The concept of brain death (BD), defined as irreversible loss of function of the brain including the brainstem, is accepted in the medical literature and in legislative policy worldwide. However, in most of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) there are no legal guidelines regarding BD. Hypothetical scenarios based on our collective experience are presented which underscore the consequences of the absence ...

Participation by nephrologists is needed in most intensive care units, even when such units are ‘closed’. This participation should assist with diagnosis and management of intrinsic and complex renal diseases such as vasculitis, complex metabolic and electrolyte disorders including hyponatremia, and acute kidney injury (AKI) with and without underlying chronic kidney disease (CKD). Early nephro...

background and purpose: a 3-unit course is dedicated to general language in medical universities and the vocabulary and text structure of the courses have usually no relation to medical language. we examine whether teaching general language will be as effective as medical language as assessed through recall of general and medical vocabulary and text structure knowledge. methods: an experimental...

It has long been hypothesised that futile cycles in cellular metabolism are involved in the regulation of biochemical pathways. Following the work of Newsholme and Crabtree, a quantitative theory was developed for this idea based on open-system thermodynamics and metabolic control analysis. It is shown that the stoichiometric sensitivity of an intermediary metabolite concentration with respect ...

objective: most previous retrospective studies failed to show a consistent association between pre-hospital time intervals and mortality in trauma patients, bringing the recommendation of “transport fast to increase survival” under question. the aim of this study was to evaluate the association of response time, scene time, and transport time with 24-hour in-hospital mortality.   methods: in th...

General Medical operations in a CW environment will be complex. In addition to providing care in protected environments or while dressed in protective clothing, medical personnel will have to treat chemically injured and contaminated casualties, sometimes in large numbers. A mass-casualty situation occurs whenever the numbers or type of casualty exceeds the capabilities of the unit to treat and...

Participation by nephrologists is needed in most intensive care units, even when such units are ‘closed’. This participation should assist with diagnosis and management of intrinsic and complex renal diseases such as vasculitis, complex metabolic and electrolyte disorders including hyponatremia, and acute kidney injury (AKI) with and without underlying chronic kidney disease (CKD). Early nephro...