Epidemiology of tuberculosis and evaluation of treatment outcomes in the national tuberculosis control programme, River Nile state, Sudan, 2011-2013.

Tuberculosis is a major health problem in Sudan, a country that carries 11-15% of the tuberculosis burden in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. This study aimed to describe the epidemiology of tuberculosis in River Nile State and to compare treatment outcomes with WHO recommended indicators. A descriptive study was conducted on data collected from records of 1221 patients registered at tuberculosis management units over the 3 years 2011-2013. The mean age of cases was 37.7 (SD 21.5) years and 65.9% were males; 76.3% were pulmonary tuberculosis and 36.9% were sputum smear-positive cases. Average values for all outcome indicators were suboptimal, notably rates of case notification (30.8 per 100 000), case detection (10.3%), treatment success (79.6%), treatment failure (3.0%), default (8.1%) and death (8.0%). Of the 264 patients tested for HIV, 3.8% were positive. Outcome indicators for the national tuberculosis control programme are lagging behind the required targets.

Frequency of breast cancer among Sudanese patients with breast palpable lumps.

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer mortality is high in Sudan and most patients are detected at later stages of the disease due to the lack of awareness and absence of screening programs. This study aimed to determine the pattern and frequency of breast cancer among patients presenting with palpable breast lumps within one year duration. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: As a part of the continuous development in cancer management, this descriptive longitudinal study was conducted in Khartoum, Sudan. METHODS AND MATERIALS: We obtained information (patient's personal data) and Fine-Needle Aspiration (FNA) materials, for occurrence of 200 breast lesions in patients. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Data were analyzed by using a computer SPSS program. RESULTS: The diagnoses of the 200 breast lesions were as follows: 68 (34%) were malignant, 56 cases (28%) were fibroadenoma, 23 cases (11.5%) were fibrocystic change, 22 cases (11%) were inflammatory lesions (including mastitis and abscess formation), 12 cases (6%) were benign cysts and the remaining 19 patients (9.5%) were with lactation changes (8 cases), lipoma (6 cases), gynecomastia (3 cases) and phyllodes tumor (2 cases). Regarding gender, only 6 patients (0.03%) were males of whom 3 (50%) were diagnosed with gynecomastia. CONCLUSIONS: The frequency of advanced breast cancer among patients with breast lesions is high, in this subset of patients, which signals the urgency for implementation of breast screening programs.