Ibrahim Aliyu

Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital · Department of Paediatrics

Background: Obtaining informed consent (IC) before a surgical procedure is the cornerstone of medical practice. The practice of IC continues to evolve as litigations increase. Most studies on patients' perspectives of IC are either old or were done in southern Nigeria. This study assessed the surgical patients' IC experience in a tertiary hospital...

Background: Sleep deprivation and disruptions are associated with both psychological and physiological disorders. Medical students have an increased risk for sleep deprivation. This study aimed to determine the quality of sleep among clinical medical students of Bayero University Kano (BUK). Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study th...

Osteomyelitis of the sternal bone is very rare and is usually secondary to trauma or surgery. Primary sternal osteomyelitis and secondary sternal osteomyelitis commonly are caused by Staphylococcus spp, and in drug addicts by Pseudomonas aerugenosa, while in sickle cell anemic children, Salmonella spp are mostly implicated. We, therefore, present a...

Sickle cell anemia is an autosomal recessive disorder resulting from insertion of the valine codon at position sixth of beta-hemoglobin gene instead of glutamate leading to the production of insoluble beta-hemoglobin chain. Although sickle anemia is mostly associated with bone pain and anemia, other manifestations also occur. Acute head syndrome is...

Objectives: To assess the prevalence and predictors of non-adherence to clinic appointments in adult patients with poorly controlled hypertension. Design: A descriptive cross-sectional study. Setting: A primary care setting (family medicine clinic) overseen by family physicians in Kano, Nigeria. Participants: Two hundred and thirty-four randomly se...

Background: Severe malaria is a major public health challenge and a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in tropical countries. Severe malaria is defined as life-threatening manifestation in the presence of asexual forms of Plasmodium falciparum in the peripheral blood; it is also caused by Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium knowlesi. Materials an...

Introduction: Existing evidence suggests that barotitis media (BM) is common among air travellers, and it has the potential to cause severe discomfort and sometimes permanent hearing and balance deficits. It has not been studied in Nigeria. Objective: This study aimed to assess the pre-air travel health-seeking behaviour, prevalence of BM, knowle...

Background: Hypertension is a common medical condition but largely undiagnosed, untreated, poorly controlled, and undertreated in low- and middle-income countries. Studies have reported missed hypertension during triage in Emergency Departments; however, little is known about missed elevated blood pressure (EBP) during triage in primary care settin...

Objective: To determine if there was any difference in SpO2 readings during exchange blood transfusion (EBT). Methods: A prospective cross-sectional study of neonates with severe neonatal jaundice requiring EBT was conducted. Oxygen saturation was recorded before, immediately and 15 minutes after EBT by using a pulse oximeter. Results: This study i...

Background: Feeding a newborn infant with his or her mother's breast milk only or from a wet nurse without giving other liquids up to the age of 6 months is called exclusive breastfeeding (EBF). The promotion of EBF for the first 6 months of infant's life is the most effective way to reduce morbidity and mortality, especially in low- and medium-inc...

The occurrence of seizure in children is a common neurologic dysfunction and finding the underlying aetiology is critically important as it determines the prognosis and outcome of the seizure and also guides therapeutic strategies. Parathyroid hormone (PTH) plays key role in the complex controlling mechanisms regulating calcium and phosphate balanc...

Background and objectives: Managing children with Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) attracts enormous cost especially in resource-poor settings like Nigeria. This study sought to determine the healthcare costs of pre-surgical management of CHD and describe its catastrophic effects on households. Methods: Using a semi-structured interviewer-administ...

Original Article

Introduction: Pulse oximeter is useful in the management of the critically ill child; it gives meaningful information for immediate clinical decision-making. The fingertip probe is the most common supplied probe in most hospitals, especially in resource-limited settings, and these may not fit all pediatric age groups; hence, it is not uncommon to s...

Introduction: Handwashing reduces the risk of transmission of infection; greater emphases are often placed on the practices of doctors and nurses; however, activities of other staffs such as laboratory and ward attendants influence treatment outcome; therefore, this study seeks to determine the hand hygiene practices among laboratory and ward atten...

