Patient satisfaction and follow-up adherence to glaucoma case management clinic in China

AIM:To assess glaucoma patient satisfaction and follow-up adherence in case management and identify associated predictors to improve healthcare quality and patient outcomes.METHODS:In this cross-sectional study,a total of 119 patients completed a Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire-18 and a sociodemographic questionnaire.Clinical data was obtained from the case management system.Follow-up adherence was defined as completing each follow-up within±30d of the scheduled time set by ophthalmologists during the study period.RESULTS:Average satisfaction scored 78.65±7,with an average of 4.39±0.58 across the seven dimensions.Age negatively correlated with satisfaction(P=0.008),whilst patients with follow-up duration of 2 or more years reported higher satisfaction(P=0.045).Multivariate logistics regression analysis revealed that longer follow-up durations were associated with lower follow-up adherence(OR=0.97,95%CI,0.95-1.00,P=0.044).Additionally,patients with suspected glaucoma(OR=2.72,95%CI,1.03-7.20,P=0.044)and those with an annual income over 100000 Chinese yuan demonstrated higher adherence(OR=5.57,95%CI,1.00-30.89,P=0.049).CONCLUSION:The case management model proves effective for glaucoma patients,with positive adherence rates.The implementation of this model can be optimized in the future based on the identified factors and extended to glaucoma patients in more hospitals.

Loss to Specialized Cardiology Follow-Up in Adults Living with Congenital Heart Disease

Background:Much has been written about the loss to follow-up in the transition between pediatric and adult Congenital Heart Disease(CHD)care centers.Much less is understood about the loss to follow-up(LTF)after a successful transition.This is critical too,as patients lost to specialised care are more likely to experience mor-bidity and premature mortality.Aims:To understand the prevalence and reasons for loss to follow-up(LTF)at a large Australian Adult Congenital Heart Disease(ACHD)centre.Methods:Patients with moderate or highly complex CHD and gaps in care of>3 years(defined as LTF)were identified from a comprehensive ACHD data-base.Structured telephone interviews examined current care and barriers to clinic attendance.Results:Overall,407(22%)of ACHD patients(n=1842)were LTF.The mean age at LTF was 31(SD 11.5)years and 54%were male;311(76%)were uncontactable.Compared to adults seen regularly,lost patients were younger,with a greater socio-economic disadvantage,and had less complex CHD(p<0.05 for all).We interviewed 59 patients(14%).The top 3 responses for care absences were“feeling well”(61%),losing track of time(36%),and not needing fol-low-up care(25%).Conclusions:A large proportion of the ACHD population becomes lost to specialised cardiac care,even after a successful transition.This Australian study reports younger age,moderate complexity defects,and socio-economic disadvantage as predictive of loss to follow-up.This study highlights the need for novel approaches to patient-centered service delivery even beyond the age of transition and resources to maintain patient engagement within the ACHD service.

Long-term assessment of collagenase treatment for Dupuytren’s contracture:A 10-year follow-up study

BACKGROUND Enzymatic fasciotomy with collagenase clostridium histolyticum(CCH)has revolutionized the treatment for Dupuytren’s contracture(DC).Despite its benefits,the long-term outcomes remain unclear.This study presented a comprehensive 10-year follow-up assessment of the enduring effects of CCH on patients with DC.AIM To compare the short-term(12 wk)and long-term(10 years)outcomes on CCH treatment in patients with DC.METHODS A cohort of 45 patients was treated with CCH at the metacarpophalangeal(MCP)joint and the proximal interphalangeal(PIP)joint and underwent systematic reevaluation.The study adhered to multicenter trial protocols,and assessments were conducted at 12 wk,7 years,and 10 years post-surgery.RESULTS Thirty-seven patients completed the 10-year follow-up.At 10 years,patients treated at the PIP joint exhibited a 100%recurrence.However,patients treated at the MCP joint only showed a 50%recurrence.Patient satisfaction varied,with a lower satisfaction reported in PIP joint cases.Recurrence exceeding 20 degrees on the total passive extension deficit was observed,indicating a challenge for sustained efficacy.Significant differences were noted between outcomes at the 7-year and 10-year intervals.CONCLUSION CCH demonstrated sustained efficacy when applied to the MCP joint.However,caution is warranted for CCH treatment at the PIP joint due to a high level of recurrence and low patient satisfaction.Re-intervention is needed within a decade of treatment.

