Health care facility vulnerability in developing nations: strengthening health care policy-making and implementation

Background

In developing countries such as India, inadequate importance and consideration given to assessment of health care facilities negatively affects progress towards achieving health targets. India has focused on developing Primary Health Centres (PHCs) for rural basic laboratory and curative services. The local decision-makers do not have any national-level framework to evaluate the vulnerability of PHCs which are not meeting national PHC standards, nor do they have resources to meet national PHC standards.

Aim

The study proposed a framework to assess the public health care facilities for vulnerability.

Methods

A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was performed. The study used PHC laboratory services of 42 PHCs of Osmanabad District, India as a case study for proposed framework. The data assessment was carried out at district level, block level, PHC cluster level, and PHC level to provide flexibility to local decision-makers in taking remedial measures.

Results

Staff workload (73.17%), physician’s need (51.22%), and organization structure (36.59%) are the most prevalent challenges across PHCs. Multiple challenges are prevalent in the PHCs across districts. The PHCs with poor medical doctor (MD) capability or many challenges have shown poor laboratory performance.

Conclusion

Governance need to be strengthened in PHCs, followed by sustained support in resources and financing. Poor health status in developing nations necessitates a public health response based on health systems. Therefore, an assessment of health facility vulnerability in the form of laboratory services is essential in primary health care facilities.

     

Venous hypoxia: a poorly studied etiological factor of varicose veins

Venous hypoxia has long been postulated as a potential cause of varicosity formation. This article aimed to review the development of this hypothesis, including evidence supporting and controversies surrounding it. Vein wall oxygenation is achieved by oxygen diffusing from luminal blood and vasa vasorum. The whole media of varicosities is oxygenated by vasa vasorum as compared to only the outer two-thirds of media of normal veins. There was no evidence that differences exist between oxygen content of blood from varicose and non-varicose veins, although the former demonstrated larger fluctuations with postural changes. Studies using cell culture and ex vivo explants demonstrated that hypoxia activated leucocytes and endothelium which released mediators regulating vein wall remodelling similar to those observed in varicosities. Venoactive drugs may improve venous oxygenation, and inhibit hypoxia activation of leucocytes and endothelium. The evidence for hypoxia as a causative factor in varicosities remains inconclusive, mainly due to heterogeneity and poor design of published in vivostudies. However, molecular studies have shown that hypoxia was able to cause inflammatory changes and vein wall remodelling similar to those observed in varicosities. Further studies are needed to improve our understanding of the role of hypoxia and help identify potential therapeutic targets.     

Preventable long-term complications of suprapubic cystostomy after spinal cord injury: Root cause analysis in a representative case report

Background

Although complications related to suprapubic cystostomies are well documented, there is scarcity of literature on safety issues involved in long-term care of suprapubic cystostomy in spinal cord injury patients.

Case Presentation

A 23-year-old female patient with tetraplegia underwent suprapubic cystostomy. During the next decade, this patient developed several catheter-related complications, as listed below: (1) Suprapubic catheter came out requiring reoperation. (2) The suprapubic catheter migrated to urethra through a patulous bladder neck, which led to leakage of urine per urethra. (3) Following change of catheter, the balloon of suprapubic catheter was found to be lying under the skin on two separate occasions. (4) Subsequently, this patient developed persistent, seropurulent discharge from suprapubic cystostomy site as well as from under-surface of pubis. (5) Repeated misplacement of catheter outside the bladder led to chronic leakage of urine along suprapubic tract, which in turn predisposed to inflammation and infection of suprapubic tract, abdominal wall fat, osteomyelitis of pubis, and abscess at the insertion of adductor longus muscle

Conclusion

Suprapubic catheter should be anchored securely to prevent migration of the tip of catheter into urethra and accidental dislodgment of catheter. While changing the suprapubic catheter, correct placement of Foley catheter inside the urinary bladder must be ensured. In case of difficulty, it is advisable to perform exchange of catheter over a guide wire. Ultrasound examination of urinary bladder is useful to check the position of the balloon of Foley catheter.     

