Normal diameter of the optic nerve using magnetic resonance imaging: A retrospective Nigerian study.

PURPOSE: The variations in the diameter of the optic nerve (ON) are important clinically in the diagnosis of conditions associated with the ON such as raised intracranial pressure, meningioma, optic neuritis, and Grave's orbitopathy. This study determined the normal diameters of the ON in adult Nigerians seen in a Hospital in Delta State. METHODS: Axial T1-weighted brain magnetic resonance imaging images of 150 patients (75 males and 75 females) aged ≥20 years were retrieved from the hospital's radiological database and retrospectively used to evaluate the diameter of the ON on axial and coronal sections. The data were analyzed and summarized using descriptive statistics. The mean diameters were compared based on gender, side, and age groups and correlated with age using inferential statistics. The significance level was considered at 5%. RESULTS: The diameter of the ON measured 0.45 ± 0.07 cm on the coronal section, besides 0.50 ± 0.07 cm, and 0.46 ± 0.06 cm at 0.3 cm and 0.8 cm from the posterior pole of the globe, respectively, on the axial slices. The diameters were significantly larger in males than in females (P < 0.05) and were symmetrical. However, they lacked significant association with age (P > 0.05). The three diameters measured had a significant positive correlation with each other (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The study provides a normal range of ON diameter in the study center to aid in the diagnosis of raised intracranial pressure and pathologies involving the nerve and its sheath.

Pneumatization Patterns of the Sphenoid Sinus in Adult Nigerians and Their Clinical Implications.

Background: The variant pneumatization patterns of the sphenoid sinus have significant surgical implications due to their associated inconsistent neurovascular relations. This study aimed at evaluating the pneumatization patterns of the sphenoid sinus in adult Nigerians. Methods: This was a retrospective study conducted at the Radiology Department of a Tertiary Hospital in Nigeria after obtaining institutional ethical approval. Brain Computed Tomography images of 336 patients (137 females, 199 males) aged ≥20 years were studied for the variant pneumatization patterns of the sphenoid sinus. Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 23 was used for data analysis. Chi-square test was used to assess for the association of the variants with gender and side. Pvalue was considered significant at <0.05. Results: The predominant pneumatization pattern in relation to the seller turcica was the sellar type (181;53.9%) followed by the presellar type (65;19.3%), post-sellar (62;18.5%), and lastly the conchal type (28;8.3%). The most prevalent clival recess was the subdorsal type (25;7.4%) followed by the dorsal (18;5.4%), combined (7;2.1%), and lastly occipital (3;0.9%). The frequency of pneumatized anterior clinoid process, greater wing of sphenoid and pterygoid process was 76;22.6%, 60;17.9% and 141;42% respectively and these showed significant side difference (P=0.001 each). None of the pneumatization patterns showed a significant gender difference. Sphenoid sinus agenesis was not observed. Conclusion: The pneumatization patterns in our study varied from the findings in previous Nigerian studies and other populations. There is therefore the need for preoperative evaluation before endoscopic transsphenoidal surgical procedures.

Landolphia owariensis Attenuates Alcohol-induced Cerebellar Neurodegeneration: Significance of Neurofilament Protein Alteration in the Purkinje Cells.

BACKGROUND: Alcohol-induced cerebellar neurodegeneration is a neuroadaptation that is associated with chronic alcohol abuse. Conventional drugs have been largely unsatisfactory in preventing neurodegeneration. Yet, multimodal neuro-protective therapeutic agents have been hypothesised to have high therapeutic potential for the treatment of CNS conditions; there is yet a dilemma of how this would be achieved. Contrarily, medicinal botanicals are naturally multimodal in their mechanism of action. AIM: The effect of L. owariensis was therefore assessed in alcohol-induced neurodegeneration of the cerebellar cortex in rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two groups of rats were oro-gastrically fed thrice daily with 5 g/kg ethanol (25% w/v), and 5 g/kg ethanol (25% w/v) plus L. owariensis (100 mg/kg body weight) respectively in diluted nutritionally complete diet (50% v/v). A control group was correspondingly fed a nutritionally complete diet (50% v/v) made isocaloric with glucose. Cytoarchitectural study of the cerebellar cortex was examined with H&E. Immunocytochemical analysis was carried out with the use of monoclonal antibody anti-NF in order to detect alterations in the neuronal cytoskeleton. RESULTS: After 4 days of binge alcohol treatment, we observed that L. owariensis supplementation significantly lowered the levels of histologic and biochemical indices of neurodegeneration. The level of neurodegeneration and cytoarchitecture distortion of the cerebellar cortex of rats exposed to ethanol was reduced by L. owariensis. Neurofilament-immunoreactivity (NF-IR) was evoked in the Purkinje cells of rats that received L. owariensis supplement. CONCLUSIONS: L. owariensis attenuates alcohol-induced cerebellar degeneration in the rat by alleviating oxidative stress and alteration of NF protein expression in the Purkinje cells.

