cases, hydrochlorothiazide was reported as the only suspected drug. Of these, 26 cases encountered hearing disorder following the sole intake of hydrochlorothiazide. Reaction was marked as "serious" in 36% of the cases and median time to reaction onset was 3 days. Outcome was reported as reversible in 66.7% of the cases. Reaction resolved in 17 cases following withdrawal of hydrochlorothiazide and recurred in one case after subsequent rechallenge with the product. Consistency of cases and a dose-response relationship was also observed in this case series. CONCLUSIONS: This case series assessment found a suggestive causal relationship between hydrochlorothiazide and hearing disorder. Taking the inherent limitations of this study into account, results should be interpreted with caution and further studies are required to validate the safety signal.