European Journal of Medical and Health Sciences

Ganglioneuroma of the Sacral Spine: A Case Report and Literature Review

Jihane Limi — 2025-04-11

Spinal ganglioneuromas are benign tumors that often present symptoms related to compression of nerve elements. They are generally rare. Treatment is essentially surgical, generally improves symptoms and is accompanied by a low probability of tumor recurrence. We describe the case of a 49-year-old man with a ganglioneuroma involving the right third sacral nerve root. Revealed by a cauda equina syndrome. Treatment consisted of complete excision of the tumor. The outcome was favorable, with slight recovery of genito-phincter disorders after 6 months.

Correlation between Endothelin-1 Levels and Mean Arterial Pressure (MAP) in Pregnant Women with Preeclampsia

Anak Agung Ngurah Jaya Kusuma — 2025-03-25

Introduction: Preeclampsia is a common obstetric complication worldwide associated with maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality. Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) are characterized by high blood pressure and proteinuria after the 20th week of gestation which can result in eclampsia and multiple organ failure. The increased release of ET-1 in preeclampsia may have vascular constrictor effects and therefore the high concentration of ET-1 may be related to hypertension, because ET-1 is a potent vasoconstrictor. Estimation of association between ET-1 and mean arterial pressure (MAP) would aid in defining the predictions for further progress of the preeclamptic women into severe disease.

Method: This study is an analytic correlational study carried out at the Prof. Dr. I. G. N. G. Ngoerah Hospital, Denpasar, with subjects of pregnant women with preeclampsia who met the inclusion criteria. MAP was recorded and the serum samples were collected for ET-1 level measurement with the ELISA method. A consecutive sampling method was used to achieve a sample size of 50 participants.

Results: The study found a significant positive correlation between ET-1 levels and MAP in preeclamptic subjects, suggesting that ET-1 elevation isassociated with increased MAP, further supporting the role of ET-1 in the pathophysiology of preeclampsia-related hypertension.

Conclusion: ET-1 levels correlate positively with MAP, indicating a potential diagnostic marker for preeclampsia progression.

Comparison of Short-Term Outcome between Modified Extraperitoneal Uterosacral Ligament Fixation (MEUSL) and Sacrospinous Ligament Fixation (SSF) for Apical Vaginal Support

Nurul Hikmah Mat Noh — 2025-03-14

Prevention of apical prolapse during prolapse surgery is crucial to ensure a good outcome of the surgery. The choice of the best method for apical support remains debatable. This is a study comparing the surgical outcome between modified extraperitoneal uterosacral ligament fixation (MEUSL) and sacrospinous ligament fixation (SSF). This is a case-control study involving 42 patients with stage three and four pelvic organ prolapse (POP) looking into surgical failure, prolapse recurrence, lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS), and operative complications. The results were analyzed using an independent t-test for normally distributed continuous data and a chi-square test for categorical data. A logistic regression analysis was also performed to predict the outcome. A p-value of <0.05 was deemed significant. MEUSL is less likely to have surgical failure at six months with an OR of 7.25 (p = 0.03, CI 1.24–42.38). There is no difference in terms of lower urinary tract symptoms. Intraoperatively, MEUSL had a significantly higher blood loss as compared to the SSF group. MEUSL is an effective technique for the treatment of apical prolapse as it has a lower risk of surgical failure as compared to SSF. A future study regarding long-term outcomes between the two procedures is recommended to guide surgeons in choosing the best treatment option.

Prevalence and Associated Factors of Hypertension among Motorcycle Taxi Drivers in Kakonko District, Kigoma Region, Western Tanzania

Getera Isack Nyangi — 2025-04-11

Background: Hypertension is a significant cardiovascular risk factor and a public health concern in low-income and middle-income countries, including Tanzania. However, data on hypertension is scarce in Tanzania. We investigated the prevalence of hypertension and its associated factors among motorcycle taxi drivers in Kakonko district, Kigoma region western Tanzania.

Method: We conducted a descriptive and cross-sectional study among motorcycle taxi drivers between Agost and November 2024. We enrolled 312 eligible participants for data collection by purposive sampling. The independent variables (exposure) of interest were Age, alcohol consumption, cigarette smoking, family history of hypertension, duration of motorcycle driving, BMI, duration of sleeping, and eating (fruits/vegetables). The outcome variable of interest was hypertension defined as systolic blood pressure ≥140 mmHg and/or diastolic blood pressure ≥90 mmHg. Descriptive and logistic regression was used during statistical analysis.

Results: The prevalence of hypertension was 34.6%. Factors that were positively associated with increasing odds of hypertension during both univariate and multivariate analysis were age above 30 years old, over weight and obesity.

Conclusion and Benefit of Results: The intervention for hypertension must also put much emphasis in addressing the problem of obesity and overweight. The results of this study are essential for the formulating health policies to improve the diagnosis, prevention and management of hypertension in Tanzania.

Trends and Factors for Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes of Low-Risk Pregnancy from a Midwife Obstetric Unit in South Africa, 2018–2022

Akm Monjurul Hoque — 2025-03-25

The trend of birth outcomes was recorded in a small number of research from rural South Africa. Using the most recent delivery data from 2018 to 2022, this study aims to measure trends and risk factors for context-specific demographic, obstetric, and antenatal care (ANC) for stillbirth and early neonatal deaths (ENND) of pregnant women who gave singleton births. All pregnant women who gave birth to singletons at Kwadabeka CHC (KCHC) between January 2018 and December 2022 were the focus of a retrospective cohort research. Of the total 4116 women, 60 (1.5%) delivered stillbirths and 4080 had live births. Of them, 36 were ENND, resulting in 8.8 per 1000 live births. Variables that were found to increase are ANC utilization rates from 95.4% in 2018 to a higher rate of 96.4% in 2022 (p < 0.05), who received ANC at KCHC 41.4% in 2018 to 69.6% in 2022 (p < 0.001). Variables that had a declining trend are BBA falling from 5.7% in 2018 to 3.8% in 2022 (p = 0.021) and neonatal PCR positive fell from 4.3% to 2.5 %, respectively (p = 0.001). Women having no ANC care had a higher OR = 33.18 (95% CI:3.6-301.0, p = 0.002), and ANC visits between 1–3 had an OR of 9.6 (95% CI;1.2-75.0, p = 0.03) for ENND. Variables having higher OR for stillbirths are women who had ANC at other PHC facilities (OR = 1.91, 95% CI 1.91-3.32, p = 0.02), women who never had ANC (OR = 11.7, 95% CI:2.9-45.9, p < 0.001) and ANC visits between 1–3 (OR = 4.1, 95% CI:1.38-12.1, p = 0.01). Variables that had lower OR for stillbirths are Pregnant women aged between 30–34 years (OR = 0.15, 95% CI:0.04-0.57, p = 0.005), women without HIV infection (OR = 0.56, 95% CI:0.31-0.89, p = 0.008), without syphilis infection (OR = 0.29, 95% CI:0.09-0.92) and those women had no BBA (OR = 0.16, 95% CI:0.08-0.34, p < 0.001). There were no trends for ENND and stillbirth. However, there were decreasing trends in BBA and PCR positivity rates. There were increasing trends for having ANC and having ANC at KCHC. Having no ANC or lower numbers of ANC visits were the strong risk factors for ENNDs and stillbirths. The other risk factors for stillbirths were maternal age, ANC at other PHC clinics, BBA, HIV, and syphilis infections. We suggest continuing to strengthen and promote early ANC attendance and increasing the number of ANC visits. Further studies are encouraged to identify the quality of ANC and the delivery practices that have been implemented.