Background: Clinical depression is a common problem among patients who seek medical care, and diabetic patients with comorbid depression tend to have higher health care cost. A dearth of literature exists on depression among diabetics in Nigeria. The objectives of the study were to determine the prevalence of depression among diabetic patients and to determine the sociodemographic correlates of depression among diabetics. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted between December 2005 and April 2006 among patients who attend the diabetes clinic of Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH) with a laboratory and clinical evidence of diabetes mellitus. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to record the sociodemographic data of each consecutive patient followed by an interview by psychiatrists using the depression module of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-I V axis I disorder (SCID). Subsequently, the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HDRS) was used to determine the severity of symptoms among subjects diagnosed with depression according to DSM-I V criteria. Results: Thirty-one of the 160 subjects fulfilled the DSM-IV criteria for the diagnosis of a major depressive episode giving a 1-year prevalence rate of 19.4%. Depression was significantly correlated with sex (P=0.001) with a female-to-male ratio of 3:1 and was also significantly associated with unmarried diabetics (P=0.002) and those who had a poor relationship with their partners (P=0.04). No significant association was found between depression and the respondents' age (P=0.216), educational qualifications (P=0.268), employment status (P=0.84), place of residence (P=0.80), household composition (P=0.77), and monthly income (P=0.110). Conclusion: Depression is a common psychiatric disorder among diabetic subjects in this environment. It was suggested that diabetic patients be screened for depression to allow for early detection and treatment.

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Background: Chronic leg ulcer (CLU) is reported to have an impact on virtually all aspects of life. Treatment is expensive and has large economic burden on many countries' health services. This presentation is to determine the impact, etiology, and presentation of CLU as well as the procedures for processing in a Nigeria tertiary care facility. Methods: All patients with CLU seen that were prospectively managed in our hospital between 2004 and 2006 have been included in the study. The data were analyzed by SPSS version 11.0 of software. Results: Sixty consecutive patients seen over a period of 3 years (2004-2006) were prospectively studied. There were two peak period of age presentation 30-39 and 50-69 years. The male female ratio was 1:1. Most of the patients (93.3%) had unilateral ulcers and it was as common on the right as on the left. Fifty percent of patients had medical disorders. The commonest cause of CLU was poorly managed traumatic wound. Conclusion: Most patients benefited from debridement with or without split thickness skin graft or flap.

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Background/Objectives: Rhinosinusitis is the commonest viral infection in man and the commonest inflammatory disorder encountered by general practitioners, chest physicians, and otorhinolaryngologists all over the world. The clinical pattern and outcome of conventional management measures were assessed. Method: All new patients with the diagnosis of rhinosinusitis over a 2-year period from July 1999 to July 2001 were analyzed for clinical features, conventional radiological findings, and treatment modalities over a period of 3 years follow up. Results: There were 195 (11.7%) new cases of rhinosinusitis out of a total number of 1661 patients seen over the period under review. Only 146 case notes were accessible for the study. Eighty-four (57.5%) were males and 62 (42.5%) were females. Their ages ranged from 7 months to 70 years. The main clinical symptoms and signs were nasal discharge or rhinorrhea (84.9%), nasal obstruction (24.7%), epistaxis (22.0%), and sneezing (20.6%). The duration of symptoms ranged from few days to about 10 years with 24 (16.4%) being acute cases while 122 (83.6%) were chronic cases giving a prevalence of 1.4% and 7.3%, respectively. Maxillary sinus (58.9%) was the commonest sinus involved. More than one sinus involvement accounted for 37.7% of the cases. Infective causes accounted for 67.1% of cases followed by allergy (28.8%). There were complications in 21 (14.4%) cases with orbital involvement (33.3%) being the commonest complication. Mode of treatment were medical (86.3%), and conventional surgery was carried out in 13.7% of the cases for either failed medical treatment or associated complications. Facial paraesthesia along the sites of surgery was the commonest complications, otherwise the outcome of treatment was excellent. Conclusion: Rhinosinusitis in this region was more of chronic (83.6%) variety than acute (16.4%) variety. Infective causes (67.1%) and allergy (28.8%) were the commonest etiological factors. About (86.3%) were amendable to medical treatment while surgical treatment was carried out in 13.7% of the cases. Rhinosinusitis should be managed medically first before recourse to surgical measures in carefully selected cases. Endoscopic sinonasal surgery is most desirable in keeping with current global trends of treatment of rhinosinusitis but where facilities do not exist, conventional surgical measures may be used.