Pulmonary arteriovenous malformation (PAVM) is a rare vascular anomaly, in which there is direct connection between branches of the pulmonary artery and pulmonary vein, therefore, bypassing the capillaries; this may remain asymptomatic. However, in severe cases, patients may manifest with cyanosis and high-output heart failure. Furthermore, they st...

Multiple exostoses are a rare disorder. It is estimated to occur in 1; 50,000 pregnancies. It presents within the first decade of life and it has an autosomal mode of inheritance; though it has been associated with a spontaneous mutation in 10% of cases. It is known as hereditary multiple exostoses, hereditary multiple osteochondromas, and to fit t...

Introduction: Lumbar puncture (LP) remains an important diagnostic investigation in the septic workup of ill newborns. There is rising concern in its use in all critically ill newborns due to its invasive nature as well as the risk of complications; however, examining the cerebrospinal fluid remains the cornerstone to establishing the diagnosis of...

Background: The cardiac rhythm depends on the source and mode of spread of the generated impulse. ST-T segment represents the repolarization phase of the action potential. Racial variability has been established in the morphology of the ST segment among the adult population and four waveforms has been described among Nigerian adults which are diffe...

Measles occurs in Nigeria on almost yearly basis despite availability of preventable vaccines. Though the integument is mostly affected, other organs may be involved. Common eye problem associated with measles is xeropthalmia which is due to vitamin A defi ciency; however, the case of four children who presented with extensive gangrenous ocular inf...

Sir, We have read the interesting paper by Singaravelu et al.,1 which highlighted the association between pre�hospital care and snakebite victims’ clinical outcomes in South India (Asia). They demonstrated that the risk of complications increased with tourniquet appli�cation, incision on bite area, topical herb application at the bite site and dela...

Accidental poisoning in children, though underreported in our environment, is common and could prove fatal. It is important to identify the primary chemical agent that is responsible for the poisoning. We present a case of accidental ingestion of fish poisoned with aluminum phosphide (AlP) used as rat poisoning by a 14-month-old girl. At presentati...

Levamisole-induced thrombocytopenia and vasculitis are rare entities in children. Here, we report a 5-year-old male who presented with complaints of purpuric rashes and nasal and gum bleeding for 24 h following intake of single high-dose levamisole for presumptive treatment of helminthiasis. No preceding symptoms of viral infection or bleeding into...

A 22-year-old university student presented to our hospital with a 7-year history of recurrent palpitation and easy fatigability, with occasional dry cough and no history of fever or weight loss. Examination revealed the presence of machinery murmur, and echocardiography revealed isolated patent ductus arteriosus (PDA). She had left thoracotomy and...

Persistent left superior vena cava (PLSV) is an abnormality of drainage of the embryological left cardinal vein, persisting as left superior vena cava and commonly emptying into the right atrium through the coronary sinus. Other drainage patterns include draining into the left pulmonary vein or into the left atrium through its roof and sometimes th...

Background: Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is quite a common acyanotic congenital heart disease (CHD). Its ligation in Sub-Saharan Africa is challenging due to lack of adequate cardiothoracic surgeons. We, therefore, present our experience and our challenges in our center with limited resources. Objectives: To determine the challenges and outcome o...

Background: Insufficient physical activity (PA) is a recognized risk factor for noncommunicable diseases. Evaluating health‑care workers’ PA is crucial because PA impacts their health, and they are important health promotion agents. Hence, this study assessed the PA profile of medical practitioners in Kano, Nigeria. Materials and Methods: This was...

COVID‑19 is a viral infection caused by the virus, SARS‑CoV‑2.[1] The disease neither has a confirmed treatment nor vaccine at the moment. The COVID‑19 pandemic has stretched health‑care systems worldwide beyond limits as they control the spread and mortality from it. National responses largely depend on the available resources for case detection,...

Background: Acute malnutrition is broadly classified as severe acute malnutrition (SAM) or moderate acute malnutrition (MAM). It affects almost 20 million children worldwide, with majority of the cases in developing countries. In Africa, it was estimated that about 5%–15% of deaths in children age ranging from 0 to 59 months are due to SAM. Therefo...