Environmental Impact Assessment Follow-Up of Seismic Survey Offshore Activities in Brazil

Follow-up of environmental impacts is an integral part of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process, closely related to the effectiveness of the instrument. EIA follow-up has been receiving a lot of interest from scientists and practitioners, though it is recognized as one of the weakest points of EIA systems globally. Also, EIA follow-up is influenced by the context, mainly in terms of the types of projects or activities and their related impacts on the environment. Therefore, the present paper is focused on the investigation of the follow-up stage applied to the activity of seismic survey coupled with offshore oil & gas exploitation in Brazil. Research was based on a qualitative approach that included document analysis and semi-structured interviews with analysts involved in EIA processes, and sought to generate evidence of effectiveness of the EIA follow-up as conducted by the Federal Environment Agency (Ibama) in order to situate the practice of follow-up in the broader context of international best practice principles. Based on the findings, it was concluded that, due to the peculiarities of offshore seismic survey, it is necessary to promote adaptations in the procedures for monitoring impacts in order to ensure proper alignment with the principles and conceptual foundations that guide EIA practice. Specifically, the timing of the execution of the activity imposes challenges for its integration into the “conventional” cycle that has guided the monitoring of the impacts in the EIA of projects.

NIC X-FILE和DENCO Pre-Shaper镍钛器械对模拟弯曲根管成形的影响

背景:根管预备是根管治疗的关键步骤,近年来随着新型镍钛器械的迅速发展,根管成形能力得到了显著提高,然而不同种类的镍钛系统成形能力亦不同,目前国内外关于R相热处理机用镍钛器械NIC X-FILE和DENCO Pre-Shaper对弯曲根管成形能力的影响鲜见报道。目的:比较NIC X-FILE和DENCO Pre-Shaper机用镍钛锉预备树脂模拟弯曲根管的成形效果。方法:选取树脂模拟弯曲根管50个,随机分为2组(n=25),分别使用NIC X-FILE、DENCO Pre-Shaper镍钛根管锉进行根管预备,记录根管预备时间、采集根管预备前后图像。使用图像处理和分析软件测量各观测点的根管内、外侧壁树脂去除量,运用统计学软件,对比研究两种机用镍钛锉的根管预备时间和中心定位能力。结果与结论:①DENCO Pre-Shaper组平均根管预备时间为(1.58±0.02)min,NIC X-FILE组平均根管预备时间为(2.22±0.03)min,两组间比较差异有显著性意义(P<0.05);②DENCO Pre-Shaper组在距离根尖孔4,5,7,8,9,10 mm处的内侧树脂去除量多于NIC X-FILE组(P<0.05),在距离根尖孔3,5,6,7,8 mm处的外侧树脂去除量少于NIC X-FILE组(P<0.05);③在距离根尖孔2,4,5,6,7,8,9 mm处,NIC X-FILE组的中心定位能力优于DENCO Pre-Shaper组(P<0.05),其中在距离根尖孔4 mm处的中心定位能力最佳;④结果表明,DENCO Pre-Shaper根管锉较NIC X-FILE镍钛根管锉具有较高的机械效率,但其中心定位能力不如NIC X-FILE镍钛根管锉。

