In a retrospective study of 43 cases of eclampsia managed at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital Nnewi over a 5-year period, an incidence of 0.75% out of 5750 labour ward admissions was found. Eclampsia was more prevalent in the primigravidae (65%) and unbooked patients (83.7%) than in the multigravidae (35%) and booked (16.3%) patients. The mean age of the patients was 23.5 years. The majority of the eclamptic seizure (55.8%) occurred in the antepartum period. Many unbooked patients presented after more than two seizures. The most frequently used drugs in the management of eclampsia in the hospital were intravenous diazepam and hydralazine. For the 35 cases of antepartum eclampsia, 85.7% had a caesarean section while 14.3% had an operative vaginal delivery; none had a spontaneous vaginal delivery. There were four maternal deaths (9.3% of the cases) and seven perinatal deaths (16.3% of the cases). Clinical causes of death in the women were cardiopulmonary failure (three cases) and coagulation disorders (one case). The total maternal deaths in the hospital during this period was 19 given a maternal mortality rate of 330 per 100 000. Eclampsia, therefore, contributed 21.1% of the maternal deaths. The role of health education and good antenatal, labour and early puerperal supervision is stressed in the reduction of the incidence of eclampsia in the developing countries.

We present a study of the maternal morbidity and mortality among 76 patients treated at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi for complications of induced abortion from January 1996 to December 2000. The total number of maternal admissions over this period was 5750, and illegal induced abortion was responsible for 1.3% of the admissions, with a mortality rate of 5.3% (n = 4) for induced abortion. This accounted for 21.1% of the total maternal deaths (n = 19) for the period. The mean age of the women was 20.6 years (range 15-34 years), 94.7% (n = 72) were unmarried, 93.5% (n = 71) were nulliparous and 76.5% (n = 58) were unemployed, 67.1% (n = 51) had had a mid-trimester termination at > 13 weeks gestational age. It is significant that 55.3% of the patients were teenagers and 45.1% of the mid-trimester abortions occurred in this group. Genital sepsis, haemorrhage, pelvic infection with peritonitis and abscess formation, uterine perforation, and gut injury were the major complications encountered. This study demonstrates that induced abortion is still a major cause of maternal mortality in Nigeria. Integrated family health education, planned parenthood and contraceptive education, a mass literacy campaign and improvement of the existing national health services are recommended in order to ameliorate the problems of illegally induced abortion in Nigeria.

Background:Parents are central in decisions and choices concerning circumcision of their male children and plastibell circumcision is a widely practiced technique. This study determined parental preferences for male neonatal and infant circumcisions and evaluate the early outcomes of plastibell circumcisions in a tertiary centre.Patients and Methods:This is a prospective study on consecutive male neonates and infants who were brought for circumcisions at Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital Nnewi, South-East Nigeria and their respective parents between January 2012 and December 2012. Data on demography, parental choices and early outcome of plastibell circumcision were obtained and analysed.Results:A total of 337 requests for circumcisions were made for boys with age range of 2-140 days. Culture and religion were the most common reasons for circumcision requests in 200 (59.3%) and 122 (36.2%), respectively, other reasons were medical, cosmesis, to reduce promiscuity and just to follow the norm. Most parents, 249 (73.9%) preferred the procedure to be performed on the 8th day and 88.7% would like the doctors to perform the procedure while 84.6% preferred the plastibell method. Among those who had circumcision, 114 complied with follow-up schedules and there were complications in 22 (19.3%) patients. Parents assessed the early outcome as excellent, very good, good and poor in 30.7%, 45.6%, 18.4% and 5.3% of the patients, respectively.Conclusion:Parents request for male circumcision in our environment is largely for cultural and religious reasons; and prefer the procedure to be performed by a physician. Plastibell method is well known and preferred and its outcome is acceptable by most parents.

BackgroundPresumptive treatment of childhood-malaria (PTCM) is common in Nigeria. Delayed laboratory result is blamed, with little attention on patients’ and providers’ roles. This study aimed to determine patient, provider and laboratory attributes that sustain PTCM in Nigeria.MethodsData collection was from focus-group discussions for parents/guardians, and in-depth interviews involving providers and laboratory scientists in two tertiary hospitals.ResultsAll parents/guardians agreed to a malaria test. Majority accepted to come back later for full treatment, provided that some treatment was commenced. Majority affirmed that their interests are on their children’s improvement.The providers practice presumptive treatment of childhood malaria, for the following reasons: (1) malaria is endemic and should be suspected and treated; (2) microscopy takes two days to be available and parents want immediate treatment for their children, thus delay may lead to self-medication; (3) relying on results for decision to treat creates an impression of incompetence; (4) rapid diagnostic test kits (RDTs) are not available in the consulting rooms and there is doubt about their reliability; (5) patients have already wasted time before being reviewed, so wasting more time on investigation is not advisable; (6) withhold of malaria treatment may be feasible in suspected uncomplicated malaria, but if severe, then anti-malarial treatment has to start immediately.Interviews of laboratory scientists showed that (1) malaria microscopy test cannot be urgent; it is done in batches and takes 24 hours to be ready; (2) a request of malaria test with other investigations on the same form, contributes to the delay; (3) RDTs are unavailable in the facilities.ConclusionsProvision of RDTs is the only feasible means to treatment of confirmed malaria at the time healthcare providers review a patient on day zero. In facilities that depend on microscopy; a common practice in resource poor countries, healthcare providers can depend on parental willingness to return later for full medication, to commence adjunctive care with antipyretics and multivitamins for uncomplicated malaria. In complicated malaria, supportive care - intravenous fluids, blood transfusion, oxygen therapy - can be commenced while awaiting the inclusion of anti-malarial drugs when the diagnosis of malaria is confirmed.

Breast cancer patients in resource-poor countries have a profoundly impaired quality of life. This study showed significantly lower emotional well-being domain scores in post-mastectomy patients on adjuvant chemotherapy, pre-menopausal women having breast cancer and in younger female patients. There is need to address this anomaly.