Spina bifida cystica in northern Nigeria

✍ Scribed by O. A. Mabogunje

• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 1990
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 342 KB
• Volume: 6
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0256-7040
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00307931

✦ Synopsis

At the Ahmadu Bello University Hospitals in northern Nigeria 152 boys and 160 girls with spina bifida cystica were registered from 1971 to 1985. Only 21% of the patients were registered at the hospital within 24 h of birth; 90% had been delivered at home and without antenatal care. The malformation occurred in the lumbar or lumbosacral region in 75% of cases. Meningomyeloceles comprised 81%. Surgical closure was performed by general surgeons in 112 (36%) of the patients mainly for nursing care and social reasons. Of the children, 56 died in the hospital, 33 moved and 166 were lost to follow-up at 1 month. Only 8 were seen up to 1 year but 4 have lived beyond 4 years. This series serves as a baseline for comparison with future experience in this part of the world.