A qualitative exploration of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on gender-based violence against women living with HIV or tuberculosis in Timor Leste.

Violence against women or gender-based violence (GBV) is a significant public health issue facing women and girls in different settings. It is reported to have worsened globally during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on increased violence against women in general, which has been reported in many settings globally, there is a paucity of evidence of its impact on violence against highly vulnerable women living with HIV or tuberculosis (TB). Using a qualitative design, this study aimed to explore the views and experiences of women living with HIV (n = 19) or TB (n = 23) in Timor Leste regarding the GBV they faced during the COVID-19 pandemic. They were recruited using the snowballing sampling technique. Data were collected using one-on-one, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. The five steps of qualitative data analysis suggested in Ritchie and Spencer's analysis framework were employed to guide the analysis of the findings. Findings indicated that women in this study experienced intensified physical, verbal, sexual and psychological violence by their partners, spouses, in-laws, and parents or other family members during the COVID-19 pandemic. Several prominent risk factors that worsened violence against women during the pandemic were (i) HIV or TB-positive status, (ii) traditional gender roles or responsibilities and expectations, (iii) economic and financial difficulties reflected in the loss of jobs and incomes due to the pandemic, and (iv) individual factors such as jealousy and increased alcohol drinking developed during the lockdowns. The women's experience of GBV during the pandemic also led to various negative psychological impacts. The findings underscore the urgent need for multifaceted interventions to address GBV, which should encompass challenging traditional gender norms, addressing economic inequalities, and targeting individual-level risk factors. The findings also indicate the need for the development of robust monitoring and evaluation systems to assess the effectiveness of policies and interventions addressing GBV where the results can inform future improvement. The findings also indicate the need to include GBV in the protocol or guidelines for HIV and TB management. Future large-scale quantitative studies to capture the magnitude and specific drivers of GBV against women living with HIV and TB during the pandemic are recommended.

Pleural Effusion Related to Chronic Hepatitis B Virus Reactivation: A Rare Association.

Despite worldwide vaccination campaigns, hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection remains a major public health problem. The natural history ranges from asymptomatic infection to severe liver injury or failure, chronic complications or reactivation episodes. The effects of HBV on the organism are immunomediated, possibly triggering extrahepatic manifestations. Since 1971, only a few cases of pleural effusion related to HBV infection have been described. We report HBV-associated pleural effusion occurring during a viral reactivation episode. Antiviral treatment directed towards pleural effusion related to HBV infection should be dictated by underlying liver disease severity and not pleural effusion severity. LEARNING POINTS: In the presence of pleural effusion of unknown origin, especially if with simultaneous acute hepatitis, a viral aetiology should be suspected and pursued.The severity of liver disease and not the pleural effusion should guide antiviral treatment.

The Role of a Medical Intermediate Care Unit in the Management of Budd-Chiari Syndrome: Case Series.

Budd-Chiari syndrome (BCS) has a wide spectrum of presentations, from an asymptomatic status to acute liver failure (ALF). The therapeutic approach depends on disease severity and related etiology with patients with severe forms of presentation classically managed in intensive care units (ICUs). Here, we report a series of five BCS patients managed in a medical intermediate care unit (IntCU), with three of them presenting with acute liver injury. Progression to ALF was seen in three patients, two of whom died, with one being successfully submitted to liver transplantation. IntCUs allow a 24-h patient surveillance and a prompt management of BCS, with less economic impact when compared to ICUs. Mortality was related to the presence of associated comorbidities that limited therapeutic approach.

