Background: The dearth of endocrinologists in Nigeria, coupled with a paucity of data on patterns of endocrine consultations pose a challenge in evaluating the impact of consultations on patients' management and eventual outcomes. The objectives of this study were to determine the frequency, sources of referrals, the common cases referred, the reasons for consultation requests, and the outcome of patients who benefitted from endocrine consultations. Materials and Methods: This study was carried out in the Endocrinology unit of Babcock University Teaching Hospital, over 9 months. All patients referred to the unit were sampled (total sampling). Their sociodemographic parameters, sources, and reasons for consultations were documented. The patients' case notes were then retrospectively reviewed, to determine the impact of the consultation on their management and outcome. Results: A total of 108 consults were received throughout the study. Most consultations were requested by the general outpatient clinic (37%) followed by cardiology clinic (12%). The most common reason was to take over management of the patients. Diabetes mellitus accounted for 68.7% of the cases seen. Diagnosis made by the referring physician was confirmed in most cases, new diagnoses or change in diagnosis was reached in 9.3% and 3.7%, respectively. About 39.8% of the patients were lost to follow-up, while 53.8% were in good and fair clinical condition. Conclusion: Most of the cases referred for specialist care were from the general outpatient clinic, had diabetes mellitus, and benefitted from specialist care by the way of advanced investigations and treatments, though about a third were lost to follow-up. It is imperative that a good referral system is maintained among physicians, to ensure that patients get the best care available. Attention must be paid to common causes of patient attrition such as lack of widespread health insurance coverage, to ensure continuity of care.

Aim: To describe a rare case of pelvic desmoid tumour simulating as a huge uterine leiomyoma causing a diagnostic dilemma in a premenopausal woman. Case Presentation:  This was a 44-year-old, para 2 (2 alive) who was referred to our gynaecology clinic from a secondary health facility on account of slowly increasing abdominal swelling of 2 years duration. There was no nausea, vomiting or diarrhoea. There was associated mild to moderate dull lower abdominal pain that did not radiate to any other part of the body. There was no change in her monthly menstrual flow. Physical examination revealed a pelvic mass about 32 weeks pregnancy size and firm. Computed Topography scan showed a huge pedunculated sub-serous uterine fibroid. A huge mass adherent to the anterior surface of the body of the uterus was completely surgically excised at exploratory laparotomy. Histology of the excised tumour revealed a definitive histological diagnosis of pelvic desmoid tumour. The patient was clinically stable and discharged home 10 days post operation and was followed-up on out-patient gynaecology clinic basis. Discussion: Pelvic desmoid is a rare mesenchymal tumour caused by abnormal proliferation of fibroblasts.  It is three times more common in women and occurs mostly between 25 and 35 years of age which correspond to the same age peak incidence for uterine fibroids. The tumour can easily be misdiagnosed as uterine leiomyoma and imaging cannot reliably distinguish the two conditions. Conclusion: Pelvic desmoid tumour should be considered as a differential diagnosis in premenopausal women who present with abdominal swelling. Relevant clinical history, Radiological imaging and Histopathological assessment are essential in making prompt accurate diagnosis.

The study population consisted of male and female dyspeptics aged 18 and above referred to the unit for urea breath test from February 2015 to December 2018. Patients' demographic information and H. pylori status were extracted from the test logbook and analyzed with IBM-SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 22.0. Armonk, NY: IBM Corp. RESULTS: A total of 203 patients who had pre-eradication test within the period considered were included. The mean age was 44.6 (±16.4) while the age range was 18-83 years. Eighty-two (40.4%) were males while 121 (59.6%) were females. A total of 106 (52.2%) tested positive for H. pylori among all the subjects. There was no significant age-related difference in the prevalence (p = 0.333). The female gender was observed to have a higher prevalence (56.2%) than the male gender (46.3%) but the difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.198). CONCLUSION: The prevalence rate of H. pylori infection in Nigeria is high but it varies widely from one study to another depending on the diagnostic method used. A nationwide populationbased study utilizing a user-friendly and reliable diagnostic method like the urea breath test is highly desirable.

Objectives: This study was designed to evaluate the prevalence, and the severity of hypokalemia, and the factors associated with hypokalemia among patients hospitalized with COVID-19. Methods: Random sampling technique was employed in this study. Socio-demographic data such as age, gender, weight (kg), height (meters) and BMI (kg/m 2 ) as well as presenting symptoms (pulmonary and extra-pulmonary), duration of admission, the need for mechanical ventilation and Original Research Articletreatment outcomes (discharged or died) as well as the plasma level of potassium (mmol/l) were extracted from the medical records of RT-PCR confirmed hospitalized cases of COVID-19 patients. Data collected were analyzed with IBM/ SPSS version 25.0 software. Discrete variables were presented as percentages and frequencies and the associations between qualitative variables tested using the Chi-square test at a level of significance of p < 0.05. Results: Hypokalaemia was detected in 61 out of 117 COVID-19 positive subjects used for this study during hospitalization. The mean serum potassium was 3.45±0.633 mmol/L. The majority of hypokalemic patients (n=35, 29.9%) patients experienced a mild decrease in serum potassium level (3-3.4 mmol/L). Risk factors for hypokalaemia were female sex and patients presenting with sneezing or/and sore throat. There was no relationship between the plasma potassium level and comorbid factors. There was no increasing trend of 30-day mortality associated with lower plasma potassium level. Conclusion: Plasma potassium levels should be monitored routinely and maintained within appropriate ranges in patients with COVID-19 especially in female patients as well as patient with significant upper respiratory symptoms such as sore throat and sneezing.