South African medical journal = Suid-Afrikaanse tydskrif vir geneeskunde
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In the context of a shortage of medical specialists, a medical referral app, designed for use on smartphones, was launched in 2014 for use by doctors in the public health service in South Africa. ⋯ This study documents the scale-up of a mobile phone consultation and referral app from pilot phase to significant growth in use across a resource-constrained healthcare system. In a large proportion of cases, advice was given to the referring doctor by means of the app, frequently obviating the need for a specialist appointment or patient transfer. This finding demonstrates that a mobile app has the potential to reduce the need for face-to-face specialist visits, thereby improving the use of scarce medical resources.
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COVID-19 has been reported to affect a variety of organs. We report a case of constrictive pericarditis in a patient who had contracted the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Other possible causes such as tuberculosis and metabolic causes were considered, but excluded by special investigations.