Background Although the rate of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is increasing in Africa, there is a dearth of information on the disease and the dynamics of hemostatic parameters with therapy. Methods In this case-control study, we evaluated variations in the level/activity of selected coagulation parameters among cALL in Ghana and healthy controls stratified by stage of therapeutic management. Results In all, the research recruited 104 participants comprising 26 cALL cases and 78 healthy controls. The cALL group had significantly higher prothrombin time (PT) (p = 0.001), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) (p < 0.0001) and D-dimers (p = 0.001) but lower platelet (PLT) count, protein C (PC) (p < 0.0001), protein S (PS) (p < 0.0001) and antithrombin III (ATIII) (p < 0.0001) compared to controls. Compared to the healthy controls, activity of PC was lower during induction (p < 0.0001), consolidation (p = 0.005) and maintenance phases of chemotherapy (p = 0.012) while activities of PS and ATIII were lower at both induction (p < 0.0001, p = 0.006) and consolidation (p < 0.0001, p = 0.018) phases of chemotherapy. Conclusion Our findings provide evidence in the context of Africa and corroborates previous reports that cALL could result in a state of hypercoagulability, possibly leading to a high risk of thrombosis and thromboembolic complications. This possibly increased risk is not limited to the induction phase but also the consolidation phase.

Introduction: The burden of hernia is disproportionately high in low-to-middle-income countries, due to the lack of fundamental resources needed to effectively diagnose and manage cases. The patterns of hernia, the haematological profile, and the predictive ability of blood cell indices were all investigated in this study. Methods: Fifty-four subjects: 27 hernia patients and 27 healthy controls were included in this single-centre, unmatched case-control study. Hernia was diagnosed using physical examination and ultrasound scan. Haematological indices of each subject were measured with an automated blood cell counter. Results: Herniae recorded were 92.59% inguinal, and 3.27% each epigastric and uterine prolapse. Hernia was prevalent in males (85.2%, p=0.008) and older subjects ≥53 years (48.1%, p=0.004). HgB (p=0.006), MCHC (p≤0.001), and RDW-CV (p=0.042) levels were significantly elevated in strangulated than non-strangulated hernia and controls respectively, while Abs GRAN (p=0.024) was decreased in non-strangulated than strangulated hernia and control groups respectively. MCHC (AUC=0.947 [0.895-0.999], p≤0.001) was the most sensitive predictor for herniation followed by age (AUC=0.750 [0.610-0.889], p=0.002); HgB (AUC=0.718 [0.580-0.857], p=0.006); and RDW-CV (AUC=0.700 [0.559-0.840], p=0.012). Also, MCHC (AUC=0.831 [0.723-0.938], p≤0.001); HgB (AUC=0.738 [0.590-0.887], p=0.005); and RBC (AUC=0.671 [0.502-0.840], p=0.045) respectively, were significant predictors of strangulation. Conclusion: Gender and age were significantly associated with hernias. Inguinal hernia and strangulation were common in the study setting, especially, among males. Also, there were significant variations in erythrocyte- and leucocyte indices across the groups, but not platelets. Erythrocyte indices were significant predictive biomarkers for hernia and strangulation. The CBC is a useful test for the early detection of herniation and strangulation. Doi: 10.28991/SciMedJ-2022-0401-1 Full Text: PDF

Introduction Haemoglobin variants and preeclampsia (PE) are associated with adverse fatal events of which oxidative stress may be an underlying factor. Oxidative stress (OS) among preeclamptic women with haemoglobin variants has been well established. It is, however, unclear whether haemoglobin variants induce OS to aggravate the risk of adverse foeto-maternal outcomes in pregnant women with preeclampsia. We measured the levels of OS biomarkers and determined the association between haemoglobin variants, and adverse foeto-maternal outcomes among pregnant women with PE. Methods This multi-centre prospective study recruited 150 PE women from three major health facilities in both Bono and Bono east regions of Ghana from April to December 2019. Haemoglobin variants; HbAS, HbSS, HbSC, HbCC, and HbAC were determined by haemoglobin electrophoresis. OS biomarkers such as malondialdehyde (MDA), catalase (CAT), vitamin C, and uric acid (UA) along with haematological and biochemical parameters were estimated using standard protocol. Adverse pregnancy complications (APCs) such as post-partum haemorrhage (PPH), HELLP (Haemolysis, Elevated liver enzymes, Low platelet count) syndrome, preterm delivery, neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admission, and neonatal jaundice were recorded. Results Of the 150 pregnant women with preeclampsia, the distribution of haemoglobin AA, AS, AC, CC, SS and SC phenotypes were 66.0%, 13.3%, 12.7%, 3.3%, 3.3% and 1.3%, respectively. The most prevalent foeto-maternal outcomes among PE women were NICU admission (32.0%) followed by PPH (24.0%), preterm delivery (21.3%), HELLP syndrome (18.7%), and neonatal jaundice (18.0%). Except for vitamin C level which was significantly higher in patients with at least a copy of Haemoglobin S variant than those with at least a copy of Haemoglobin C variant (5.52 vs 4.55; p = 0.014), levels of MDA, CAT, and UA were not statistically significantly different across the various haemoglobin variants. Multivariate logistic regression model showed that participants with HbAS, HbAC, having at least a copy of S or C and participants with HbCC, SC, SS had significantly higher odds of neonatal jaundice, NICU admission, PPH and HELLP syndrome compared to participants with HbAA. Conclusion Reduced levels of vitamin C are common among preeclamptics with at least one copy of the HbC variant. Haemoglobin variants in preeclampsia contribute to adverse foeto-maternal outcomes with Haemoglobin S variants being the most influencing factor for PPH, HELLP, preterm labour, NICU admission, and neonatal jaundice.

Introduction: The burden of hernia is disproportionately high in low-to-middle income countries, due to the lack of fundamental resources needed to effectively diagnose and manage cases. This study explored the patterns of hernia, haematological profile, and predictive ability of blood cell indices. Methods: Fifty-four subjects: 27 hernia patients and 27 healthy controls were included in this single-centre, unmatched case-control study. Hernia was diagnosed using physical examination and ultrasound scan. Haematological indices of each subject were measured with an automated blood cell counter. Results: Herniae recorded were 92.59% inguinal, and 3.7% each of epigastric and uterine prolapse. Hernia was prevalent in males (85.2%, p = 0.008) and older subjects ≥ 53 years (48.1%, p = 0.004). HgB (p = 0.006), MCHC (p ≤ 0.001), and RDW-CV (p = 0.042) were significantly elevated in strangulated than non-strangulated hernia and controls, while Abs GRAN (p = 0.024) was decreased in non-strangulated than strangulated hernia and controls. MCHC (AUC = 0.947 [0.895–0.999], p ≤ 0.001) was the most sensitive predictor of herniation followed by age (AUC = 0.750 [0.610–0.889], p = 0.002); HgB (AUC = 0.718 [0.580–0.857], p = 0.006); and RDW-CV (AUC = 0.700 [0.559–0.840], p = 0.012). Also, MCHC (AUC = 0.831 [0.723–0.938], p ≤ 0.001); HgB (AUC = 0.738 [0.590–0.887], p = 0.005); and RBC (AUC = 0.671 [0.502–0.840], p = 0.045) respectively, were significant predictors of strangulation. Conclusion: Gender and age were significantly associated with hernia. Inguinal hernia and strangulation were common in the study setting, especially, among males. Also, there were significant variations in erythrocyte- and leucocyte indices among hernia patients. Erythrocyte indices were significant predictive biomarkers for hernia and strangulation. CBC is a useful test for early detection of herniation and strangulation.