Arch index as a predictor of pes planus: a comparative study of indigenous Kenyans and Tanzanians.

We determined the arch index of able-bodied indigenous Kenyan and Tanzanian individuals free of foot pain by using their dynamic footprints to classify the foot arch type and determine the prevalence of pes planus according to a previously described method. Males had a significantly higher arch index than females in both groups, and the prevalence of pes planus in Kenyans was 432 per 1,000 population, the highest ever documented and twice as high as that in Tanzanians (203 per 1,000 population). The arch index is useful in determining the prevalence of pes planus and possibly predicting pathologic foot conditions, and it may serve as an early warning sign of structural and functional defects of the foot in a given population.

Palmar and digital dermatoglyphic features of hypertensive and diabetic Malawian patients.

We determined the palmar and digital dermatoglyphic features of 165 black Malawian patients with diabetes mellitus and hypertension, aged 25-66 years attending the medical outpatient clinics at Lilongwe and Queen Elizabeth Central Hospitals by analyzing their total finger ridge count (TFRC), pattern intensity index (PII), atd angle and a-b ridge counts and compared these parameters with those of healthy controls previously studied, matched for age and sex. Differences were observed only in digital ridge patterns: whorls were absent in hypertensive patients and in men with diabetes and hypertension; and there was a significant rise in percentage frequency of ulnar loops (P < 0.001) in women with hypertension. Similarly, the percentage frequencies of whorls in women with both diabetes and hypertension were significantly lower than in women with hypertension alone (P < 0.05). The TFRC differentiated healthy subjects from hypertensive men (P < 0.05) and women (P < 0.001). Equally the a-b ridge count could differentiate diabetic and hypertensive men (P < 0.001) and women (P < 0.05) just as it did for women with diabetes alone and those with diabetes and hypertension (P < 0.001). The PII and atd angle were higher in patients than in healthy subjects. A higher than normal PII suggests the occurrence of these disease conditions in this African population, thereby providing a window for intervention in later life.

Determination of sex and race from the subpubic angle in Ugandan subjects.

The accurate determination of sex and race are important tools to forensic and physical anthropologists. In this study, the sex and race of 205 adult Ugandans were determined from the antero-posterior radiographs of the pelvis by measuring their subpubic angles. The angle ranged from 50 to 140 degrees with a mean of 93.86 degrees and standard deviation (SD) of 21.12 degrees for males and 75 to 155 degrees with a mean of 116.11 degrees (SD, 17.79 degrees) for females. The angle was significantly wider in women than men (P < 0.05), as indeed has previously been shown in other population groups studied. Using the demarking point method, 31.82% of Ugandan men and 10.53% of Ugandan women could be accurately sexed. However, more Malawians of both sexes previously studied had lower values for the angle and could be more accurately sexed. This study has also documented regional and racial variability of this angle among different population groups previously documented. Using the watershed subpubic angle derived from the means of this study and those of previously documented studies, 63% of Ugandans and 71% of Malawians could be accurately assigned to the black race. This method is recommended to physical and forensic anthropologists in the developing world.

The femoral collodiaphyseal angle in Malawian adults.

We used unilateral anteroposterior radiographs to measure the collodiaphyseal angle of the hip in 368 Malawian adults--222 men and 146 women 18 to 76 years old. The angle ranged from 105 degrees to 144 degrees (mean, 121.09 degrees; SD, 7.17 degrees). Results confirmed that the angle was wider in men than in women-indicating dimorphism based on sex--but no Malawian could be identified by sex using the recommended demarking point method of Jit and Singh (1966). The importance of the angle and its usefulness to practicing orthopedic surgeons in this part of the world are emphasized.