NRT FILES镍钛根管锉预备对弯曲根管应力分布的仿真分析

背景:在根管治疗中,镍钛合金器械常因应力超过金属塑性变形的弹性极限或在根管弯曲处重复弯曲导致镍钛合金疲劳断裂。目的:探索新型镍钛锉NRT FILES在作为根管预备材料时对根管内壁存在的应力分布,明确应力集中区域。方法:利用Solidworks软件对NRT FILES进行三维建模,模拟还原器械在真实口腔环境中存在的状态。建立6组根管简化模型:①弯曲角度30°、弯曲半径5 mm、根尖弯曲;②弯曲角度30°、弯曲半径5 mm、根中弯曲;③弯曲角度30°、弯曲半径2 mm、根尖弯曲;④弯曲角度30°、弯曲半径2 mm、根中弯曲;⑤弯曲角度45°、弯曲半径5 mm、根尖弯曲;⑥弯曲角度45°、弯曲半径2 mm、根尖弯曲。将根管简化模型与根管锉模型进行组配,对根管内壁受力点及应力分布情况进行分析。结果与结论:①-⑥组根管锉最大应力分别为1 185,1 354,1 371,1 678,1 335,2 557 MPa,最大应变分别为0.010 36,0.013 54,0.013 79,0.016 48,0.013 45,0.022 03;根管弯曲部位的不同会影响根管锉所承受的应力大小,因此在根管治疗中,根管锉沿着根管越往下,根管锉与根管接触的半径越大、刚性越差,根管锉所承受的应力越大越容易发生断裂;根管弯曲半径越小,根管锉承受的应力越大;根管弯曲角度越小,根管锉所承受的应力越大。在根尖弯曲部位,根管锉在根管弯曲半径小的弯曲根管需要承受更大的应力,根管锉更容易发生断裂;同理,在根中弯曲部位,根管锉在根管弯曲半径小的弯曲根管亦承受更大的应力,因此要格外注意根管的弯曲程度,以此来选择合适的根管锉进行根管治疗。

Intensive follow-up vs conventional follow-up for patients with nonmetastatic colorectal cancer treated with curative intent:A metaanalysis

BACKGROUND The frequency and content of follow-up strategies remain controversial for colorectal cancer(CRC),and scheduled follow-ups have limited value.AIM To compare intensive and conventional follow-up strategies for the prognosis of non-metastatic CRC treated with curative intent using a meta-analysis.METHODS PubMed,Embase,and the Cochrane Library databases were systematically searched for potentially eligible randomized controlled trials(RCTs)from inception until April 2023.The Cochrane risk of bias was used to assess the methodological quality of the included studies.The hazard ratio,relative risk,and 95%confidence interval were used to calculate survival and categorical data,and pooled analyses were performed using the random-effects model.Additional exploratory analyses were performed for sensitivity,subgroups,and publication bias.RESULTS Eighteen RCTs involving 8533 patients with CRC were selected for the final analysis.Intensive follow-up may be superior to conventional follow-up in improving overall survival,but this difference was not statistically significant.Moreover,intensive follow-up was associated with an increased incidence of salvage surgery compared to conventional follow-up.In addition,there was no significant difference in the risk of recurrence between intensive and conventional follow-up strategies,whereas intensive follow-up was associated with a reduced risk of interval recurrence compared to conventional follow-up.Finally,the effects of intensive and conventional follow-up strategies differed when stratified by tumor location and follow-up duration.CONCLUSION Intensive follow-up may have a beneficial effect on the overall survival of patients with non-metastatic CRC treated with curative intent.

Automated File Labeling for Heterogeneous Files Organization Using Machine Learning

File labeling techniques have a long history in analyzing the anthological trends in computational linguistics.The situation becomes worse in the case of files downloaded into systems from the Internet.Currently,most users either have to change file names manually or leave a meaningless name of the files,which increases the time to search required files and results in redundancy and duplications of user files.Currently,no significant work is done on automated file labeling during the organization of heterogeneous user files.A few attempts have been made in topic modeling.However,one major drawback of current topic modeling approaches is better results.They rely on specific language types and domain similarity of the data.In this research,machine learning approaches have been employed to analyze and extract the information from heterogeneous corpus.A different file labeling technique has also been used to get the meaningful and`cohesive topic of the files.The results show that the proposed methodology can generate relevant and context-sensitive names for heterogeneous data files and provide additional insight into automated file labeling in operating systems.

The natural course of bacillus Calmette-Guerin induced bladder lesions:A long-term follow-up study and systematic review

