Reference luminal diameters of the carotid arteries among healthy Nigerian adults.

BACKGROUND: The carotid arteries serve as major blood supply to the head and neck region of the body. Understanding their structure and function in the pathogenesis of stroke and in interventional neuroradiology due to luminal stenosis, atherosclerosis and wall stiffness is paramount. Doppler ultrasound scan plays key role in the early diagnosis of the pathologies of the arteries as it is an affordable, accessible, reliable and non-invasive clinical tool. Knowing normal average diameter of the carotid arteries among healthy individuals is important in making correct clinical diagnosis in any population. The aim of the study was to determine mean diameters of the carotid arteries among healthy adult Nigerians for reference. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a prospective study involving 104 healthy Nigerians within the ages of 18 and 65 years who had their carotid arteries scanned on both sides and each diameter was measured. A 95% confidence level was used; a p-value of < 0.05 was significant. RESULTS: Of the studied population, 62 were males and 42 were females, and the average age of the subjects was 28.32 ± 9.09 years. From this study, the average luminal diameter of the common carotid artery = 0.61 ± 0.08 cm, internal carotid artery = 0.60 ± 0.08 cm and external carotid artery = 0.49 ± 0.10 cm. The results showed that although, there are differences in measurements between the two sexes (males slightly higher than females in common carotid artery) and between right and left sides (with right side slightly higher), they are not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: This sonographic study on healthy Nigerian adults has given us normal reference values of the luminal diameters of the carotid arteries among Nigerians, which clinicians can make reference to, when assessing carotid artery diameters of patients in Nigeria.

Sex Determination Using Inion-Opistocranium-Asterion (IOA) Triangle in Nigerians' Skulls.

Background. Determination of sex is an important concern to the forensic anthropologists as it is critical for individual identification. This study has investigated the existence of sexual dimorphism in the dimensions and the area of the IOA triangle. Methods. A total of 100 adult dry skulls, (78 males; 22 females) from departments of anatomy in Nigerian universities were used for this study. Automatic digital calliper was used for the measurement. Coefficient of variation, correlation, linear regression, percentiles, and sexual dimorphism ratio were computed from the IOA triangle measurements. The IOA triangle area was compared between sexes. Results. The male parameters were significantly (P < 0.05) higher than female parameters. The left opistocranium-asterion length was 71.09 ± 0.56 and 61.68 ± 3.35 mm and the right opistocranium-asterion length was 69.73 ± 0.49 and 60.92 ± 2.10 mm for male and female, respectively. A total area of IOA triangle of 1938.88 mm(2) and 1305.68 mm(2) for male and female, respectively, was calculated. The left IOA indices were 46.42% and 37.40% in males and females, respectively, while the right IOA indices for males and females were 47.19% and 38.87%, respectively. Conclusion. The anthropometry of inion-opistocranium-asterion IOA triangle can be a guide in gender determination of unknown individuals.

Stereological quantification of Leydig and Sertoli cells: technique of assessing antifertility potentials of metronidazole.

Changes in the numbers or volume of the different cell types in the testis have been widely used to ascertain the effects of environmental and chemical agents on the testis. This study is designed to investigate the direct effects of metronidazole on the testicular cells by quantifying the number of Sertoli and Leydig cells. A total of 105 adult male and 50 female wistar rats weighing 170 +/- 10 g (70-90 day old) were used for the experiment. The rats were randomly divided into a control and experimental groups. There were four major groups with 5 subgroups consisting of 5 rats each. Varying doses of metronidazole were used depending on the experiment. Experiment 1; animals were fed with 15 mg/kg of metronidazole, experiment 2; fed with 30 mg/kg of metronidazole, experiment 3; administered with 200 mg/kg of metronidazole and experiment 4; fed with 400 mg/kg of metronidazole. Each experimental has 5 sub-groups; A control, B; group fed with the experimental dose, C; experimental dose with vitamin E, D; experimental dose with testosterone, E; fed with experimental dose, vitamin E and testosterone and subgroup F, a reversal group which was left for 8 weeks after cessation of treatment. At the end of the experiment, animals were scarified and the antioxidant effects of metronidazole were investigated using malonildialdehyde concentration and catalase activity. Results showed that metronidazole at the therapeutic dose of 15 mg/kg and 30 mg/kg did not have significant negative effect on the testicular cell number. At the dose of 200 mg/kg and 400 mg/kg, there was a marked increase in number of Sertoli and Leydig cells. The results of this study indicate that metronidazole administration (200 mg/kg or 400 mg/kg), for 8 weeks, caused a reduction in the total number of Sertoli and Leydig cells of the testis and this effect was reversible after 8 weeks of abstinence.