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Objective/Purpose: We aim to determine the basis for the routine surgical treatment of intussusception in southeast Nigeria. Methods: We analyzed 71 children operated for intussusception between June 1998 and May 2006 at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital Enugu, southeastern Nigeria. Results: The median age at presentation was 6 months (range 3 months to 7 years), and the average duration from onset to presentation 3.2 days (range 4 hours to 7 days). Forty-six (64.8%) had ileocolic intussusception, 7 (9.9%) colocolic, and 5 (7.0%) ileoileal. In 31 (43.7%), there was no identifiable cause, while mesenteric lymphadenopathy and inflamed Peyer's patches were noted in 37 (52.1%), and polyp in 3 (4.2%). Manual reduction was successful in 39 (55%), while 32 (45%) required bowel resection for gangrene, or irreducibility. After average follow up of 9.7 months (range 4-22 months) there was no recurrence, but overall mortality was 6 (8.5%) from septicemia. Late presentation, dearth of facilities and trained manpower, and lack of multidisciplinary collaboration may contribute to the regular surgical treatment. Conclusion: Intussusception in our setting is characterized by late presentation, high rate of bowel resection, and high mortality. Surgery may remain our main stay of treatment until deficiencies in time to diagnosis, specialized facilities, and personnel improvement.

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We present a case report of a 22-year-old Nigerian student who presented to the accident and emergency unit of a Nigerian Teaching Hospital with a history of self-inflicted genital injury following a suicide attempt. He had background history of predisposition to depressive illness, a current diagnosis of a major depressive disorder, and had had two attempted suicidal episodes in the last 3 months prior to this event. The clinical finding shows a patient with sad affect, feeling of hopelessness, and worthlessness; however, the vital signs remained fairly stable. At examination under anesthesia, the testes were exposed and the right already self-castrated. The penis was degloved to the level of the Buck's fascia with intact corpora cavernosa and urethra. He had surgical excision of the hanging self-castrated right testis with debridement and primary closure of the genital laceration. He was promptly reviewed by the psychiatrists who comanaged appropriately.

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Background: Tuberculosis drug-resistance becomes common in sub-Saharan Africa; however, very few data are available in Burkina Faso. The aim of this study is to assess the acquired resistance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex strains identified in TB patients to four first-line drugs in Ouagadougou. Methods: One hundred and ten (110) pulmonary tuberculosis patients with acid-fast bacilli-positive sputum and in situation of failure, relapse, or treatment abandonment were included in the study. Ninety six strains, including 92 (95.8%) M. tuberculosis and 4 (4.2%) M. africanum, were isolated from the sputum samples of these patients. Their drug susceptibility testing was performed using the proportion method. The first-line drugs tested were isoniazid (INH), streptomycin (STR), ethambutol (EMB), and rifampicin (RIF). Results: The overall drug-resistance rate of M. tuberculosis was 67.4% (n=60), including 3.4% to one drug, 18% to two, 10.1% to three, and 35.9% to four drugs. The resistance to INH, RIF, EMB, and STR were 67.4%, 51.7%, 50.6%, and 44.9%, respectively. Two strains of M. africanum were resistant to all drugs. Forty-six (51.7%) strains were multidrug-resistant (resistant to at least INH and RIF). Conclusions: In previously treated patients, the level of resistance of M. tuberculosis complex to commonly used anti-tuberculosis drugs is very high in Ouagadougou. Our results showed that multidrug-resistant tuberculosis could be a public health problem in Burkina Faso.

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Background/Objectives: It is possible that not all women would want the disclosure of fetal gender by the sonologist during a prenatal scan. The objectives of this study were to determine the proportion of women who do not want fetal gender disclosure at the time of prenatal ultrasonography and document their reasons. Method: A cross-sectional survey of women that were 20 weeks or more pregnant that had prenatal ultrasound at a private health facility in January 2006. The sonologist asked each of the women during the procedure whether they wanted to know fetal sex or not. Those that consented had disclosure of fetal sex while those that declined gave their reasons, which were documented. Results: Two hundred and one (201) women were studied within the study period. Most of the women (82%) were of the Hausa/Fulani ethnic group and were predominantly of the Islamic faith (90%). One hundred and ninety women (94.5%) consented to disclosure of fetal gender, while eleven (5.5%) declined. The main reason for not wanting to know fetal sex was: 'Satisfied with any one that comes'. Conclusion: Most of the pregnant women (94%) would want disclosure of fetal gender at prenatal ultrasound scan. Only 5.5% of the women would not want fetal sex disclosure because they were satisfied with whichever that was there. It is advisable for the sonologist to be discrete on what to say during the procedure especially as it relates to fetal sex so as not to hurt those that do not want disclosure.

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Sacroma of the corpus uteri should be considered as a differential diagnosis in postmenopausal women presenting with severe abdominal pain, thought to be due to degenerative changes of leiomyoma uteri. We present a rare case of leiomyosacroma in a postmenopausal White woman. Diagnosis was missed preoperatively for degenerating uterine fibroid.

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Background: Soft tissue sarcomes (STS) are relatively rare tumors that are seldom seen in many surgical practices. In the developing countries, most patients present lately to the tertiary center either because of poverty, ignorance, or poor management by the primary health workers that first come into contact with these patients. Methods: We bring you five patients with large STS thighs that were managed by unity between the years 2005 and 2007. Results: Three of these patients are deceased, and one of the two surviving patients has amputation below the knee. The two surviving patients lost view after 3 months. Conclusion: Although angiography has been relegated to the background by the advent of modern techniques such as tomography imaging by computer (CT) and imaging by magnetic mirroring (IRM), in the developing countries angiography remains important as one prι-opιratoire of surgical guide in the thigh STS.

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