Archive 2008 - No 1

GB Gadzama, B H Askira, B Z Ali

Correspondence to: Dr B H Askira, Department of Ophthalmology, UMTH, PMB 1414, Maiduguri. E-Mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Background: Bacterial conjunctivitis is a common condition encountered in practice Objective: To ascertain the commonest cause of Bacterial conjunctivitis in this environment and its sensitivity pattern.
Design: This was cross sectional hospital- based study, carried out from January to December 2006 on all patients that attended the ophthalmology clinic with purulent conjunctivitis. The affected eyes were swabbed for the microscopy culture and sensitivity after obtaining their consent. Results: There were 129 specimens sent for microscopy, culture and sensitivity. , 82(63.6%) yielded no bacterial growth while 47(36.4%) yielded significant growth. The most frequent Bacteria isolated were Staphylococcus aureus (46.9%) and Klebsiella spp (17.0%). Other bacteria seen include E coli (6.4%), Haemophilus influenzae (8.5%), Neisseria gonorrhoeae (10.6%) and Proteus spp (10.6%). The antimicrobial agent that showed the highest sensitivity among all the isolates was ciprofloxacin while chloramphenicol showed the least sensitivity. Conclusion: Staphylococcus aureus was found to be the commonest cause of bacterial conjunctivitis and ciprofloxacin the most sensitive antimicrobial agent to all bacterial isolates.

MUHAMMAD Z, IBRAHIM SA
Correspondence to: Dr S A Ibrahim, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano. PMB 3452, Kano Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Background: Cervical incompetence continues to pose a challenge to the obstetrican as a cause of repeated midtrimester abortion.Several observational studies into the efficacy of cervical Cerclage have claimed high rates of successful pregnancy outcome in women with poor obstetric history attributed to cervical incompetence. Objectives: The objectives of the study are to determine the prevalence of cervical incompetence in Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH), the complications of the treatment modalities, and the pregnancy outcome. Study design, setting and subject: This is a 4 years retrospective review of 144 pregnancies in (135) patients with cervical incompetence in the Jos University Teaching Hospital. Patients diagnosed to have cervical incompetence and who had cervical Cerclage, antenatal care and delivery in the Jos University Teaching Hospital, Jos, formed the study population. Main outcome measures: Prevalence, post insertion complications and Pregnancy outcome, among patients with cervical incompetence who had cervical cerclage in Jos University Teaching Hospital, Jos Plateau state. Results: A total of one hundred and fourty four pregnancies were reviewed retrospectively in one hundred and thirty five patients with cervical incompetence over a four-year period. The diagnosis of cervical incompetence was established by history 63% of pregnancies, and by ultra-sonography in 35% of pregnancies. The McDonald technique of repair was employed in 90% of the cases. The incidence of cervical incompetence over the period of review was 1 in every 69 deliveries. The most common post insertion complications were premature rupture of membranes (20.8%) Vulvovaginitis (16%) and urinary tract infection (10.5%). The term births accounted for 62.5% and preterm births for 22.9%, with overall fetal salvage of 85.4%.

BABADOKO AA, AMINU SM, SULEIMAN AM

Correspondence to: BABADOKO, A. A., Department of Haematology and Blood Transfusion, Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria, Nigeria. E mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Background: Thrombocytopaenia is relatively common during the course of HIV infection and it may serve as the first evidence of infection. It has been associated with clinical or immunological severity of the disease. Multiple interacting factors may contribute to this haematological manifestation of HIV infection. Aim: To determine the prevalence of thrombocytopaenia and its relationship to CD4+ T lymphocyte count in antiretroviral naïve HIV-1
infected patients. Methodology: Four hundred consecutive HIV-1 infected patients undergoing pre treatment investigations for staging were recruited over a one year period, at the HIV subspecialty clinic of Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria. All the patients were confirmed HIV-1 infected, repeatedly reactive by ELISA. Platelet count was determined by standard manual method and CD4+ T cell enumeration by Dynal® (Oslo Norway) manual method. Results: Of the 400 patients studied, the prevalence of thrombocytopaenia was 6.25% with a male to female ratio of 1:1.7. There is a significant positive correlation between platelet count and CD4 + T lymphocyte count r 0.086, P 0.043 (p < 0.05), however this association is weak by clinical/immunological staging. Conclusion: Thrombocytopaenia is not an uncommon finding in HIV infected patients in our setting and often occurs in the severely immunocompromised individual. Platelet count cannot be used as a substitute to determine the severity of immunosuppression.

MB KAWUWA, A A KULLIMA, B M AUDU, A G MAIRIGA, HA USMAN, BG BAKO
Correspondence to: DR A A KULLIMA Department of obstetrics and Gynaecology, Federal Medical Centre Nguru PMB 02 Nguru. Yobe state E mail : This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Background: Dysmenorrhoea is the most common gynaecologic complaint among adolescents and young females. It is often regarded by many as normal, seeking medical attention only when it is unbearable. Objective: To determine the prevalence, risk factors and effects of dysmenorrhoea among women in Maiduguri. Methods: This is a cross sectional descriptive study among female students in six tertiary institutions in Maiduguri, Borno state. Three hundred structured questionnaires were administered to ascertain the epidemiology, associated risk factors and possible effect of dysmenorrhoea. Results: About 63% currently had pain during menses and 69.7% had experienced primary dysmenorrhoea in the past. One third each of such pain were moderate (35%) to require medication and severe (31.7%) as to restrict routine activities, in 8.3% the menstrual pain was so severe to warrant admission in the hospital. There was significant association between current dysmenorrhoea and previous primary dysmenorrhoea, positive family history of dysmenorrhoea, past history of D& C and other gynaecological problems, while smoking was not shown to have any statistically significant relationship. There was an inverse relationship between previous pregnancies and current episode of dysmenorrhoea Conclusion: Dysmenorrhoea is prevalent among women, yet many do not seek medical attention unless it became unbearable..