Breast tuberculosis in East London: A 13-year retrospective observational study.

SETTING: Breast tuberculosis (TB) is rare in Western Europe, and its diagnosis may be delayed through lack of awareness of presenting features. Our institution serves a large East London population with a high incidence of TB. OBJECTIVE: To characterize presenting features and avoidable diagnostic delay in breast TB patients. DESIGN: We conducted a 13-year retrospective study of breast TB patients treated at our institution including demographic, clinical, microbiology, and pathology data. RESULTS: Forty-seven cases were included; 44 (94%) were female, with a median age of 33 years (IQR 28.5-39.5). The main presenting feature was a breast lump in 41 cases (87%); which were predominantly solitary unilateral lesions (25, 61%) and frequently located in the upper outer quadrant (28, 68%). Where performed, Mycobacterium tuberculosis was cultured in 15/36 (42%) cases. Granulomata were present on biopsy or aspirate in 21 (47%) and 17 (36%) cases, respectively. The median duration between symptom onset and treatment was 20 weeks (IQR 15-30). Forty-six (98%) completed treatment successfully and one relapsed. CONCLUSION: A high index of suspicion for TB is required for individuals presenting with breast symptoms from countries where TB is endemic. Development of standardized pathways may improve detection and management of breast TB may reduce diagnostic delay.

Commit to your putting stroke: exploring the impact of quiet eye duration and neural activity on golf putting performance.

Introduction: There is a growing interest in characterizing the cognitive-motor processes that underlie superior performance in highly skilled athletes. The aim of this study was to explore neural markers of putting performance in highly skilled golfers by recording mobile EEG (electroencephalogram) during the pre-shot period. Methods: Twenty-eight right-handed participants (20 males) with a mean age of 24.2 years (± 6.4) and an average handicap of +1.7 (± 6.4) completed a testing session. Following the warm-up, participants completed 140 putts from a distance of 8ft (2.4m), with putts taken from 5 different positions. While putting, participants wore an eye tracker and a gel-based EEG system with 32 electrodes. Time and frequency domain features of the EEG signals were extracted to characterize Movement-Related Cortical Potentials (MRCP) and rhythmic modulations of neural activity in theta, alpha, sensorimotor and beta frequency bands associated with putting performance. Results: Eye-tracking data demonstrate that mean Quiet Eye durations are not a reliable marker of expertise as the same duration was found for both successful and unsuccessful putts. Following rigorous data processing data from 12 participants (8 males, mean age 21.6 years ± 5.4, average handicap +1.5 ± 4.4) were included in the EEG analysis. MRCP analysis revealed performance-based differences, with unsuccessful putts having a greater negative amplitude in comparison to successful putts. Time frequency analysis of the EEG data revealed that successful putts exhibit distinct neural activity profiles compared to unsuccessful ones. For successful putts, greater suppression of beta was present in the central region prior to the putt. By contrast, increased frontal theta power was present for unsuccessful putts immediately before the putt (consistent with hesitation and the need for motor plan adjustments prior to execution). Discussion: We propose that neural activity may provide plausible insights into the mechanisms behind why identical QE durations can lead to both success and failure. From an applied perspective, this study highlights the merits of a multi-measure approach to gain further insights into performance differences within highly skilled golfers. We discuss considerations for future research and solutions to address the challenges related to the complexities of collecting clean EEG signals within naturalistic sporting contexts.

Ultrasound appearance of the kidney among radiology department attendees of a tertiary centre in Malawi.

Background: Diagnostic and therapeutic decisions in nephrology in low-resource settings are frequently based on ultrasound assessment of kidney size. An understanding of reference values is critical, particularly given the rise of non-communicable disease and the expanding availability of point-of-care ultrasound. However, there is a paucity of normative data from African populations. We determined estimates of kidney ultrasound measures, including kidney size based on age, sex, and HIV status, among apparently healthy outpatient attendees of Queen Elizabeth Central hospital radiology department, Blantyre, Malawi. Methods: We performed a cross-sectional cohort study of 320 adults attending the radiology department between October 2021 and January 2022. Bilateral kidney ultrasound was performed on all participants using a portable Mindray DP-50 machine and a 5MHz convex probe. The sample was stratified by age, sex, and HIV status. Predictive linear modelling was used to construct reference ranges for kidney size estimating the central 95 percentiles of 252 healthy adults. Exclusion criteria for the healthy sample were known kidney disease, hypertension, diabetes, BMI > 35, heavy alcohol intake, smoking and ultrasonographic abnormalities. Results: There were 162/320 (51%) male participants. The median age was 47 (interquartile range [IQR] 34-59). Among people living with HIV 134/138 (97%) were receiving antiretroviral therapy. Men had larger average kidney sizes: mean 9.68 cm (SD 0.80 cm), compared to 9.46 cm (SD 0.87 cm) in women ( p = 0.01). Average kidney sizes in people living with HIV were not significantly different from those who were HIV-negative, 9.73 cm (SD 0.93 cm) versus 9.58 cm (SD 0.93 cm) ( p = 0.63). Conclusions: This is the first report of the apparently healthy kidney size in Malawi. Predicted kidney size ranges may be used for reference in the clinical assessment of kidney disease in Malawi.

Prospective cohort study to identify prevalence, risk factors and outcomes of infection associated kidney disease in a regional hospital in Malawi.

OBJECTIVES: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common and severe complication of community acquired infection, but data on impact in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are lacking. We determined prevalence, risk factors and outcomes of infection associated kidney disease in adults in Malawi. DESIGN: A prospective cohort study of adults admitted to hospital with infection, from February 2021 to June 2021, collecting demographic, clinical, laboratory and ultrasonography data. SETTING: Adults admitted to a regional hospital in Southern Region, Malawi. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcomes were prevalence of kidney disease and mortality by Cox proportional hazard model. AKI was defined according to Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) guidelines. Secondary outcomes were risk factors for AKI identified by logistic regression and prevalence of chronic kidney disease at 3 months. RESULTS: We recruited 101 patients presenting to hospital with infection. Median age was 38 years (IQR: 29-48 years), 88 had known HIV status of which 53 (60%) were living with HIV, and of these 42 (79%) were receiving antiretroviral therapy. AKI was present in 33/101 at baseline, of which 18/33 (55%) cases were severe (KDIGO stage 3). At 3 months, 28/94 (30%) participants had died, while 7/61 (11%) of survivors had chronic kidney disease. AKI was associated with older age (age: 60 years vs 40 years, OR: 3.88, 95% CI 1.82 to 16.64), and HIV positivity (OR: 4.08, 95% CI 1.28 to 15.67). Living with HIV was independently associated with death (HR: 3.97, 95% CI 1.07 to 14.69). CONCLUSIONS: Kidney disease is common among hospitalised adults with infection in Malawi, with significant kidney impairment identified at 3 months. Our study highlights the difficulty in diagnosing acute and chronic kidney disease, and the need for more accurate methods than creatinine based estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) equations for populations in Africa. Patients with kidney impairment identified in hospital should be prioritised for follow-up.