Objective: To ascertain the pattern and frequency of malignant tumours of female genital tract in North Eastern Nigeria. Design: A retrospective analysis of surgical biopsy materials. Setting: University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, the only teaching hospital in the North Eastern region of Nigeria. Subjects: Three hundred and eighty-two cases of female genital malignancies histologically confirmed between January 1st 1991 and December 31st 2000. Results: The age range of patients whose specimens were received during the ten year period was three to eighty years. Mean age of presentation was 44.2 years, (SD + 13). Cancer of the uterine cervix was the most common (70.5%), followed by ovarian cancer (16.3%), then cancer involving the uterus (8.5%). There was a steep rise in reported cases within the period of study especially for cancer of the cervix. Ovarian tumours were the most common tumours in the teenage group. Conclusion: The high incidence of cancer of the uterine cervix and the early mean age of presentation of all malignancies underlies the importance of screening programmes and awareness campaign in our community. The study also provides the basis for further analysis of female genital malignancies.

Polygamy influences contraceptive use and the role of co-wives in this regard merits further study.

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) can be transmitted vertically through the placenta in utero, during labour and delivery and through breast milk. In Nigeria, about 5.8% of women attending antenatal clinics were HIV infected as of December 2002. It was projected that by the end of the year 2002, there were about 849,000 orphans resulting from AIDS and about 755,000 established paediatric AIDS in this country. Interventions to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV include voluntary counselling and testing (VCT), administration of antiretroviral drugs (ARV), modification of obstetric practices and infant feeding options in HIV infection. Over the period July 2002-June 2003, 262 pregnant women received VCT at the antenatal clinic of the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, and 207 (79%) agreed to be tested. Thirty-one (11.8%) were HIV positive. The majority of the HIV positive mothers received nevirapine in labour while 35% had combination ARV drugs in pregnancy. All the infants received nevirapine suspension within 72 hours of delivery. Expensive and slow testing facilities, insufficient and inconsistent counsellors, lack of ARV drugs for both mother and baby as well as unaffordable caesarean delivery were some of the constraints being faced at this centre. It is recommended that the governments at various levels should show more commitment to the programme of preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV.

Hydatidiform mole (HM), is a known cause of early pregnancy wastage and has the risk of malignant potential. This is a retrospective study of 71 patients who were managed for hydatidiform mole at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, (UMTH) Maiduguri over a 10-year period, from January 1996 to December 2005, inclusive. The objective of the study was to determine the incidence, risk factors, clinical presentations and histological types of HM. Case records of 71 histologically confirmed HM were studied. Their sociodemographic characteristics, clinical presentations and histology reports were obtained and analysed. The institutional incidence of molar pregnancy was 3.8/1,000 deliveries. Histological findings showed partial mole in 51 (71.8%) cases and complete mole in 20 (28.2%) cases. The peak age-specific incidence rate was 17.5 years. The leading presenting clinical feature was abnormal vaginal bleeding seen in 100%. No case of invasive mole was found. Maternal complications included severe haemorrhage requiring blood transfusion (30.0%) and infections (15.5%). There was no maternal death. In conclusion, the incidence of partial hydatidiform mole was found to be higher than that of complete variety in our environment and the identified risk factors were young age, low parity and previous history of HM.

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