Willingness of Family Caregivers to Consent to Relative's Postmortem Examination that Die Suddenly in a Nigerian Tertiary Hospital.

BACKGROUND: Postmortem examination is necessary to diagnose the cause of sudden death, and family caregivers are expected to consent to this examination. This study assessed knowledge, attitude, practices and willingness of family caregivers to consent to postmortem examination of their relative if they die suddenly in a Nigerian tertiary hospital. METHODS: Descriptive cross-sectional study of family caregivers of our patients that completed an interviewer administered semistructured questionnaire assessing their knowledge, attitude, practices and willingness to consent to postmortem examination of their relative if they die suddenly. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. RESULTS: A total of 224 caregivers were interviewed. The mean age (SD) was 34.95 (11.74), ranging 22-75 years. They were parents (32.6%), siblings (37.9%), spouses (11.2%) and other relatives (18.3%). Only 17% had adequate knowledge, 44.6% positive attitude and 11.2% good practices to postmortem examination of sudden death. The majority (75.9%) would consent to postmortem examination of their relatives if they die suddenly. Sociodemographic variables associated with willingness to consent to postmortem examination after relative's sudden death include being male (AOR 3.61; 95%CI 3.09-8.92; p=0.001), having tertiary education (AOR 4.83; 95%CI 1.01-8.29; p=0.034), Christianity (AOR 2.59; 95%CI 1.25-5.35; p=0.010) and skilled worker (AOR 1.43; 95%CI 1.33-3.80; p=0.020). CONCLUSION: Some family caregivers would not consent to postmortem examination of their relatives when they die suddenly. Sensitization programs targeting family caregivers are necessary to increase knowledge and enhance prevention of sudden death as well as improve willingness to consent to postmortem examination when their relatives die suddenly.

Zingiber officinale (Roscoe) mitigates CCl4-induced liver histopathology and biochemical derangements through antioxidant, membrane-stabilizing and tissue-regenerating potentials.

The world-wide increasing incidence of liver injury has attracted scientific interest in the exploration of better treatment or adjuvant treatment therapies. This study investigated the effects of methanol extract of Zingiber officinale (Roscoe) rhizome (MEZOR) in a Wistar rat model of carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced liver injury. The study recruited thirty female Wistar rats that received graded doses of MEZOR (determined by its LD50) by oral gavage through an oral canula, for 4 consecutive weeks following 1 week oral administration of CCl4 (0.7 ml/kg in olive oil; 1:1, v/v) while livolin forte® (5.2 mg/kg p.o.) was used as a standard. CCl4 induced deleterious hepatic effects as revealed by the liver function biomarkers (AST, ALT, ALP and total protein), antioxidant indicators (GSH and CAT) and histopathological effects, demonstrated by H & E, Gordon and Sweet, Masson's trichrome, PAS staining techniques as well as by quantificational analyses of the liver micrographs, using image-J. MEZOR treatment was associated with a dose-dependent and significant mitigation of the aforementioned parameters (p < 0.05). This study concluded that MEZOR is a potential therapeutic choice in the adjuvant treatment of subjects with chemically-induced liver injury.