Systemic inflammation as a risk factor for portal vein thrombosis in cirrhosis: a prospective longitudinal study.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Various risk factors for portal vein thrombosis (PVT) development in patients with cirrhosis have been identified, but the role of systemic inflammatory reaction is unknown. The study aims to assess the association between markers of systemic inflammation and PVT in cirrhosis. METHODS: Between January 2014 and October 2015, 107 outpatients with cirrhosis and no PVT were recruited, and followed till February 2017. White blood cell count, serum concentrations of high-sensitive C-reactive protein, ferritin, tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were evaluated at baseline and every 3 or 6 months till PVT diagnosis or end of follow-up. RESULTS: Median age, model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) score and follow-up period of the studied population was 55 years (IQR 46-62 years), 9.6 points (IQR 7.5-12 points) and 19 months (12-24 months), respectively. PVT developed in 10.3% of the patients. Lymphocyte count below 1.2 ´ 109/L [hazard ratio, 6.04; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.29-28.2; P = 0.022], IL-6 above 5.5 pg/mL (hazard ratio, 5.64; 95% CI, 1.21-26.33; P = 0.028) and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (hazard ratio, 1.46; 95% CI, 1.04-2.04; P = 0.028) were associated with a higher risk of PVT development. IL-6 and lymphopenia remained associated with subsequent PVT development after adjustment for nonselective beta-blockers, spleen size, portosystemic collaterals, oesophageal varices (grade ≥2) and ascites, but also with alcohol as the cause for cirrhosis and MELD ≥13. CONCLUSION: In patients with cirrhosis, markers of systemic inflammation IL-6 and lymphopenia are predictive of PVT independently of markers of portal hypertension. These results draw our attention on a factor so far overlooked in the pathogenesis of PVT.

Lung abscesses: review of 60 cases.

Lung abscesses (LA) carry with them severe clinical and social implications. The authors retrospectively analyse case files from a tertiary hospital. Admissions from 2000 to 2005 codified as LA were identified. Forty-five patients were males and the mean age was 56.2 (+/-15.1) years. The average duration of symptoms pre-hospitalisation was 23.0 (+/-50.2) days, with acute respiratory infection the initial syndrome in 36 patients. Clinical data show LA could have been suspected in 40 patients. Diagnosis was established 8.7 (+/-11.4) days after admission. A microbial pathogen was recovered in 26 cases. Primary LA was diagnosed in 27 patients. Dental disease and immunodeficiency were the main risk factors. Other co-morbidities were present in 34 patients. Af- ter LA diagnosis, intravenous (IV) antibiotic (AB) was prescribed for 16.5 (+/-10.9) days with mean total AB time 39.2 (+/-15.7) days. Ten options of AB were used and 23 patients had their initial IV AB changed to a second choice. Six patients needed surgery. Apyrexia was achieved after 6.4 (+/-6.4) days of treatment. 21 patients had complications and 7 died. The mean length of hospital admission was 27.5 (+/-16.3) days and 38 patients were called for a follow-up visit. These data are generally in accordance with the literature. The high male percentage agrees with the similarly high prevalence of alcoholism and lung neoplasms in males. Key facts to ameliorate in order to improve prognosis and length of hospital admission could be a swifter diagnosis and consensus on the AB treatment.

Nonselective beta-blockers and the risk of portal vein thrombosis in patients with cirrhosis: results of a prospective longitudinal study.

BACKGROUND: Nonmalignant portal vein thrombosis is a significant event in the course of cirrhosis that can contraindicate liver transplantation and even impact survival after the surgical procedure. Risk factors are not completely known or validated and are still debated. AIM: To identify in patients with cirrhosis the risk factors for portal vein thrombosis that are assessable in clinical practice. METHODS: Between January 2014 and February 2017, 108 outpatients with cirrhosis and no portal vein thrombosis (78% Child A) were enrolled. Doppler ultrasound was performed every 3 or 6 months, for a median follow up of 19 months. RESULTS: Portal vein thrombosis developed in 11 patients. Nonselective beta-blockade (hazard ratio [HR] 10.56; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.35-82.73; P = 0.025), and medium or large-sized oesophageal varices (HR 5.67; 95% CI: 1.49-21.63; P = 0.011) at baseline were associated with portal vein thrombosis development. Although heart rate (P < 0.001) and portal blood flow velocity at baseline (P = 0.005) were significantly reduced by nonselective beta-blockers, they were not related to portal vein thrombosis development. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings confirm an association between portal vein thrombosis development and oesophageal varices at baseline, but suggest that the association could be explained by exposure to nonselective beta-blockers, independently from effects on heart rate and portal blood flow velocity. The mechanisms that explain portal vein thrombosis development in patients on nonselective beta-blockers require elucidation in order to optimise targeting of nonselective beta-blockade in patients with cirrhosis.

