Department of Surgeryhttp://ugspace.ug.edu.gh:8080/handle/123456789/241542024-03-29T09:11:02Z2024-03-29T09:11:02ZUtilisation Of Traditional Medicine Among Women Diagnosed With Breast Cancer In Ghana: A Descriptive Phenomenological StudyMensah, A.B.B.Asuo, S.B.Clegg-Lamptey, J.N.et al.http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh:8080/handle/123456789/411882024-02-12T15:23:56Z2024-01-01T00:00:00ZUtilisation Of Traditional Medicine Among Women Diagnosed With Breast Cancer In Ghana: A Descriptive Phenomenological Study
Mensah, A.B.B.; Asuo, S.B.; Clegg-Lamptey, J.N.; et al.
Background: Women living with breast cancer (BC) rely on traditional medicine (TM) in addition to orthodox
medicine. There is a need to understand how and why women diagnosed with BC utilise TM. This study explored and
described the lived experiences of women living with BC in terms of their utilisation of traditional medicine.
Methods A descriptive phenomenology design was used to purposefully conduct 20 face-to-face, in-depth
interviews using a semi-structured interview guide. The data were analysed using NVivo-12 based on Collaizzi’s framework
for thematic data analysis.
Results Overall, five main themes emerged, namely: sources of knowledge on TM, motivations for using TM,
treatment modalities, timing for the initiation of TM, the reasons for discontinuing use of TM, and the decision to
seek orthodox medicine. Under the category of motivations for using TM, four themes emerged: financial difficulties
and perceived cost effectiveness of TM, influence of social networks, including family and friends, assurance of noninvasive treatment, delays at the healthcare facility, and side effects of orthodox treatment. Non-invasive treatments
included herbal concoctions, natural food consumption, and skin application treatments. Regarding the timing of
initiation, TM was used in the initial stage of symptom recognition prior to the decision to seek orthodox medicine.
and was also used complementarily or as an alternative after seeking orthodox medicine. However, patients
eventually stopped using TM due to the persistence of symptoms and the progression of cancer to a more advanced
stage, and disapproval by orthodox practitioners.
Conclusion Women living with BC in Ghana utilise traditional medicine (TM) for many reasons and report their
family, friends, and the media as a main source of information. A combination of herbal concoctions and skin
Application modalities are obtained from TM practitioners to treat their BC. However, they eventually discontinue TM
when symptoms persist or when disapproval is expressed by their orthodox healthcare providers. We conclude that
There is an opportunity to better integrate TM into the standard of oncological care for BC patients.
Research Article
2024-01-01T00:00:00ZComparison of preoperative trans‑thoracic echocardiography with intraoperative findings in patients with congenital heart disease undergoing surgeryNjem, J.M.Edwin, F.Tettey, M.http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh:8080/handle/123456789/371852022-05-31T08:52:51Z2021-01-01T00:00:00ZComparison of preoperative trans‑thoracic echocardiography with intraoperative findings in patients with congenital heart disease undergoing surgery
Njem, J.M.; Edwin, F.; Tettey, M.
Objective: To determine the diagnostic accuracy and safety of trans-thoracic echocardiography alone for indicating
surgery by correlating preoperative trans-thoracic echocardiography with intra-operative findings in patients with
congenital heart disease (CHD) in a low resource, low volume center.
Methodology: The pre-operative trans-thoracic echocardiography and intra-operative findings of two hundred and
fifty patients with CHD, undergoing surgery at the National Cardiothoracic Centre (NCTC), Korle Bu Teaching Hospital,
from 2012 to 2017 were prospectively compared. Included in this prospective study, were all patients with CHD who
had trans-thoracic echocardiography alone at the NCTC. Excluded were patients who were operated at the NCTC
based on echocardiography done elsewhere, those who had echocardiography at the NCTC but were operated
elsewhere, as well as those whose operative decision were based on cardiac catheterization or CT angiography and
patients with acquired heart defects. The analysis included profiling of patients on different demographic and clinical
parameters. SPSS software was used for analysis.
Results: Of the 250 patients ages ranged from 2 months to 60 years. The mean was 4 years 95 days, median 1 year
180 days. The female sex accounted for 152 (60.6%). The preoperative trans-thoracic echocardiography correlated
with intra-operative findings completely in 228 (91.2%) of patients, affirming the accuracy of this imaging modality.
There were however, 19 (7.6%) false negatives and 3 (1.2%) false positive. Neither the false positive nor false negative
errors resulted in complications or adversely affected the surgical outcome.
Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, preoperative transthoracic echocardiography done by cardiologists at
the National Cardiothoracic Center, Korle Bu Teaching Hospital Accra, demonstrated a high correlation with intraoperative
findings. Echocardiography also proved to be sensitive, accurate and safe for indicating surgery in patients with
congenital heart disease.
