No abstract

Although congenital malformations are believed to be on the rise in the oil production areas of Nigeria, few baseline data are available. This retrospective study documented the incidence of congenital abnormalities in 2 major hospitals in Port Harcourt, an oil-rich city in Rivers state, Nigeria. Delivery and nursery records were reviewed from January 1990 to December 2003. In the first hospital 78 congenital anomalies were recorded out of 19 572 births (4.00/1000), principally affecting the central nervous system (1.84/1000) and skeletal system (1.74/1000). In the second hospital, 47 congenital anomalies were recorded out of 20 121 births (2.20/1000), with malformations of the central nervous system (0.80/1000) and skeletal system (1.14/1000) again predominating. More research is needed into long-term trends in congenital malformations and possible associations with environmental pollution in Rivers state.

The incidence of Pes planus was determined among the people of Cross River State. A total of 1000 individuals comprising 500 males and 500 females of Cross River State origin and aged 20-30 years were used to assess the prevalence of Pes planus. All volunteers involved in the study had no deformities or previous fractures of the lower extremities especially of the foot. For each volunteer, bilateral plantar prints were obtained using ink procedure method. All prints were counted, separated into sexes and the incidence of flat foot calculated for both sexes. A total of 111 individuals had flat foot comprising 44 males and 67 females. The overall incidence of Pes planus was 22.20% with a prevalence of 8.80% amongst males and 13.40% amongst females. Bilateral flat foot was more common in females (11.20%) than in males (6.00%). Unilateral flat foot was more common in males (2.80%) than in females (2.20%). Our result shows that the prevalence of flat foot is higher amongst the females than the males in Cross River State with the prevalence being 22.20%.