Acute hepatitis B virus infection and severe non-immune haemolytic anaemia: a rare relationship.

The clinical presentation of acute hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is usually related to the onset of liver failure and damage. Anaemia may occur, but it is only rarely attributed to haemolysis. The authors report about the case of a 41-year-old woman with the diagnosis of acute HBV infection and coagulopathy (without encephalopathy) who developed non-immune haemolytic anaemia. Total recovery of the analytical liver profile, coagulopathy and anaemia was achieved through treatment targeting HBV.This case shows that, although rare, non-immune haemolytic anaemia may occur in association with acute HBV infection and that HBV suppression seems to lead to progressive anaemia resolution.

Efficacy and Safety of Direct-Acting Oral Anticoagulants Use in Acute Portal Vein Thrombosis Unrelated to Cirrhosis.

In acute portal vein thrombosis (APVT) unrelated to cirrhosis, anticoagulant therapy is classically started with low molecular weight heparin or vitamin K antagonists. New direct-acting oral anticoagulants (DOACs) are used in the treatment of venous thrombosis outside the splanchnic vascular bed, but not in the latter. We report a young female with APVT occurring in a non-cirrhotic liver linked to heterozygosity of factor V-Leiden and prothrombin G20210A gene mutations. Rivaroxaban was started, with total recanalization of the left and partial recanalization of the right portal vein branches, without complications. New DOACs do not need daily subcutaneous injections nor routinely blood coagulation control tests, making its use attractive, eventually increasing patient's compliance. If proved to be safe and effective in the future studies, its use may be extended to PVT treatment. This case shows that rivaroxaban was safe, not only prevented the extension of thrombosis in the portal tract, but also resolved PVT, at least partially.

Metachronous Testicular Germ-cell Tumors: The Importance of a Long-Term Follow-up.

Testicular germ cell tumors (TGCT) are the most common malignancy in young male adults. They can be bilateral, and occur as a synchronous or metachronous tumor. The authors intend to characterize the prevalence and outcome of metachronous TGCT in the last 12 years of experience at our center. Cancer data base of our center was reviewed in order to find the patients that had TGCT in the period between 1996 and 2008 and, among those, the patients that had a second malignancy in the contralateral testicle after at least 6 months apart. Risk factors, clinical presentation, histological characteristics, staging, therapy and outcome were considered. Two out of 79 patients had metachronous TGCT, representing 2.5% of the group. Both cases had a low stage malignancy at the time of the diagnosis of the first tumor, and the diagnosis of the second TGCT happened 7 and 12 years later. Both patients are still alive without evidence of residual disease, under androgen replacement therapy and with testicular bilateral prostheses. Sperm cryopreservation was done in one of the patients. Long-term surveillance for TGCT is needed due to the probability of a second malignancy after the first 5 years of normal follow up. Special consideration must be given to patients submitted to bilateral orchiectomy concerning sperm cryopreservation, androgen replacement therapy and testicular prostheses.

Twelve Years of Experience in the Management of Testicular Germ Cell Tumors at a Referral Center in Portugal.

BACKGROUND: Testicular germ cell tumors (TGCT) are generally rare but quite frequent in young males. Guidelines are well established for their management. METHODS: We present the first report from Portugal on clinical, histological, treatment modalities and outcomes of a population with TGCT. Data was retrospectively analyzed for the 1996 through 2008 period, applying a previous internally validated protocol. RESULTS: Seventy nine patients with TGCT were identified, 40.5% had seminomatous and 59.5% nonseminomatous tumors. Incidence rates were higher among males in their twenties and thirties. Pain and swelling testis were the most common symptoms and microlithiasis was detected in 20.3% of patients. Lower stages were more frequent in seminomatous tumors. Orchiectomy was done in all patients and further therapy was performed by guidelines recommendations in 86.1% of them. Hematological toxicity was found in 44.3% of the population studied and free disease survival rates were at 88.6%. CONCLUSIONS: This retrospective study corroborates the European Western country trends concerning TGCT. Mortality was only seen in nonseminomatous TGCT group. Good risk and lower TGCT stages have no deaths reported. Public health campaigns should be undertaken to guide patients to seek medical advice earlier in the course of the disease.