Comparing adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes in adolescent versus adult mothers in Sub-Saharan Africa.

OBJECTIVE: Adolescent pregnancy is a major social and public health problem that burdens affected families, the communities and societies globally. It has been associated with a higher prevalence of adverse pregnancy outcomes compared to pregnancy in adults. To compare adverse pregnancy outcomes in adolescents (13-19 years) and those in adults (20 to 35 years) at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra, Ghana and investigate the associated factors among adolescents. METHODS: This comparative study involved 110 adolescents (13-19 years) and 220 adults (20 to 35 years) who delivered at the Maternity Unit of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital between November 2016 and February 2017. Participants were recruited using the convenience sampling method. After study protocol was explained to the parturient, informed voluntary consent and assent were obtained. Participants who met the inclusion criteria were recruited in the study. Sociodemographic characteristics, antenatal and delivery records; and maternal and perinatal outcomes were collected using an interviewer administered questionnaire and the participants' records. Data analysis was done using SPSS version 16.0. RESULTS: The prevalence of adolescent pregnancies during the study period was 5.1%. Compared to adults, adolescents were about 3 times more likely to have eclampsia although preeclampsia occurred more in adults. Adolescents that resided in sub-urban dwellings were more likely to have an adverse perinatal outcome compared to their adult counterparts. CONCLUSION: Our study found that, in addition to their socioeconomic and biophysical disadvantages, adolescents were likely to have exceptionally high risk of eclampsia.

A giant 25 litre volume ovarian cystic mucinous borderline ovarian tumour with intraepithelial carcinoma in a 24-year-old nulliparous woman: Case report.

INTRODUCTION AND IMPORTANCE: Giant ovarian cysts are rare and usually pose significant diagnostic challenges especially in adolescents and young adults. There is limited report of such cases reported in existing literature with hardly any cases published from the Sub-Sharan African region. CASE PRESENTATION: We present the case of a 24-year-old young woman who reported to our gynaecology clinic on the 23rd of January 2023 with a year's history of a progressively increasing abdominopelvic mass. She was successfully managed surgically and made smooth recovery. CLINICAL DISCUSSION: Based on the history and examination findings, confirmed the diagnosis clinically with abdomino-pelvic ultrasound scan, removed the tumour surgically and undertook histopathological studies to confirm a benign disease. To the best of our knowledge, our successful management of this patient is the first case of such a huge borderline ovarian tumour reported in Ghana and the Sub-Saharan African region to inform clinicians on safe surgical management in our context. CONCLUSION: Our successful management of this giant mucinous BOT reiterates the fact that in the absence of precise prognostic marker of malignancy, clinicians should always balance the oncologic safety of the patient against less radical treatment modality.

Venous thromboembolism risk and prophylaxis in hospitalized obstetric patients at a tertiary hospital in Accra, Ghana: A comparative cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of venous thromboembolism risk and thromboprophylaxis among obstetric inpatients, comparing prenatal and postnatal women. METHODS: We assessed 546 obstetric inpatients at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital for the prevalence study. Out of this number, 223 were recruited, comprising 111 prenatal and 112 postnatal mothers. A structured interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to obtain data on participants' venous thromboembolism risk, which was categorized into high, intermediate, and low using the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists guidelines. Data on thromboprophylaxis were also obtained and analyzed. Values were considered statistically significant at p < 0.05. RESULTS: Overall venous thromboembolism risk among the study population was 82/223 (36.8%). All patients at high risk were prenatal, 59/112 (52.7%) of postnatal mothers were at intermediate risk, compared with 20/111 (18.0%) of prenatal women (p < 0.001). Prevalence of thromboprophylaxis was 5/82 (6.1%). All prenatal high-risk patients received thromboprophylaxis, whereas only 2/20 (10.0%) of women with intermediate risk received thromboprophylaxis. The incidence of venous thromboembolism was 3/546 (0.6%) in the obstetric inpatients. CONCLUSION: Our study found a high prevalence of venous thromboembolism risk among obstetric inpatients at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital. However, thromboprophylaxis was low. Further research is needed to audit recent practice of thromboprophylaxis and perinatal outcome.