Change in schistosomiasis-related liver disease with repeated praziquantel treatment in school children in rural Zambia.

Repeated praziquantel treatment for schistosomiasis is an effective method to reduce disease burden. Ultrasonographic methods were used to assess the severity of schistosoma mansoni-related liver disease and demonstrate improvement following treatment. We compared data from 733 children in 2010 and 972 children in 2018 to determine the effect of repeated praziquantel treatment on prevalence of liver disease. Three age groups were compared across three liver disease classifications (normal, mild, severe). From 2010 to 2018, there was a significant reduction in prevalence of severe liver disease in all age groups (P = 0.03 for 5-10 years, P < 0.001 for 11-15 years and 16-20 years). In both male and female students, the proportion having a normal liver significantly increased (P < 0.001) from 2010 to 2018, in the 11-15-year-olds and 16-20-year-olds, demonstrating that liver disease significantly reduced in these age groups. This study demonstrates a reduction in schistosomiasis-related morbidity with repeated praziquantel treatment.

Sonographic response in the liver and urinary bladder of children 14 months after treatment for schistosomiasis.

After praziquantel treatment for schistosomiasis, parasitological cure rates of 60%-90% are usual. Does this response to treatment correlate with the improvement in liver and bladder changes seen on ultrasound in children? This study shows that ultrasound is an effective way to evaluate liver and bladder changes caused by schistosomiasis infection in children and to assess treatment effects after mass treatment programmes.

Ultrasound study of liver disease caused by Schistosoma mansoni in rural Zambian schoolchildren.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the prevalence of Schistosoma mansoni-related liver disease in school-age children who live beside the Zambezi River in the Chitokoloki district, North Western Province, Zambia. METHODS: Liver ultrasounds of school students from the Chitokoloki day school, grades 1-12, were performed. Liver patterns, periportal branch wall thickening and portal hypertension were assessed to evaluate the presence of liver fibrosis due to S. mansoni infection. To obtain incidence rates of acute disease, stool specimens were examined from a subgroup for the presence of S. mansoni eggs using the formol detergent sedimentation technique. RESULTS: Of 976 enrolled students, 764 (78.2%) were examined by ultrasound. Of those, 284 (37.2%) had findings indicative of periportal fibrosis on ultrasound. Stool specimen were collected from 414 (54%) students of which six (1.5%) were positive for S. mansoni eggs. CONCLUSION: School students living along the Zambezi River, Zambia have a relatively high prevalence of S. mansoni-related liver disease. These findings suggest that all schoolchildren in this area should receive treatment against S. mansoni.

Non-clinical errors using voice recognition dictation software for radiology reports: a retrospective audit.

The purpose of this study is to ascertain the error rates of using a voice recognition (VR) dictation system. We compared our results with several other articles and discussed the pros and cons of using such a system. The study was performed at the Southern Health Department of Diagnostic Imaging, Melbourne, Victoria using the GE RIS with Powerscribe 3.5 VR system. Fifty random finalized reports from 19 radiologists obtained between June 2008 and November 2008 were scrutinized for errors in six categories namely, wrong word substitution, deletion, punctuation, other, and nonsense phrase. Reports were also divided into two categories: computer radiography (CR = plain film) and non-CR (ultrasound, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, nuclear medicine, and angiographic examinations). Errors were divided into two categories, significant but not likely to alter patient management and very significant with the meaning of the report affected, thus potentially affecting patient management (nonsense phrase). Three hundred seventy-nine finalized CR reports and 631 non-CR finalized reports were examined. Eleven percent of the reports in the CR group had errors. Two percent of these reports contained nonsense phrases. Thirty-six percent of the reports in the non-CR group had errors and out of these, 5% contained nonsense phrases. VR dictation system is like a double-edged sword. Whilst there are many benefits, there are also many pitfalls. We hope that raising the awareness of the error rates will help in our efforts to reduce error rates and strike a balance between quality and speed of reports generated.

Voice recognition versus transcriptionist: error rates and productivity in MRI reporting.

PURPOSE: Despite the frequent introduction of voice recognition (VR) into radiology departments, little evidence still exists about its impact on workflow, error rates and costs. We designed a study to compare typographical errors, turnaround times (TAT) from reported to verified and productivity for VR-generated reports versus transcriptionist-generated reports in MRI. METHODS: Fifty MRI reports generated by VR and 50 finalized MRI reports generated by the transcriptionist, of two radiologists, were sampled retrospectively. Two hundred reports were scrutinised for typographical errors and the average TAT from dictated to final approval. To assess productivity, the average MRI reports per hour for one of the radiologists was calculated using data from extra weekend reporting sessions. RESULTS: Forty-two % and 30% of the finalized VR reports for each of the radiologists investigated contained errors. Only 6% and 8% of the transcriptionist-generated reports contained errors. The average TAT for VR was 0 h, and for the transcriptionist reports TAT was 89 and 38.9 h. Productivity was calculated at 8.6 MRI reports per hour using VR and 13.3 MRI reports using the transcriptionist, representing a 55% increase in productivity. CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrate that VR is not an effective method of generating reports for MRI. Ideally, we would have the report error rate and productivity of a transcriptionist and the TAT of VR.