Canthal and cephalic indexes of children with homozygous sickle cell disease in Port-Harcourt.

INTRODUCTION: This research was conducted in view of the importance of anthropometric indices of the head and face in forensic medicine, surgery, paediatrics and medical imaging. This study was put forward to determine some of the effects of chronic diseases on head and face of children with homozygous sickle cell disease. METHOD: A comparative study on canthal and cephalic indexes were carried out on 100 patients, 54 males and 46 females who are homozygous for sickle cell anaemia, who attended the sickle cell clinic at the University of Port-HarcourtTeaching Hospital between the age ranges of 3-18 years. The same was also done for 500 normal growing children 291 males and 209 females between ages 3-18 years who are pupils of the University Kindergarten, Demonstration Primary and Secondary Schools as well as First International Academy Secondary School, Rumuokoro, Port Harcourt. The head length, head breadth, inner and outer canthal distances measured. The results showed a mean cephalic index value of 79.89 +/- 0.87 for the normal growing children while that of the sickle cell children was 79.54 +/- 2.14, which is not statistically significant (P>0.05). The mean canthal index for healthy children was 35.16 +/- 1.01 as against 37.28 +/- 1.65 for the sickle cell children, which is statistically significant. CONCLUSION: This research determined the possible effects of chronic diseases such as sickle cell anaemia on the diversity of head and face shapes in children.

Cephalic index of Ogbia tribe of Bayesla State / Índice cefálico de la tribu Ogbia del Estado de Bayelsa

A study on Cephalic Index was carried out on subjects from Ogbia tribe of Bayelsa State in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Four hundred and fourty individuals were randomly selected from the community comprising of 219 males and 221 females respectively. The ages of the subjects ranged from 2-18 years. The length and breadth of the head was measured using a sliding caliper from standard bony landmarks. The measurable point for head length was measured between the glabella and opisthocranion while the head breadth was the widest biparietal diameter from euryon (eu) on one side of the head to euryon (eu), on the other side. Mean values of cephalic index, standard deviation and standard error of mean were calculated for both sexes. The result showed that the mean cephalic index was 72.96 +/- 6.12. Male had a cephalic index of 73.68 +/- 6.53 while female had a cephalic index of 72.24 +/- 5.60. The difference in cephalic index between male and female was significant (p=0.007). Based on the cephalic index, the head form of 66.82 percent of individuals were Dolichocephalic, 21.59 percent Mesocephalic, 10.23 percent Brachycephalic and 1.36 percent Hyperbrachycephalic. This research showed that Ogbia children have Dolichocephalic phenotype. The data from this research will be useful in anthropology, genetics and forensic medicine.

Se estudió el índice cefálico en sujetos de la tribu Ogbia del estado de Bayelsa en la región del Delta del Níger de Nigeria. Fueron seleccionados al azar 440 individuos de la comunidad ( 219 hombres y 221 mujeres), con edades entre 2 y 18 años. La longitud y el ancho de la cabeza se midió utilizando un caliper de referencias óseas estándar. La longitud de la cabeza se midió entre la glabela y el opistocranion, y el ancho a nivel parietal desde un euryon a otro. Los valores medios de índice cefálico, la desviación estándar y el error estándar de la media se calcularon para ambos sexos. El resultado mostró que el índice cefálico promedio fue de 72,96 +/- 6,12. Los hombres tenían un índice cefálico de 73,68 +/- 6,53, mientras que las mujeres mostraron una índice cefálico de 72,24 +/- 5,60. La diferencia en el índice cefálico entre hombres y mujeres fue significativa (p=0,007). Con base en el índice cefálico, el 66,82 por ciento de los individuos eran dolicocefálicos, el 21,59 por ciento mesocefálicos, el 10,23 por ciento braquicefálicos y el 1,36 por ciento hiperbraquicéfalicos. Esta investigación mostró que los niños Ogbia tienen un fenotipo dolicocefálico. Los datos de esta investigación pueden ser útiles en antropología, genética y medicina forense.