The use of unclaimed bodies for anatomical dissection has been the main method of instruction at our institution. There is however a shortage of cadavers for dissection given the increase in the number of medical schools as well as in the number of students enrolling in these schools. This shortage could be mitigated by having voluntary human body donation programs. This study aimed at assessing the attitudes of medical students and surgical residents towards body donation for anatomy learning. We conducted an online survey involving 72 first-year medical students and 41 surgical residents at University of Nairobi who had completed one year of anatomy dissection. For the medical students, this was their first dissection experience while it was the second exposure for the surgery trainees. Most of the surgical trainees (70.7%) and medical students (68.1%) were opposed to self-body donation. This was mainly due to cultural (37%) and religious (20%) barriers. Surprisingly, of those not willing to donate themselves, 67.9% (82.8% surgical trainees, 59.2% medical students) would recommend the practice to other people. Exposure to repeated dissection does not change the perceptions towards body donation. It is noteworthy that culture and religion rank high as clear barriers amongst this “highly informed” group of potential donors.

Purpose:To describe the effect of monocular deprivation on densities of neural retinal cells in rabbits.Methods:Thirty rabbits, comprised of 18 subject and 12 control animals, were included and monocular deprivation was achieved through unilateral lid suturing in all subject animals. The rabbits were observed for three weeks. At the end of each week, 6 experimental and 3 control animals were euthanized, their retinas was harvested and processed for light microscopy. Photomicrographs of the retina were taken and imported into FIJI software for analysis.Results:Neural retinal cell densities of deprived eyes were reduced along with increasing period of deprivation. The percentage of reductions were 60.9% (P < 0.001), 41.6% (P = 0.003), and 18.9% (P = 0.326) for ganglion, inner nuclear, and outer nuclear cells, respectively. In non-deprived eyes, cell densities in contrast were increased by 116% (P < 0.001), 52% (P < 0.001) and 59.6% (P < 0.001) in ganglion, inner nuclear, and outer nuclear cells, respectively.Conclusion:In this rabbit model, monocular deprivation resulted in activity-dependent changes in cell densities of the neural retina in favour of the non-deprived eye along with reduced cell densities in the deprived eye.

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Iatrogenic injuries to cranial nerves, half of which affect the hypoglossal nerve, occur in up to 20% of surgical procedures involving the neck. The risk of injury could be minimized by in-depth knowledge of its positional and relational anatomy. Forty-one hypoglossal nerves were dissected from cadaveric specimens and positions described in relation to the internal carotid artery (ICA), external carotid artery (ECA), carotid bifurcation, mandible, hyoid bone, mastoid process, and the digastric tendon. The distance of the nerve from where it crossed the ICA and ECA to the carotid bifurcation was 29.93 (±5.99) mm and 15.19 (±6.68) mm, respectively. The point where it crossed the ICA was 12.24 (±3.71) mm superior to the greater horn of hyoid, 17.16 (±4.40) mm inferior to the angle of the mandible, and 39.08 (±5.69) mm from tip of the mastoid. The hypoglossal nerve loop was inferior to the digastric tendon in 73% of the cases. The hypoglossal nerves formed high loops in this study population. Caution should be exercised during surgical procedures in the neck. The study also revealed that the mastoid process is a reliable fixed landmark to locate the hypoglossal nerve.

Background: Jugular foramen lesions are among the major complications of skull base surgery. Morphological variations in the structure are pertinent during interpretation of skull base radiographs and in surgical procedures within the foramen. This study therefore aimed at describing the morphology of the jugular foramen in a Kenyan population. Methods: One hundred and five adult skulls from the Nairobi National Museums were used. Jugular foramen septation, dome and dimensions were studied extracranially. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS (Version 21.1 IBM). Results: Septation was present in 202 (96.2%) jugular foramina, type I partial septation being the most common (78.7%). A dome was observed in 81 (38.6%) jugular foramina. Respectively, the mean right and left anteroposterior dimensions were 11.17 ±2.05mm vs.8.88 ±2.30mm (p <0.001), mediolateral dimensions 17.47 ±2.18mm vs. 15.30 ±2.53mm (p <0.001), jugular dome depth 12.38 ± 2.64 mm vs. 11.25 ± 2.15 mm (p=0.054), posterior wall thickness7.95 ± 2.20mm vs. 9.68 ± 1.98mm (p <0.001) and medial wall thickness 3.73 ± 1.10 mm vs. 3.73 ± 0.98mm (p = 0.992). Conclusion: Partial septation, asymmetry in dimensions and a wide range in the dome depth of the jugular foramen were frequent. Preoperative imaging of jugular foramen morphology is therefore recommended to avoid inadvertent injury to its contents and surrounding structures owing to variability.