Impact and burden of sickle cell disease in critically ill obstetric patients in a high dependency unit in Sierra Leone-a registry based evaluation.

INTRODUCTION: Sickle cell disease (SCD) in pregnancy is associated with worse maternal and neonatal outcomes. There is limited available data describing the burden and outcomes of critically ill obstetric patients affected by SCD in low-income settings. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to define SCD burden and impact on mortality in critically-ill obstetric patients admitted to an urban referral hospital in Sierra Leone. We hypothesized that SCD burden is high and independently associated with increased mortality. METHODS: We performed a registry-based cross-sectional study from March 2020 to December 2021 in the high-dependency unit (HDU) of Princess Christian Maternity Hospital PCMH, Freetown. Primary endpoints were the proportion of patients identified in the SCD group and HDU mortality. Secondary endpoints included frequency of maternal direct obstetric complications (MDOCs) and the maternal early obstetric warning score (MEOWS). RESULTS: Out of a total of 497 patients, 25 (5.5%) qualified to be included in the SCD group. MEOWS on admission was not different between patients with and without SCD and SCD patients had also less frequently reported MDOCs. Yet, crude HDU mortality in the SCD group was 36%, compared to 9.5% in the non SCD group (P < 0.01), with an independent association between SCD group exposure and mortality when accounting for severity on admission (hazard ratio 3.40; 95%CI 1.57-7.39; P = 0.002). Patients with SCD had a tendency to longer HDU length of stay. CONCLUSIONS: One out of twenty patients accessing a HDU in Sierra Leone fulfilled criteria for SCD. Despite comparable severity on admission, mortality in SCD patients was four times higher than patients without SCD. Optimization of intermediate and intensive care for this group of patients should be prioritized in low-resource settings with high maternal mortality.

Prevalence and mortality of cryptococcal disease in adults with advanced HIV in an urban tertiary hospital in Sierra Leone: a prospective study.

BACKGROUND: The global annual estimate for cryptococcal disease-related deaths exceeds 180,000, with three fourth occurring in sub-Saharan Africa. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends cryptococcal antigen (CrAg) screening in all HIV patients with CD4 count < 100/µl. As there is no previous published study on the burden and impact of cryptococcal disease in Sierra Leone, research is needed to inform public health policies. We aimed to establish the seroprevalence and mortality of cryptococcal disease in adults with advanced HIV attending an urban tertiary hospital in Sierra Leone. METHODS: A prospective cohort study design was used to screen consecutive adult (18 years or older) HIV patients at Connaught Hospital in Freetown, Sierra Leone with CD4 count below 100 cells/mm3 from January to April 2018. Participants received a blood CrAg lateral flow assay (IMMY, Oklahoma, USA). All participants with a positive serum CrAg had lumbar puncture and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) CrAg assay, and those with cryptococcal diseases had fluconazole monotherapy with 8 weeks followed up. Data were entered into Excel and analysed in Stata version 13.0. Proportions, median and interquartile ranges were used to summarise the data. Fisher's exact test was used to compare categorical variables. RESULTS: A total of 170 patients, with median age of 36 (IQR 30-43) and median CD4 count of 45 cells/mm3 (IQR 23-63) were screened. At the time of enrolment, 54% were inpatients, 51% were newly diagnosed with HIV, and 56% were either ART-naïve or newly initiated (≤ 30 days). Eight participants had a positive blood CrAg, giving a prevalence of 4.7% (95% CI: 2.4-9.2%). Of those with a positive CrAg, CSF CrAg was positive in five (62.5%). Five (62.5%) CrAg-positive participants died within the first month, while the remaining three were alive and established on ART at 8 weeks. CONCLUSION: A substantial prevalence of cryptococcal antigenaemia and poor outcome of cryptococcal disease were demonstrated in our study. The high mortality suggests a need for the HIV programme to formulate and implement policies on screening and pre-emptive fluconazole therapy for all adults with advanced HIV in Sierra Leone, and advocate for affordable access to effective antifungal therapies.

Reliability of ultrasound findings acquired with handheld apparatuses to inform urgent obstetric diagnosis in a high-volume resource-limited setting.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the reliability of obstetric handheld smartphone-based point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) in a resource-limited high-volume setting. METHODS: A single-center prospective observational study among women requiring urgent diagnosis and admitted to a maternity referral hospital in Sierra Leone from March to April 2019. Pre-specified ultrasound findings were obtained with a handheld POCUS device; a comprehensive ultrasound examination was then performed by an experienced operator using conventional full-feature apparatus. Agreement was assessed by diagnostic accuracy and Cohen κ-statistics. RESULTS: Overall, there were 307 participants. The mean aggregated diagnostic accuracy was 95.5% (κ-statistic, 0.90; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.89-0.93; P < 0.001). Highest accuracy was reported for detecting free fluid collection in the abdominal cavity (100%; κ-statistic, 1.00; 95% CI, 1.00-1.00; P < 0.001). Ultrasound findings obtained with the handheld device for intrauterine pregnancy, fetal heartbeat, cephalic presentation, multifetal pregnancy, and assessment of gestational age based on bi-parietal diameter were highly reliable (agreement, >90%; κ-statistic, >0.80). Detection of low-lying placenta or placenta previa was the least reliable (κ-statistic, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.13-0.93; P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Handheld POCUS findings were found to be reliable for detecting pre-specified urgent obstetric findings in a high-volume resource-limited referral hospital.