Objective:Bacillus Calmette-Gue´rin(BCG)instillation is the standard adjuvant treatment for intermediate-and high-risk non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer after transurethral resection.Nevertheless,its toxicity often causes bladder complications.On follow-up cystoscopy,post-BCG bladder lesions can be pathologically benign,urothelial carcinoma recurrence,or other types of bladder malignancy.Only a small number of case reports have been published on post-BCG bladder lesions.Their clinical features,natural course,and management remain unknown.Methods:We retrospectively studied cystoscopic videos and medical records of BCG-treated bladder cancer patients at our center.During a long-term follow-up,we took biopsies on tumor-like lesions and described their changes.In addition,we summarized previous studies on post-BCG bladder lesions by systematic literature searching and review.Results:We described a series of three cases with post-BCG bladder lesions mimicking tumor recurrence from a total of 38 cases with follow-up data for more than 5 years.Those lesions could last,grow,or disappear spontaneously,and remain pathological benign for years.In systematic review,we identified and analyzed a total of 15 cases with post-BCG bladder lesions with detailed clinical information.Eleven of the 15 were benign and have a good prognosis with nephrogenic adenoma being the most common pathological type.Conclusion:Based on previous studies and our experience,benign lesions after BCG instillation cannot distinguish with cancer recurrence by cystoscopy alone,even under narrow band imaging mode.Nonetheless,given most of them have a good prognosis,random biopsy or transurethral resection might be spared in the patients with long-term negative biopsy and urine cytology.

基于序列挖掘的Dockerfile规则自动提取工具

Dockerfile定义了一组构建容器镜像的指令,这些指令指示了容器化的应用程序该如何构建.最近的研究表明Dockerfile存在相当多的质量问题.在本文中,我们提出了一种新的工具DMiner(Dockerfile Miner)来提取高质量Dockerfile中的隐含规则,这些规则将有助于提升Dockerfile的质量.DMiner主要分为3个模块,分别负责Dockerfile的采集、过滤,Dockerfile的解析处理以及Dockerfile规则的挖掘提取,DMiner将Dockerfile解析成统一的序列表示并使用序列模式挖掘算法来提取规则.本工具对现有的Dockerfile数据集进行了扩充,同时新提取出了9条在其他工作未曾出现的规则,在真实数据集上的大量实验证明了该工具的有效性和高效性.

Enhanced Best Fit Algorithm for Merging Small Files

In the Big Data era,numerous sources and environments generate massive amounts of data.This enormous amount of data necessitates specialized advanced tools and procedures that effectively evaluate the information and anticipate decisions for future changes.Hadoop is used to process this kind of data.It is known to handle vast volumes of data more efficiently than tiny amounts,which results in inefficiency in the framework.This study proposes a novel solution to the problem by applying the Enhanced Best Fit Merging algorithm(EBFM)that merges files depending on predefined parameters(type and size).Implementing this algorithm will ensure that the maximum amount of the block size and the generated file size will be in the same range.Its primary goal is to dynamically merge files with the stated criteria based on the file type to guarantee the efficacy and efficiency of the established system.This procedure takes place before the files are available for the Hadoop framework.Additionally,the files generated by the system are named with specific keywords to ensure there is no data loss(file overwrite).The proposed approach guarantees the generation of the fewest possible large files,which reduces the input/output memory burden and corresponds to the Hadoop framework’s effectiveness.The findings show that the proposed technique enhances the framework’s performance by approximately 64%while comparing all other potential performance-impairing variables.The proposed approach is implementable in any environment that uses the Hadoop framework,not limited to smart cities,real-time data analysis,etc.

Distributed File System Based on a Relational Database

Working with files and the safety of information has always been relevant, especially in financial institutions where the requirements for the safety of information and security are especially important. And in today’s conditions, when an earthquake can destroy the floor of a city in an instant, or when a missile hits an office and all servers turn into scrap metal, the issue of data safety becomes especially important. Also, you can’t put the cost of the software and the convenience of working with files in last place. Especially if an office worker needs to find the necessary information on a client, a financial contract or a company’s financial product in a few seconds. Also, during the operation of computer equipment, failures are possible, and some of them can lead to partial or complete loss of information. In this paper, it is proposed to create another level of abstraction for working with the file system, which will be based on a relational database as a storage of objects and access rights to objects. Also considered are possible protocols for transferring data to other programs that work with files, these can be both small sites and the operating system itself. This article will be especially interesting for financial institutions or companies operating in the banking sector. The purpose of this article is an attempt to introduce another level of abstraction for working with files. A level that is completely abstracted from the storage medium.

