MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING PATHOLOGICAL EVIDENCE IN PATIENTS WITH LOW BACK PAIN IN SOUTHWEST NIGERIA.

Background: Low back pain, a condition that affects many individuals worldwide during their lifetime is receiving increasing attention due to the attendant chronic disability, absenteeism from work, loss of earning power, loss of quality of life and finances. Recently focus has been on the rising prevalence and search for steps to address low back pain risk factors now known to be modifiable. For the evaluation of low back pain, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has emerged as the imaging modality of choice.

TIME OF PRESENTATION OF STROKE PATIENTS FOR CT IMAGING IN A NIGERIAN TERTIARY HOSPITAL.

Background: Neuroimaging is the cornerstone for guiding thrombolytic and interventional therapy for stroke. Beneficial outcome can only be obtained within a rather short time of less than 3-4.5 hours of symptom onset.

Medial temporal lobe atrophy, white matter hyperintensities and cognitive impairment among Nigerian African stroke survivors.

Background: Neuroimaging features associated with vascular cognitive impairment have not been examined in sub-Saharan Africans. We determined magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features associated with cognitive impairment in a sample of Nigerian stroke survivors.

Methods: Stroke survivors underwent brain MRI with standardized assessment of brain volumes and visual rating of medial temporal lobe atrophy (MTA), and white matter hyperintensities (WMH) at 3 months post-stroke.

ROLE OF TRANSCRANIAL COLOUR-CODED DUPLEX SONOGRAPHY IN STROKE MANAGEMENT - REVIEW ARTICLE.

The development of transcranial colour-coded duplex sonography (TCCS) has resurrected the hope of safe, real time bedside brain imaging beyond childhood. This review article provides an overview of the role of TCCS in the management of patients with stroke. The objective is to stimulate interest in the field of neurosonology as a potential means of improving neurological outcome for stroke patients and a area for stroke research endeavors in Africa.

Magnetic resonance imaging: Clinical experience with an open low-field-strength scanner in a resource challenged African state.

Introduction: Despite the fact that an magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been in clinical use for over 20 years, its use and availability in Nigeria, a West African state, is still extremely low. Hence, only few publications are available on the clinical experience with MRI from Nigeria. We set out to evaluate our initial clinical experience with a low-field-strength MRI in a Nigeria's foremost university hospital.

Intrapartum rupture of the uterus diagnosed by ultrasound.

Background: Spontaneous uterine rupture is a life threatening obstetrical emergency encountered infrequently in the emergency department. Its diagnosis is often missed or delayed, leading to maternal and fetal mortality.

Method: We present a case of ruptured uterus diagnosed by ultrasound in a 33-year-old gravid female with two previous cesarean sections.

Helical CT myelogram: the Ibadan initial experience.

To evaluate our initial experience with Helical Computed Tomography (CT) Myelogram in the investigation of spinal abnormalities. As late as 1980, CT was still regarded as unreliable compared with myelography however, the advent of slip-ring technology in the 1990s, in association with the use of more powerful computers and higher energy x-ray tubes allowed a process known as Helical CT. This revolutionized CT scanning allowing achievement of thinner slices in a single breath-hold.

Stroke in Nigerian children with sickle cell disease.

We reviewed our records over a 15-year period to determine whether or not the impression that stroke complicating sickle cell disease was less common than reported in North America. Records of children aged 16 years and below with a diagnosis of stroke seen at the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria between 1988 and 2002 were examined. Thirty-nine such patients were identified but only 31 had detailed records available for study.

The place of clinical features and standard chest radiography in evaluation of mediastinal masses.

One hundred and five primary mediastinal masses were seen between 1975 and 1998, at the Cardiothoracic surgical Unit of the University College Hospital Ibadan. These were studied to establish the importance of clinical features and plain chest radiography in preoperative evaluation of these masses. The sources of information were unit's record, cancer registry and the patients case note.

Occult metastatic follicular thyroid carcinoma masquerading as a soft tissue sarcoma of the gluteal region.

This is a case of an occult follicular thyroid carcinoma in a 61 year old civil servant presenting with bony metastasis to the left iliac bone twenty years after an initial subtotal thyroidectomy. There was a soft tissue mass with associated cup shaped Iytic detruction of the iliac bone and on ultrasound scan the mass was found to be of mixed echogenicity and areas of sonolucencies which were due to necroses. At autopsy, the thyroid gland appeared macroscopically within normal limits but histology confirmed Follicular Thyroid Carcinoma.

Ultrasonic foetal abdominal circumference as a means of assessing gestational age in Nigerians.

Foetal abdominal circumference values have been established amongst pregnant Nigerian women between 16 weeks and 40 weeks of gestation, using standard ultrasound methods. A linear mathematical model was found to be adequate in describing the relationship between gestational age and abdominal circumference, and by using the regression equation from the data it was possible to predict the gestational age from knowledge of the abdominal circumference and vice versa. The value of this parameter in assessing foetal age and monitoring high risk pregnancies is discussed.

Subcutaneous emphysema and pneumomediastinum complicating endotracheal intubation--a case report.

A case is reported of a 5-month-old child who developed subcutaneous emphysema and pneumomediastinum following the application of external pressure on the trachea during intubation using a non-kinkable tube with a stylet in situ. Possible aetiological factors and management of such a condition are discussed.

Sarcoidosis in Africans: 12 cases with histological confirmation from Nigeria.

During a 2 year-period 12 Nigerians with sarcoidosis were diagnosed at the chest and dermatology clinics of the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria. Intrathoracic involvement was the commonest presentation followed by the skin, lymph nodes and liver. Histological diagnosis was obtained in all cases either from skin biopsy, transbronchial lung biopsy, lymph node or liver biopsy where applicable.