Resorptive cells are responsible for the resorption of mineralized matrix of hard tissues. Bone-resorbing cells are called osteoclasts; however, they can resorb mineralized dental tissues or calcified cartilage and then they are called odontoclasts and chondroclasts, respectively. Resorptive cells form when mononuclear precursors derived from a monocyte–macrophage cell lineage are attracted to certain mineralized surfaces and subsequently fuse and adhere onto them for exerting their resorbing activity. These cells are responsible for degradation of calcified extracellular matrix composed of organic molecules and hydroxyapatite. The activity of these cells can be observed in both physiological and pathological processes throughout life and their activity is mainly required in bone turnover and growth, spontaneous and induced (orthodontic) tooth movement, tooth eruption, and bone fracture healing, as well as in pathological conditions such as osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, and bone metastasis. In addition, they are responsible for daily control of calcium homeostasis. Clastic cells also resorb the primary teeth for shedding before the permanent teeth erupt into the oral cavity.

Background: Informal care giving can be burdensome particularly where the option of institutionalized informal care scarcely exist. Objective: To look at the burden of informal caregivers of stroke survivors using the Zarit burden interview (ZBI). Method: 64 stroke survivors were assessed for demographics of age, gender, duration of follow-up since discharged from in-patient care, modified Rankin score at the time of discharge and at the time of evaluation for this study and the most important informal care giver at home was also assessed for whether care giving was telling on their health or life in any negative way. All the caregivers were subsequently assessed with the ZBI. Results: Mean age of most important informal care givers was 40.67 ± 14.27 years and the sex distribution was 33(51.6%) female and 29(45.4%) males. 21(32.8%) reported that caregiving was a health burden. Mean ZBI scores were significantly higher (30.19 ± 14.81 vs 20.30 ± 12.96, P < 0.01) in those that reported that caregiving was telling on their health. ZBI overall rating of burden of caregiving was also significantly associated with whether caregiving was telling on the health of caregiver (P = 0.01) and also symmetrically agreed with whether the burden of caregiving was telling on health (k = 0.33, P< 0.01). The sensitivity and specificity of ZBI were 70% and 68.4% respectively on ROC statistics (AUC = 0.67, P = 0.017). Conclusion: Reported burden of informal caregiving of about 33% is in our opinion huge. The moderate sensitivity and specificity of the ZBI means it could be safely used in the population studied.

Background/Objectives: Neonatal sepsis is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in the pediatric age group in spite of several attempts at mitigating its effects. This article determines the prevalence of neonatal sepsis and the pathogens responsible for sepsis as well as risk factors and outcome at the Babcock University Teaching Hospital. Methods: A retrospective analysis of laboratory records of consecutive babies delivered within and outside our hospital suspected of having sepsis over a 1-year period. Results: The isolation rate was 34% from 100 neonates with the predominant pathogens being coagulase-negative staphylococci (CONS), Staphylococcus aureus, and Klebsiella pneumoniae. The risk factors for sepsis were age <3 days (P = 0.03) and prematurity (P < 0.001). The mortality rate was 12% with risk factors for mortality being birth weight <2500 g (P = 0.005), prematurity (P = 0.036), premature rupture of membranes (P = 0.007), and delivery outside a tertiary hospital (P = 0.007). Meropenem, ciprofloxacin, and amikacin showed the highest rates of in vitro efficacy. Conclusion: We highlight the prevalent pathogens in our local facility to be a combination of CONS, S. aureus, and K. pneumoniae with susceptibility patterns showing meropenem, ciprofloxacin, and amikacin to be our most effective antimicrobials in vitro.

Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) Infection is endemic in Nigeria. Healthcare students are more vulnerable because of direct contact with patients' body fluids and blood. Risk perception of HBV and HB vaccine uptake are also poor. The aim of this study was to assess the level of risk perception of hepatitis B infection, and uptake of the HBV vaccine, between medical and other students of the University of Jos. Methods: A comparative cross sectional study was conducted among 1,200 students of the departments of Medicine, Nursing sciences and Public Administration, University of Jos (400 from each arm) using a pretested self-administered questionnaire. A five point Likert scoring system was used to assess risk perception. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 20. A P -value of <0.05 was considered significant. Results: Awareness on HB vaccine prevention was high (88.4%) among University of Jos students. Awareness was similar among medical and nursing students (36.2% and 36.0% respectively) but lower among public administration student (27.8%), P< 0.001. The overall risk perception was 76.8%. This was also similar for medical and nursing students (40.7% and 40.1% respectively), but lower for public administration students (9.1%), P< 0.001. Risk perception is 5x higher among medical students compared to public administration students (OR = 5.22, 95% CI = 2.19 – 12.93; P < 0.001). The uptake of full dose HB vaccine was 60.2%, 20.6% and 15.1% for medical, nursing and public administration students respectively. Medical students are 4x more likely to go for HB vaccination compared with public administration students (OR=3.62; 95% CI=2.39 – 5.48; P< 0.001). Conclusions: Awareness and risk perception on HBV infection are high among University of Jos students, but uptake of HB vaccine is low. Findings are worst for non-health students.

Background: Blood pressure (BP) variation is commonly encountered during hemodialysis (HD) procedure. Both intradialysis hypotension and hypertension have implications for outcome of treatment and overall morbidity and mortality of the patients. Methodology: A retrospective study was carried out in the dialysis unit of a tertiary health institution in Benin City among patients who had HD for acute kidney injury (AKI) or chronic kidney disease (CKD) over a 3-year period. Data retrieved included age, gender, type of kidney disease, cause of kidney disease, systolic BP at onset of dialysis and at end of dialysis, and diastolic BP (DBP) at onset of and at end of dialysis. Results: Complete data were available for 217 patients. One hundred and seven patients (49.3%) had no significant change in BP; 30.9% had intradialytic hypertension (IDHT) while 19.8% had intradialytic hypotension (IDH). IDH was more prevalent among patients with diabetic kidney disease while IDHT was more common among patients with hypertensive nephropathy (P = 0.002). Female patients had higher mean BP parameters compared to male patients pre- and post-dialysis, but only changes in DBP were statistically significant (P = 0.029). Patients with CKD had higher mean BP parameters pre- and post-dialysis compared to patients with acute AKI and the differences were statistically significant. Conclusion: Females had higher mean BP parameters than males. Patients with CKD had higher mean BP parameters compared with AKI patients. IDHT is a significant problem among patients on HD in our center. Measures to curtail this trend should be instituted with the goal of reducing morbidity and mortality.

Background: Changing epidemiologic profile with increase in cardiovascular risk factors is well documented in literature. Our study sought to see how this is reflected in cardiovascular admissions into medical wards of a Nigerian and an Israeli hospital. Objective: To compare the range and pattern of cardiovascular admissions encountered in a Nigerian hospital and an Israel hospital. Methods: This was a retrospective study of admission records of patients admitted into both Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Umuahia, Abia State, Nigeria, and Sheba Medical Centre, Israel. Results: Ischemic heart disease (IHD) was the most prevalent among the Israeli hospital's admissions but ranks very low as an indication for admission in Nigeria. The most common causes of admission in Nigeria were hypertension and heart failure (HF). The spectrum of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) was very limited in the Nigerian hospital, indicating disparity in diagnostic capacity. Conclusion: There were more patients with CVD as a cause of medical admission in the Israel hospital as compared to the Nigerian hospital. Hypertension and HF were prevalent indications for CVD in FMC, Umuahia, Nigeria, while hypertension and IHD were the prevalent indications for admission in Sheba Medical Centre, Israel. Future studies are needed to monitor spectrum and frequency of cardiovascular admissions in view of evolving epidemiological transition in developing countries.