Stent-assisted coiling of intracranial carotid ophthalmic segment aneurysm segment aneurysms:Long-term follow-up from a single center

Background:To evaluate the efficacy of stent-assisted coiling(SAC)for the treatment of carotid ophthalmic segment aneurysm segment aneurysms(OSAs)of the internal carotid artery(ICA)through detailed long-term follow-up of a large patient cohort.Methods:We retrospectively analyzed 88 consecutive patients with OSAs between January 2009 and January 2020 at our center.Angiographic results were evaluated using the modified Raymond grading system and clinical outcomes were evaluated using the mRS scale.The primary endpoints were major aneurysm recurrence and poor clinical outcomes for at least 18 months of follow-up.The patients were asked to attend clinical follow-up assessments and possibly undergo DSA or MR via telephone.Results:We enrolled 88 patients with 99 OSAs treated with coiling,of whom 76 were treated with SAC.The coiling procedures were successful in all 88 patients.Overall,complications occurred in 8 patients(9.1%).No procedure-related mortality was observed.67(76.1%)experienced immediate aneurysm occlusion at the end of the procedure.Long-term angiographic follow-up(18 months)was available in 45/88 aneurysms(51%)(average 18.7±5.2 months).Four patients continued their follow-up for 5 years after initial aneurysm treatment.After a clinical follow-up time of 28.7 months(range,12-51 months),85 patients(95.5%)achieved favorable clinical outcomes(mRS scores of 0-2).Conclusions:This study indicates that SAC treatment is a safe and effective therapeutic alternative for ruptured and unruptured OSAs.The procedural risks are low with relatively long-term effectiveness.

RCache: A Read-Intensive Workload-Aware Page Cache for NVM Filesystem

Byte-addressable non-volatile memory(NVM),as a new participant in the storage hierarchy,gives extremely high performance in storage,which forces changes to be made on current filesystem designs.Page cache,once a significant mechanism filling the performance gap between Dynamic Random Access Memory(DRAM)and block devices,is now a liability that heavily hinders the writing performance of NVM filesystems.Therefore state-of-the-art NVM filesystems leverage the direct access(DAX)technology to bypass the page cache entirely.However,the DRAM still provides higher bandwidth than NVM,which prevents skewed read workloads from benefiting from a higher bandwidth of the DRAM and leads to sub-optimal performance for the system.In this paper,we propose RCache,a readintensive workload-aware page cache for NVM filesystems.Different from traditional caching mechanisms where all reads go through DRAM,RCache uses a tiered page cache design,including assigning DRAM and NVM to hot and cold data separately,and reading data from both sides.To avoid copying data to DRAM in a critical path,RCache migrates data from NVM to DRAM in a background thread.Additionally,RCache manages data in DRAM in a lock-free manner for better latency and scalability.Evaluations on Intel Optane Data Center(DC)Persistent Memory Modules show that,compared with NOVA,RCache achieves 3 times higher bandwidth for read-intensive workloads and introduces little performance loss for write operations.

Protaper、MTwo、K File根管锉在隐裂性牙髓炎患者预备根管中的应用效果比较

目的:比较Protaper、MTwo、K File根管锉在隐裂性牙髓炎患者预备根管中的应用效果。方法:回顾性分析2019年5月至2021年3月该院收治的165例(198颗)隐裂性牙髓炎患者的临床资料,根据不同预备根管器械将其分为Protaper组61例(68颗,根管总数111根)、MTwo组58例(73颗,根管总数125根)、K File组46例(57颗,根管总数101根)。比较三组临床疗效、根管填充情况、疼痛程度[视觉模拟评分法(VAS)]评分、约诊间痛发生率、治疗后1年患牙牙根纵裂发生率。结果:三组治疗总有效率比较,差异无统计学意义(P>0.05);Protaper组根管适充率与MTwo组、K File组比较,差异均无统计学意义(P>0.05);MTwo组根管适充率高于K File组,差异有统计学意义(P<0.05);MTwo组与K File组VAS评分比较,差异无统计学意义(P>0.05);MTwo组约诊间痛发生率与Protaper组、K File组比较,差异无统计学意义(P>0.05);Protaper组VAS评分均低于MTwo组、K File组,约诊间痛发生率低于K File组,差异有统计学意义(P<0.05);治疗后1年,三组患牙牙根纵裂发生率比较,差异无统计学意义(P>0.05)。结论:Protaper、MTwo、K File根管锉应用于隐裂性牙髓炎患者预备根管中治疗总有效率相当,但Protaper降低VAS评分、MTwo提高根管填充质量的效果明显。