Keywords: Trans-thoracic echocardiography, Congenital heart disease, Intra-operative findings
Research Article
2021-01-01T00:00:00ZAmbiguous genitalia: clinical management of adult female with male assigned gender: a case reportAli, M.A.Maalman, R.S-EDonkor, Y.O.Mensah, J.E.http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh:8080/handle/123456789/368572022-05-31T08:53:31Z2021-01-01T00:00:00ZAmbiguous genitalia: clinical management of adult female with male assigned gender: a case report
Ali, M.A.; Maalman, R.S-E; Donkor, Y.O.; Mensah, J.E.
Background: Disorders of sex development are anomalies in which the development of urogenital ridge is undif‑
ferentiated for the male and female child. Imaging plays a vital role in investigating the gross anatomy and associated
anomalies. Ultrasonography, such as genitography and magnetic resonance, is the primary modality for demonstrat‑
ing internal gonads and genitalia. Early multidisciplinary approach in the management of ambiguous genitalia includ‑
ing early surgical intervention is the predominant practice, with few current considerations on deferral of genital
reconstruction until adolescent age.
Case presentation: We report the rare case of a 24-year-old adult female from a majority ethnic group of the Volta
region, Ghana who was diagnosed and raised as male, now requiring surgical restoration to the female gender. The
surgical team decided to assign external genitalia to correspond with the already intact internal organs, thus con‑
structing the vulva. Consent was given by the client and her family members for management and surgical interven‑
tion. The surgery was scheduled and duly performed with a successful outcome. Understanding and consent was
sought from the patient for the purpose of using her images for teaching, scientifc publication, and demonstrations.
Conclusion: The advantages of deferring surgical reconstruction with psychological counseling after early assess‑
ment need to be considered to prevent inappropriate gender assignment
Research Article
2021-01-01T00:00:00ZGenome-wide meta-analysis identifies 127 open-angle glaucoma loci with consistent effect across ancestriesGharahkhani, P.Jorgenson, E.Hysi, P.Khawaja, A.P.Pendergrass, S.Han, X.Ong, J.S.Hewitt, A.W.Segrè, A.V.Rouhana, J.M.Hamel, A.R.Igo Jr, R.P.Choquet, H.Qassim, A.Josyula, N.S.Bailey, J.N.C.Bonnemaijer, P.W.M.Iglesias, A.Siggs, O.M.Young, T.L.Vitart, V.Thiadens, A.A.H.JKarjalainen, J.Uebe, S.Melles, R.B.Nair, K.S.Luben, R.Simcoe, M.Amersinghe, N.Cree, A.J.Hohn, R.Poplawski, A.Chen, L.J.Shi-Song, RAung, T.Vithana, E.N.Akafo, S.http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh:8080/handle/123456789/361412022-05-31T08:54:18Z2021-01-01T00:00:00ZGenome-wide meta-analysis identifies 127 open-angle glaucoma loci with consistent effect across ancestries
Gharahkhani, P.; Jorgenson, E.; Hysi, P.; Khawaja, A.P.; Pendergrass, S.; Han, X.; Ong, J.S.; Hewitt, A.W.; Segrè, A.V.; Rouhana, J.M.; Hamel, A.R.; Igo Jr, R.P.; Choquet, H.; Qassim, A.; Josyula, N.S.; Bailey, J.N.C.; Bonnemaijer, P.W.M.; Iglesias, A.; Siggs, O.M.; Young, T.L.; Vitart, V.; Thiadens, A.A.H.J; Karjalainen, J.; Uebe, S.; Melles, R.B.; Nair, K.S.; Luben, R.; Simcoe, M.; Amersinghe, N.; Cree, A.J.; Hohn, R.; Poplawski, A.; Chen, L.J.; Shi-Song, R; Aung, T.; Vithana, E.N.; Akafo, S.
Primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG), is a heritable common cause of blindness world-wide. To identify risk loci, we conduct a large multi-ethnic meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies on a total of 34,179 cases and 349,321 controls, identifying 44 previously unreported risk loci and confirming 83 loci that were previously known.
The majority of loci have broadly consistent effects across European, Asian and African ancestries. Cross ancestry data improve fine-mapping of causal variants for several loci. Integration of multiple lines of genetic evidence support the functional relevance of the identified POAG risk loci and highlight potential contributions of several genes to POAG pathogenesis, including SVEP1, RERE, VCAM1, ZNF638, CLIC5, SLC2A12, YAP1, MXRA5, and SMAD6. Several drug compounds targeting POAG risk genes may be potential glaucoma therapeutic candidates.
Research Article
2021-01-01T00:00:00Z