Nigerians

BACKGROUND There is paucity of data on the nutritional status of school-age children in Sagamu town of Southwestern Nigeria. OBJECTIVE To determine the nutritional status of primary school children in Sagamu Local Government Area, Nigeria. METHODS A cross-sectional survey of primary school children aged 6 to 10 years in Sagamu, Southwestern Nigeria was done. Eight schools were selected using a multi-stage sampling technique. Children randomly selected proportionately from the schools were studied. The weight-for-age, height-for-age and BMI of these children were compared with the 2007 WHO reference values to diagnose underweight (WA <-2SD), stunting (HA <-2SD), thinness (BMI <-2SD), overweight (BMI > +1SD) and obesity (BMI > +2SD). RESULTS A total of 1016 children comprising 479 (47.1%) boys and 537 (52.9%) girls were studied. The prevalence of malnutrition was 401(39.4%) and boys were more malnourished compared to girls (p =0.002). The overall prevalences of underwei...

Background: Sickle leg ulcer (SLU) is a chronic and debilitating complication of sickle cell disease (SCD) associated with huge physical and psychosocial discomfort. The occurrence of SLU has remained steady despite successful preventive strategies and advances in SCD care. Although multifactorial factors have been implicated in SLU, these are not fully understood, and data on how these relate to young Nigerian SCD patients are scanty. Aims: This study aims to evaluate the sociodemographic, clinical, and laboratory markers of SLU in a young Nigerian SCD cohort. Patients and Methods: This study involved 109 young SCD patients and 67 healthy peers. The sociodemographic and laboratory parameters of the participants were examined in addition to the evaluation of the SCD cohort for SLU. Results: Only the HbSS patients had SLU. This was found in six of them giving a prevalence of 5.9% (6/101). Their median age was 17, range 14–21 years. There was a preceding history of trauma in 4 (66.7%)...

We documented the pattern of medical illnesses in 613 elderly Nigerians (398 females and 215 males) resident in Idikan community in Ibadan city. Their ages ranged from 65 to 110 years with a mean of 76.2 years. Medical disorders diagnosed either singly or in combinations were diagnosed in 364 (59.4%) subjects and there was no gender association. Cardiovascular problems were the commonest and high blood pressure (27.8%) was the most frequent diagnosis. Only 5 of the hypertensive subjects were aware of that diagnosis and were on regular medications. The complications presented with included heart failure and stroke. Visual impairment (12.1%) mainly due to cataracts and osteoarthritis (6.7%) in that order were next in frequency. The most frequent neurological disorders were hearing impairment and movement disorders. The other conditions encountered were similar to the findings in previous studies in this environment, and the usual findings in studies focusing on this age-group in other...

. This is a review of the initial experience with surgical management of upper cervical spine injuries. The clinical case notes of patients surgically managed for UCSI were analysed for aetiology, presentation, duration of symptoms before presentation and surgery, pre- and post-operative Frankel grading, nature of injury and type of surgery. Eleven male and one female patients (mean age; 41.8 years; range 22-58 years) with UCSI were managed surgically. All the patients were involved in road traffic crashes. The case distribution were odontoid peg fracture [type II] alone (2 cases), hangman fracture alone (5 cases), both C1/2 subluxation and odontoid peg fracture (4 cases) and complex C2 injury (1 case). The surgical management includes C1 posterior ring excision and occipitocervical fusion [C0 - C4] (one patient), modified Gallie fusion alone (six patients), combined modified Gallie fusion and Rogers interspinous wiring (three patients). One patient each had C1/C2 interspinous wiring and combined modified Gallie fusion and occipito-cervical fusion [C0 - C4]. Post-operatively, two patients improved from Frankel C to D, 2 patients from C to E and one patient from D to E. The other patients with Frankel D and E injuries pre-operatively remained in status quo post-operatively. Eleven of the patients were discharged home on progressive ambulation with one having neck stiffness and one patient died 7 weeks post- surgery. Odontoid peg and hangman fractures were the most common indications for upper cervical spine surgery for trauma in our unit, and the post- operative outcome appears satisfactory.

Background: Under certain circumstances, the most common techniques used for establishing identity may not be applicable; hence, fast and reliable alternative methods would scientifically be welcomed.
Aim and Objectives: This study investigates the practical usability of palatal rugae in establishing sex and identity in a premortem state and evaluating its usefulness for post-mortem identification.
Materials and Methods: A total of 359 subjects, 165 males and 194 females between ages 20-60 years were selected from among volunteer subjects in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Maxillary dental cast were formed by alginate impressions, the palatal rugae were traced using a high precision graphite HB pencil and then analyzed for their various patterns (using Thomas and Kotze, and Kapali’s classifications). The observed rugae were assigned the following codes; from anterior to posterior -
Wavy (W), Curved (Cr), Straight (S), Circular (Ci), Converge (Cv), Diverging (Dv) for both sides of the palate.
Results: Statistical analysis using the Z-test for proportionality difference (males vs females) showed no significant difference in the distribution of the rugae shapes (P=0.877), Chi-square analysis of association showed insignificant distributive relationship with respect to sides (P>0.05); while sex and the distribution of all rugae types (by length) was significant (P<0.05). From the coding, the most common configuration was “WWWW” without duplicity of the pattern in any two individual; while in combination with other patterns, the straight was most frequent.
Conclusion: This research emphasizes the importance of the rugae configuration; as it is very difficult for sex differentiation but reliable for establishing the identity of an individual in both post- and pre-mortem state.

Objective: To determine markers of HBV infection and detect the presence of its occult infection in serum of a cohort of adult Nigerians. Methodology: The study involved 28 adult Nigerians with viral hepatitis (Group 1) and 28 apparently healthy adult Nigerians as controls (Group 2). Their sera were assayed for HBsAg, HBeAg, anti-HBe, anti-HBc, anti-HBs, and anti-HCV, while HBV DNA was determined in 15 patients with chronic hepatitis. Significance of differences between the patients and control subjects was assessed using Chi-square test at a 95 % confidence level. Results: Sero-detection of HBsAg, HBeAg, anti-HBe and anti-HBc was higher among the patients compared to the controls. HBV infection was diagnosed by HBsAg (89%) and a duo of HBsAg and anti-HBc (100%) among the patients. Similarly, eleven and four types of different patterns of HBV markers were observed among the respective groups. Anti-HBe (9.5%), anti-HBc (14.3%), and anti-HBs (9.5%) were detected among all the subjects...