Effects of an Omaha System-based follow-up regimen on self-care and quality of life in gastrointestinal surgery patients

BACKGROUND Currently,a variety of new nursing methods and routine nursing have been widely used in the nursing of gastrointestinal surgery patients.AIM To investigate the effect of follow-up protocol based on the Omaha System on self-care ability and quality of life of gastrointestinal surgery patients.METHODS A total of 128 patients with inflammatory bowel disease in gastrointestinal surgery in gastrointestinal surgery from March 2019 to August 2021 were divided into A(n=64)and B(n=64)groups according to different nursing methods.The group A received a follow-up program Omaha System-based intervention of the group B,whereas the group B received the routine nursing intervention.Medical Coping Modes Questionnaire,Crohn’s and Colitis Knowledge Score(CCKNOW),inflammatory bowel disease questionnaire(IBDQ),Exercise of Self-nursing Agency Scale(ESCA),The Modified Mayo Endoscopic Score,and Beliefs about Medicine Questionnaire(BMQ)were compared between the two groups.RESULTS Following the intervention,the group A were facing score significantly increased than group B,while the avoidance and yield scores dropped below of group B(all P<0.05);in group A,the level of health knowledge,personal care abilities,self-perception,self-awareness score and ESCA total score were more outstanding than group B(all P<0.05);in group A the frequency of defecation,hematochezia,endoscopic performance,the total evaluation score by physicians and the disease activity were lower than group B(all P<0.05);in the group A,the total scores of knowledge in general,diet,drug,and complication and CCKNOW were higher than group B(all P<0.05);in group A,the necessity of taking medicine,score of medicine concern and over-all score of BMQ were more significant than group B(all P<0.05);at last in the group A,the scores of systemic and intestinal symptoms,social and emotional function,and IBDQ in the group A were higher than group B(all P<0.05).CONCLUSION For gastrointestinal surgery patients,the Omaha System-based sequel protocol can improve disease awareness and intervention compliance,help them to face the disease positively,reduce disease activity,and improve patients’self-nursing ability and quality of life.

Follow-Up Care of HIV-Positive Pregnant Women in North Central Nigerian: A 15-Year Review

Background: Pregnant women bear the greatest burden of people living with HIV in the West Africa sub-region, and the country requires continuous optimal follow-up care for their disease after delivery. Documentation of such very important services is rarely done in this high-burden environment, and hence the present study. Method: A 15-year retrospective review of medical records of HIV-positive pregnant women who attended antenatal care services from January 2006 to December 2020 at the prevention of the mothers-to-child transmission unit of the health facility was carried out to document the HIV service provided at the unit, and the follow-up care at the adult HIV special treatment clinic for the continuation of their HIV treatment. Results: Of the 1245 HIV-positive pregnant mothers reviewed during the period, 702 (56.4%) were between the ages of 26 - 35 years, 1043 (83.8%) were on HIV treatment before their index pregnancy, 202 (16.2%) were diagnosed of HIV infection during their last trimester and labor, while 878 (70.5%) continued their HIV services at adult HIV special treatment clinic after delivery. The predictors of continuous care include: maternal parity with [OR] 0.51 (0.35 - 0.73), p = 0.02, time of presentation in trimester with [OR] 1.54 (1.15 - 2.06), p = 0.003, duration on antiretroviral therapy [OR] 2.14 (1.57 - 2.9) p Conclusion: The high rate of optimal follow-up care of HIV-positive mothers after delivery in the adult special treatment clinic in this study speaks of the preparedness and good supportive services provided to these mothers in the health facility. However, the high rate of loss to follow-up among this cohort of women requires a more focused intervention during their postpartum period for a better outcome.

