Archives

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  Maternal Serum Unconjugated Oestriol as Predictive Marker for Pre-eclampsia

  Vol. 7 No. 2 (2026)
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  Management Dilemma of an Incidentally Discovered Bilateral Dysgerminoma

  Vol. 6 No. 4 (2025)

  Foreword

  This issue, which is the last for the year 2025, comes with the theme: “Management Dilemma of an Incidentally Discovered Bilateral Dysgerminoma” where a team of researchers stumbled upon this clinical condition during an emergency cesarean section in a primigravida. The authors stated that, the client had a normal, regular ante-natal visits with normal pregnancy progression; and the bilateral ovarian dysgerminoma only presented as a case of arrested labour which necessitated an emergency surgery. They therefore advised clinicians to be meticulous in the management of pregnant women, especially in the tail end of apparently normal pregnancies as such incidents may spring up surprises. In another study, a team of researchers investigated the extent and scope of serum lipid profiles and their association with cardiovascular diseases in patients with diabetes and hypertension. And they found the mean lipid values for hypertensive versus diabetic patients when compared were as follows: HDL (1.3±0.8 vs 1.2±0.3, t=1.737, p=0.08), LDL (3.3±1.0 vs 3.1±1.1, t=2.170, p=0.03), total cholesterol (5.3±1.2 vs 5.2±1.7, t=0.598, p=0.55), and triglycerides (1.6±1.0 vs 1.6±0.6, t=0.389, p=0.70). The predominant lipid abnormality among both hypertensive and diabetic patients was hypercholesterolaemia. Management of such patients should therefore factor this finding in the drug formulations and dietary advice for the desired results. Due to the growing burden of complete or partial blindness globally including Nigeria, researchers sought to describe the patterns of refractive errors known to be among the common causes of preventive blindness at Barau Dikko Teaching Hospital, Kaduna Northwest Nigeria. Out of the 4,640 eyes of 2,888 people studied, comprising 1,114 males (38.6%) and 1,774 females (61.4%): myopia occurred in 1,574(33.9%) eyes, maximum was -13D, hypermetropia in 1,964(42.3%) maximum was +4D in naturally occurring and +16D in aphakic and astigmatism in 480(10.4%). Astigmatism consisted of 291(60.6%)  myopia, 59(12.3%) hypermetropia and 130(27.1%) were mixed. They recommended regular eye checks to arrest preventable blindness in our communities. Due to the socio-economic challenges, in addition to the diverse health needs of patients with chronic kidney disease, researchers looked into the Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) of haemodialysis patients. And they found that the overall HRQOL was average to above average. Regular outpatient visits, having health insurance, and level of annual income were all critical factors that affected HRQOL. Physical functioning was most significantly affected, with 78% of respondents reporting work limitations due to physical health problems.Management of patients with this clinical conditions should therefore be all encompassing targeting total well-being. 

  Professor Michael Simidele Odimayo

  Editor-In-Chief

  31^st December, 2025

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  Psychosocial and Socio-Economic Drivers of Substance Use

  Vol. 7 No. 1 (2026)

  Foreword

  This issue, the first in the 2026 series comes with the title: “Psychosocial and Socio-Economic Drivers of Substance Use” in which a team of researchers carried out a study on a cross-sectional analysis of psychosocial and socio-economic drivers of substance use among youth in Kaduna metropolis, northwest Nigeria. They found that: lifetime prevalence of substance use was 42.8%, and current use prevalence was 36.8%. Alcohol, cannabis, and tramadol were the most common substances used and peer pressure was found to be the predominant contributing factor. They recommended interventions by targeting specific peer group dynamics, mental health, and also enhancing family/social support systems. In another study researchers looked at the patterns of Congenital Heart Diseases (CHDs) in the pediatric population using a 2D echocardiography at university of benin teaching hospital. They found that acyanotic CHDs predominated (82.1%) with atrial septal defects (34.0%) and ventricular septal defects (31.6%) being the most common lesions. Also tetralogy of Fallot (11.6%) was the most frequent cyanotic CHD. And nearly half of the children (47.6%) had severe CHDs. They therefore recommended that preventive measures should be targeted towards the risk factors observed which were: maternal education, marital status, tribe, and place of residence.

  Rabies appears to have been largely controlled in many parts of the world in the 21st century, particularly through domestic animal vaccination. Here, researchers presented a case of late presentation of rabies with encephalopathy at a facility with limited technological and infrastructural endowments. Patient management was challenging, with a poor outcome. They therefore advocated for strong and regular advocacy and sensitization about canines serving as vectors for the disease in our communities. It is generally believed that Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) is strongly associated with Nasopharygeal Carcinoma (NPC), and hence researchers sought to find expression of HPV genes in cases of this cancer. And they found that all the samples tested showed adequate DNA quality with successful β-globin amplification but none of the NPC cases demonstrated detectable HPV DNA by PCR. This indicates a possibility of other underlying factors in the aetiopathogenesis of NPCs generally.

  Blood donation is always a welcome development among major health facilities across the country to address both emergency and pressing medical needs. In this study researchers sought to find out the rate of “Turn back” among prospective blood donors in the midst of the growing need for the product. Findings showed deferral rate to be 14.7% and that deferred donors were predominantly young males, with a mean age of 29.4 ± 7.7 years and a male-to-female ratio of 298:1, and the majority were family-replacement donors (95%). Permanent deferrals (85.6%) were chiefly due to HBV (51.4%), followed by HCV (18.7%), VDRL (11.3%), and HIV (4.2%). Temporary deferrals (14.4%) were mostly due to low PCV (9.6%).

  Professor Michael Simidele Odimayo

  Editor-In-Chief

  31^st March, 2026