Background: In spite of knowledge of the causes and prevention of cervical cancer, screening programs for cervical cancer have not yet been fully implemented in most developing countries including Nigeria. Documented data on the prevalence of preinvasive cervical lesion in pregnancy are scarce in our environment. Objectives: To determine the prevalence, risk factors, and course of preinvasive cervical lesion in pregnant women attending an antenatal clinic in Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH) Zaria, Northern Nigeria Study Design: This was a cross-sectional longitudinal study. Setting: The study was conducted in an antenatal clinic of ABUTH Zaria. Materials and Methods: A prospective cross-sectional longitudinal analysis was carried out at an Antenatal Clinic of ABUTH Zaria, Nigeria. A total of 250 consecutive pregnant women who fulfilled the inclusion criteria and have given their consent were recruited into the study at the time of their first prenatal (booking clinic) visit for antenatal care. Data from the pregnant women were obtained using a pro forma to evaluate sociodemographic characteristics and risk factors for preinvasive disease. Conventional Papanicolaou smear was taken using the standard procedure. The cytopathologic findings of initial and postpartum Pap smear were documented in the pro forma. Prevalence, persistence, progression, and regression rates of preinvasive diseases were determined. Results: Out of the 250 pregnant women who had cervical cytology by Pap smear during the study, 15 had preinvasive cervical lesion, giving a prevalence rate of 6%; 13 (87%) were low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (LGSIL) while 2 (13%) were high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HGSIL). Negative smears were seen in 158 women (63.2%). Inflammatory and other conditions of the cervix which are technically negative smears made up the remaining 30.8%. At postpartum follow-up of the 13 women with LGSIL, 2 (15.4%) became negative while persistence of the disease was observed in 9 (69.2%) of the cases. Two women with LGSIL were lost to follow-up. Of the two women with HGSIL, persistence of the disease was seen in one woman (50%) and regression of the disease was seen in the other woman. Risk factors that were found to be associated with preinvasive cervical lesion were age at coitarche <16 years, number of sexual partners since coitarche, and previous history of sexually transmitted infection and human immunodeficiency virus. Parity, smoking, and use of contraception were found not to be significant risk factors. Conclusion: Preinvasive lesion of the cervix is relatively common among antenatal clients in our center. Antenatal clients with HGSIL should have a repeat smear at the end of the puerperium before treatment. Routine Pap smear should be offered to all antenatal clients in our setting.

Background: Studies from Nigeria on pediatric otorhinolaryngology (ORL) emergencies are rare in literature with most focusing on emergencies involving individual systems. Objective: The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of all ORL emergencies among children in our region to provide a baseline data for future health planning. Patients and Methods: This is a 1-year retrospective cross-sectional study of patients aged 16 years and below presenting to the Accident and Emergency Department of the Jos University Teaching Hospital, Jos, Nigeria. Results: A total of 203 otolaryngology emergencies were attended of which 129 (63.5%) were pediatric emergencies. Records of 87 patients were retrievable with age range 2 months to 15 years (mean 3.44 years; standard deviation ± 3.35). There were 55 males and 32 females with a male to female ratio of 1.7:1. The majority of cases were aged under 5 years (64; 73.6%). Acute tonsillitis accounted for 32 (36.7%) cases with 6 (6.9%) having peritonsillar abscesses. Acute pharyngitis accounted for 11 (12.6%) presentations followed closely by foreign bodies (FBs) in the ear with 10 (11.5%) presentations. FB in the throat occurred in 4 (4.6%) patients who had removal under general anesthesia. Three (3.4%) cases of maxillofacial injuries occurred as a result of insurgent terror attacks and 3.4% presented following corrosive substance ingestion. Conservative management was commenced in 76 (87.4%) patients, 23 (26.4%) had surgery with 68 (78.2%) admitted and discharged, 18 (20.7%) treated as outpatients, and 1 (1.1%) died on admission. Otolaryngologists attended most (95.4%) patients. Conclusion: Pediatric ORL emergencies are common in our region involving a wide range of pathologies. Expansion is required in the ORL training of the emergency room physician to enhance emergency services.

Ameloblastoma is the most known of the epithelial odontogenic benign tumor. It is slow growing and locally aggressive in nature and most commonly seen in the posterior mandible. Various histopathological variants exist, among which acanthomatous type of ameloblastoma is one of the rarest types. Acanthomatous ameloblastoma is usually seen in older aged human population and most commonly reported in canine region of dogs in literature. Here, we report a rare case of acanthomatous ameloblastoma in a young male patient involving mandibular anterior region crossing the midline with recurrence over a period of 2 years of follow-up after surgical resection.

Leiyomyosarcoma of vascular origin is uncommonly seen but mostly occurring in the inferior vena cava. We report a case of young male who presented with giant retroperitoneal leiyomyosarcoma which extended into the right atrium along Inferior vena cava.