Determinants of the Ophthalmological Follow-Up of Sickle Cell Patients at the National Center of Research and Care for Sickle Cell Patients in Lome-Togo

Objectives: To assess the factors influencing the ophthalmological follow-up of sickle cell patients in Togo. Materials and Methods: The national center of research and care for sickle cell patients (CNRSD) served as study setting. It was a descriptive and analytical study by interview over a three-month period from December 01, 2020 to March 02, 2021. Was included in the study, any patient with sickle cell disease genotype SS or SC, age ≥ 17 years, regularly followed at the CNRSD and having accepted the interview by a survey sheet. Excluded were patients with sickle cell trait genotype AS or AC or with a disability that prevented them from being interviewed. Results: Two hundred and fifty (250) patients with sickle cell disease were interviewed. The mean age was 29.1 years ± 11.12 years [17 years;67 years] and the sex ratio = 0.52. Nine patients over ten (9/10) attended at least secondary school. The jobless represented 25.60% of the total population followed respectively by students and laborers in 20.40% and 16% of cases. Twenty-four percent (24%) of patients were followed up in ophthalmology department. Statistically, there was no significant relationship between level of education (p = 0.4083), occupation (p = 0.6441) and knowledge of the ocular complications of sickle cell disease. Statistically, there was a significant relationship between knowledge of the ocular complications of sickle cell disease and compliance with ophthalmological follow-up (p = 0.0009). Conclusion: The knowledge of eye disorders related to sickle cell disease by patients with sickle cell disease improves their ophthalmological follow-up. Greater awareness on eye disorders related to sickle cell disease by medical staff towards patients with sickle cell disease would improve ophthalmological follow-up. .

Postpartum Intrauterine Device: Use and Follow-Up of Users in the Maternity Ward of the Ratoma Communal Medical Center in Conakry, Guinea

Objective: The aim of this study was to describe the use of the postpartum intrauterine device in the maternity ward of the Ratoma communal medical center in Conakry. Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study carried out between July 1st 2015 and June 30 2016, i.e. a duration of one year. Results: A total of 551 patients received advice on various contraceptive methods. Most of this advice was given in the post-partum period (40.2%) and during antenatal care (39.1%). Of the patients advised, 87 (15.8%) used the intrauterine device. The majority of users (93%) were married and uneducated (63.2%), and 39.1% were poor. The majority (56.3%) of intra-uterine devices were inserted in the immediate post-partum period. The majority of women had no adverse events either during the first six weeks (n = 57;65.5%) or at 3rd months (n = 75;86.2%) or 6th months (n = 76;87.4%) after IUD insertion. Most users remained complication-free throughout the follow-up period (n = 76;87.4% at 6th weeks and 3rd months, and n = 77;88.5% at 6th months). The continuation rate was 89.7% at 6 weeks and 3rd months, and 87.4% at 6th months after insertion. The majority of users (87.0%) were satisfied with the care they received. Conclusion: This study showed very few complications among intrauterine device users, and high continuation and satisfaction rates. The intrauterine device is a long-acting, effective, reversible and safe contraceptive that can be used by most women for birth spacing in Guinea, where women do not regularly visit health facilities.

Evolution of HBV Viral Load during Clinical and Biological Follow-Up of Chronic Hepatitis B Patients at the Saint Camille Hospital in Ouagadougou

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a major public health problem worldwide. The aim of this study was to document the dynamics of HBV viral load during the follow-up of chronic hepatitis B patients at the Saint Camille Hospital in Ouagadougou (HOSCO) from 2017 to 2021. This descriptive retrospective study was carried out in the Hepato-Gastro-Enterology Department of HOSCO and focused on patients who were undergoing treatment for chronic viral hepatitis B. A total of 260 cases of chronic hepatitis B were included in the study. The most affected age group was 21 to 30 years, accounting for 48.08% of the cases. Lifestyle factors included alcohol consumption (3.08%) and tobacco use (2.69%). Major risk factors for transmission included lack of vaccination (98.46%), family history of HBV infection (68.00%) and engagement in high-risk activities (28.00%). Patients requiring treatment were prescribed Tenofovir 300 mg tablets. FibroScan® showed the presence of stage F3-F4 fibrosis (2.14%) and S3 steatosis (13.33%). After one year of follow-up, 6.92% of patients achieved an undetectable viral load with normalized transaminase levels. The majority of other patients had a detectable viral load but below 20,000 IU/mL. The prevalence of viral hepatitis B remains significant worldwide. Although effective and well-monitored treatment can lead to undetectable viremia, prevention remains the most effective strategy for successful management of this disease.