Association between serum vitamin D status and severity of liver cirrhosis: implications for therapeutic targeting in Nigerian patients.

Background: Liver cirrhosis is a chronic and progressive liver disease with significant global health implications. Recent evidence suggests an association between serum vitamin D levels and the severity of liver cirrhosis, potentially serving as a therapeutic target. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between serum vitamin D status and the severity of liver cirrhosis in a population of Nigerian patients.

Erratum: Resuming endoscopy during COVID-19 pandemic: ESGE, WEO and WGO Joint Cascade Guideline for Resource Limited Settings.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1055/a-1400-9135.].

Chronic HIV infection and health related quality of life in resource poor settings-an assessment from South East Nigeria.

Background: Health-related quality of life reflects a patient's general subjective perception of the effect of an illness or intervention on physical, psychological and social aspects of daily life. HIV infection is a major public health problem especially in developing countries where poor health infrastructure and poverty are prevalent. This paper addresses the quality of life in patients with chronic HIV infection in South East Nigeria and addresses issues that may help improve the current situation.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on gastrointestinal endoscopy in Africa.

As with all other fields of medical practice, gastrointestinal endoscopy has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, data on the impact of the pandemic in Africa, especially sub-Saharan Africa are lacking. A web-based survey was conducted by the International Working Group of the European Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy and the World Endoscopy Organization to determine the impact and effects the COVID-19 pandemic has had on endoscopists in African countries.

Gastroesophageal reflux disease in a typical African population: a symptom-based multicenter study.

Background: The prevalence of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) in Africa is not known but is believed to be increasing because of demographic and epidemiologic transition. The main objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence and risk factors of GERD, and its degree of overlap with dyspepsia and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) in Nigeria, a typical African population.

Methods: This was an observational, cross-sectional and descriptive study of adult Nigerians.

Posttransplant Care of Kidney Transplant Recipients and Their Donors in Nigeria.

Objectives: Kidney transplantation is not readily available in low-resource settings because of poor health structure, dearth of experts, and pervading poverty. Although many centers now offer kidney transplant, patients still travel outside Nigeria for this service for many reasons and many return home without a detailed medical report.

Materials And Methods: Medical records of individuals who underwent kidney transplant in Nigeria and elsewhere and who were presently receiving posttransplant care or had received such care from 2002 to 2018 at 4 Nigerian hospitals were retrospectively reviewed and analyzed.

Pattern and determinants of self-reported enacted stigma among rural dwellers living with epilepsy attending a tertiary health facility in Enugu State Nigeria.

Purpose: Epilepsy related stigma is a barrier to recovery and has been linked to a broad range of psychosocial consequences and has the potential to influence the provision of care to people with epilepsy. Understanding the determinants of enacted stigma in epilepsy is relevant in the understanding of the burden of epilepsy in Nigeria.

Method: Using a semi-structured questionnaire, a cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted among rural dwellers receiving treatment for epilepsy in a tertiary referral specialist hospital in Enugu, south east Nigeria.

Prevalence of active convulsive epilepsy in an urban slum in Enugu South East Nigeria.

Purpose: To determine the prevalence of active convulsive epilepsy and treatment gap in two Urban slums in Enugu South East Nigeria.

Methods: A 3 phase cross-sectional descriptive study was done to survey individuals ≥ 15 years in 2 slums in Enugu, South East Nigeria.

Results: The prevalence of epilepsy was 6.

Prevalence of primary headaches in an urban slum in Enugu South East Nigeria: a door-to-door survey.

Objective/background: This study aims to determine the prevalence of primary headache disorders using the second edition of international classification of headache disorders among urban slum dwellers. Headache is a common neurological disorder and one of the most common reasons for visiting the neurology clinics in Nigeria. Low socioeconomic status has been linked with primary headaches.

High degree of duodenal inflammation in Nigerians with functional dyspepsia.

Background: Functional dyspepsia (FD) is a heterogeneous disorder associated with diverse pathophysiological mechanisms, including immune activation and low-grade mucosal inflammation. Genetic factors, physiological functions, and environmental factors may determine the relative importance of various pathophysiological mechanisms. This study was designed to determine the histological alterations in the duodenal mucosa of Nigerian patients with FD.

High population frequencies of APOL1 risk variants are associated with increased prevalence of non-diabetic chronic kidney disease in the Igbo people from south-eastern Nigeria.

Background: Continental Africa is facing an epidemic of chronic kidney disease (CKD). APOL1 risk variants have been shown to be strongly associated with an increased risk for non-diabetic kidney disease including HIV nephropathy, primary non-monogenic focal and segmental glomerulosclerosis, and hypertension-attributed nephropathy among African ancestry populations in the USA. The world's highest frequencies of APOL1 risk alleles have been reported in West African nations, overlapping regions with a high incidence of CKD and hypertension.

Functional dyspepsia: subtypes, risk factors, and overlap with irritable bowel syndrome in a population of african patients.

Background. Functional dyspepsia is the prototype functional gastrointestinal disorder. This study was designed to determine its prevalence, subtypes, and risk factors associated with the subtypes.

Time trends of upper gastrointestinal diseases in Nigeria.

Background: The changing epidemiology of a disease often provides valuable insight into possible etiopathogenic mechanisms. There have been significant changes over the last several decades in disease manifestations of the foregut in Western Europe, North America and Asia. This time trend analysis was carried out to determine if any changes have occurred in the prevalence of diseases of the upper gastrointestinal tract in Nigeria.

Esophageal Intraepithelial Neutrophil Infiltration is Common in Nigerian Patients With Non-Erosive Reflux Disease.

Background: Non-erosive reflux disease (NERD) is a variant of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) in which patients with typical reflux symptoms have no evidence of erosive esophagitis at endoscopy. An objective diagnostic tool for NERD remains an unmet need for clinicians and researchers. This study was designed to determine the types of histological alterations seen in Nigerian patients with NERD.

Relatively Long Survival in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Presenting With Carcinoid Syndrome.

Hepatocelluar carcinoma is one of the commonest cancers in Nigeria. Some patients may manifest a variety of paraneoplastic syndromes. Carcinoid syndrome is an extremely rare presentation of hepatocellular carcinoma.