The differential immunological activities of Ganoderma lucidum on human pre-cancerous uroepithelial cells

Aims of the study

Ganoderma lucidum is active to stimulate immunological effector cells, but the effects on uroepithelial cells have never been explored. The present study compared the expression of major cytokines induced by the water (GLw) and ethanol (GLe) extracts of G. lucidum.

Materials and Methods

The pre-cancerous human uroepithelial cell (HUC-PC) line was employed. A total of 15 cytokines, including major Th1/Th2 cytokines and chemokines, were measured in the complete media after 24 h incubation with GLw and GLe. Additionally, the following assays were performed: cytotoxicity, apoptosis, migration of neutrophils, and nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-κB) DNA binding activity.

Results

GLe inhibited the growth of HUC-PC cells through apoptosis. Interleukins IL-2, IL-6, and IL-8 were significantly up-regulated by GLe in dose-dependent manners, but not by GLw. However, MCP-1 level was significantly increased by GLw but was oppositely reduced by GLe. Furthermore, the elevation of cytokine expression was correlated with the enhancement of p50/p65 NF-κB activity induced by GLe. The elevated IL-8 levels in GLe-treated cells were also correlated with the migration of neutrophils.

Conclusions

GLe and GLw exhibited different immunological activities on the HUC-PC cells. In particular, the activities of GLe may favor the clearance of high risk urothelial cells, suggesting potent chemopreventive ingredients are extractable by ethanol from G. lucidum.     

Chronic Arsenicosis of Cattle in West Bengal and It's Possible Mitigation by Sodium Thiosulfate

Thirty milch cows having arsenic concentration in hair varying from 3 to 4 mg/kg from Dakhin Panchpota village of Nadia district, West Bengal, were divided into three equal groups where high amount of arsenic is reported to be present in soil and ground water. Groups II and III received, respectively, sodium thiosulfate 20 and 40 g to each animal for 30 days as a pilot study, whereas group I served as untreated control. Arsenic content of milk, feces, hair, and urine was estimated before and after administration of sodium thiosulfate orally at two dose level once daily for 1 month. Paddy straw, mustard oil cake, and water fed by animals were also assayed. Sodium thiosulfate significantly decreased arsenic load in milk, urine, and hair after 1 month. In milk, arsenic concentration was decreased significantly which may be beneficial for animal and human beings.     

Localized reductions in resting‐state functional connectivity in children with prenatal alcohol exposure

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) are characterized by impairment in cognitive function that may or may not be accompanied by craniofacial anomalies, microcephaly, and/or growth retardation. Resting‐state functional MRI (rs‐fMRI), which examines the low‐frequency component of the blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signal in the absence of an explicit task, provides an efficient and powerful mechanism for studying functional brain networks even in low‐functioning and young subjects. Studies using independent component analysis (ICA) have identified a set of resting‐state networks (RSNs) that have been linked to distinct domains of cognitive and perceptual function, which are believed to reflect the intrinsic functional architecture of the brain. This study is the first to examine resting‐state functional connectivity within these RSNs in FASD. Rs‐fMRI scans were performed on 38 children with FASD (19 with either full fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) or partial FAS (PFAS), 19 nonsyndromal heavily exposed (HE)), and 19 controls, mean age 11.3 ± 0.9 years, from the Cape Town Longitudinal Cohort. Nine resting‐state networks were generated by ICA. Voxelwise group comparison between a combined FAS/PFAS group and controls revealed localized dose‐dependent functional connectivity reductions in five regions in separate networks: anterior default mode, salience, ventral and dorsal attention, and R executive control. The former three also showed lower connectivity in the HE group. Gray matter connectivity deficits in four of the five networks appear to be related to deficits in white matter tracts that provide intra‐RSN connections. Hum Brain Mapp 38:5217–5233, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.