Dyslipidemia: Prevalence and associated risk factors among patients with Lichen Planus in Kano, North-West Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: Lichen planus (LP) is a chronic inflammatory disorder. Recently, there are suggestions that LP is associated with dyslipidemia in a large series of patients independent of other causes. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence and associated risk factors for dyslipidaemia among patients with LP. METHODS: This case-control study included 180.subjects, 90 with lichen planus (39 men and 51 Women) and 90 (44 men and 46 women) controls consecutively recruited from the outpatient Dermatology clinic of Amnihu Kano Teaching Hospital Kano-Nigeria. RESULTS: The prevalence of dyslipidemia was found to be higher among LP patients (32%) than the corol group (24%), p=0.208. Our study showed that male patients with LP have higher tendencies to develop dyslipidemia (OR 5.66, CI 1.73-19.59). Equally the duration of illness t 2 months was found to be a strong predictor of developing dyslipidemia (OR 5.65, CI 1.12-38.3). No significant differences were observed in glucose levels, body mass index, or blood pressure between the two study groups. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of dyslipidaemia among patients with LP in this study was high with male gender and increased-duration of illness being strong predictors. There is need for further studies on a larger scale to establish the prevalence and independent predictors of dyslipidaemia in patients with LP in our setting.

Prevalence of traditional cardiovascular risk factors among Nigerians with stroke.

UNLABELLED: Stroke is an important cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The case fatality rates from stroke are two- to three-fold higher in sub-Saharan Africa, including Nigeria, than in the developed world, mainly because of limited healthcare facilities and untreated risk factors. The aim was to determine the prevalence of traditional cardiovascular risk factors among Nigerians with stroke and compare the prevalence of risk factors between young and older adults with stroke. METHODS: The study was cross-sectional in design, and was carried out on stroke patients who were 15 years of age or older, in the medical wards and neurology clinic of Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Nigeria. Data was collated consecutively over six months. RESULTS: A total of 81 patients were studied. Sixteen of them (19.8%) were under 45 years old (group 1) while the remaining 65 patients (80.2%) were 45 years or older (group 2). All patients had at least one risk factor. One-third of group 1 patients (37.5%) and 81.5% of group 2 patients had three or more cardiovascular risk factors (p = 0.0004). The most widespread risk factor in all patients, particularly in group 2 patients was systemic hypertension, while dyslipidaemia was most common among group 1 patients. Recurrent stroke was significantly more common among group 2 than group 1 patients (30.8 and 6.3% respectively) (p = 0.045). CONCLUSION: Cardiovascular risk factors, particularly hypertension and dyslipidaemia were prevalent in the studied patients with stroke. The older patients in group 2 had more multiple-risk factors than the younger ones in group 1. Secondary prevention strategies including detection and treatment of risk factors may curtail the burden of the disease.