Background: The lofty objectives of the National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) are not only predicated on healthy graduates of tertiary institutions but also graduates who are confident in making informed health‑related decisions. Therefore, Corp members’ awareness, knowledge, and perception of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and its progr...

Consumer satisfaction surveys are important measures of service quality worldwide. They form bases for policy decisions that improve how services are rendered. However, behind these survey findings are important considerations of how surveys progress from conceptualization to outcome data. This case study illustrates the practicalities of how a hos...

Introduction: primary maxillofacial tumors are uncommon in pediatric patients. When they do occur, the tissue damage caused directly alters facial growth, development as well as psycho-social evolution. This study was carried out to determine the pattern, sociodemographic characteristics and histologic peculiarities of paediatric jaw tumors in our...

Background: Asthma is a major cause of emergency room visits and missed school days. However, the magnitude of this problem in Nigeria is yet to be evaluated. This study assessed the number of emergency room visits, missed school days as well as identified their determinants. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study carried out in the Paediatric R...

Background Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) places an enormous economic burden on families of affected children in Nigeria. This study sought to determine the healthcare costs of pre-surgical management of CHD and describe its effects on the family’s income. Methods Using a semi-structured interviewer-administered questionnaire, family income, type o...

Objective: To assess the proportion of caregivers of children and patients who received malaria prevention counseling from their healthcare provider at the time of outpatient malaria treatment. Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study involving 353 randomly selected adult patients and caregivers of children attending the general and pa...

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted on several aspects of human existence including primary care research activities in resource-limited settings. Opportunities exist for initiating multi-disciplinary collaborative research teams that may examine current controversial areas of the disease such as prevention, diagnosis and treatment; experiences of s...

Background: The high cost of open-heart surgery, poor funding, and lack of adequate facilities and workforce are some of the challenges facing Nigerian children with structural heart diseases in need of cardiac surgery. This study was undertaken to highlight the pattern and outcome of those referred abroad for cardiac surgery from a tertiary instit...

Introduction: Chronic heart disease in children imposes a great burden in most developing countries, especially among those with congenital heart disease where early surgical intervention is difficult because of limited medical facilities. Most of our patients survive on long‑time oral medications, some of which are sweetened. Therefore, there is a...

INTRODUCTION: Microalbuminuria has been studied in some acute and chronic illnesses such as urinary tract infection (UTI), heart failure, and diabetes mellitus, but nothing much has been said about children with malaria and pneumonia which are most common in the tropics. Therefore, this study seeks to establish how common microalbuminuria is among...

Introduction: Elevated blood pressure (BP)/hypertension contributes significantly to global morbidity and mortality. It is a silent killer; therefore, earlier diagnosis is imperative. A simple instrument called sphygmomanometer measures BP. Getting an accurate and precise reading is essential for making the diagnosis. Our study sorts to determine i...

Background/Purpose: Owing to genetic predilection of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), the risk of developing impaired glucose metabolism is thought to be higher in first-degree relatives (FDRs) of those with T2DM. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and impaired fasting glycemia (IFG) and its ass...

Background: Prepayment health-care financing mechanisms are recommended for achieving universal health coverage (UHC) as it prevents catastrophic health-care expenditure and poverty. This preference is due to the inadequacies of the out-of-pocket model in many low- and middle-income countries such as Nigeria. However, it took Nigeria several decade...

Snakebite is prevalent in some communities in Nigeria. Unfortunately, some patients still find it difficult to readily assess health care, resulting in late presentation, whereas others will prefer to use traditional remedies, only seeking orthodox care late after experiencing failure of traditional remedies; this accounts for significant increase...

INTRODUCTION: Among common determinants of survival include the ability to effectively execute the basic life support drill during resuscitation. Therefore, this study seeks to determine the knowledge of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) among medical trainees who are in their clinical years in our tertiary hospital with the aim of identifying kn...

Objectives: To assess the basic knowledge of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) among health workers in a tertiary health facility in a semi-rural county. Methods: A questionnaire based, cross sectional study involving health care professionals was performed in Federal Medical Centre, Birnin Kudu, Jigawa State, Nigeria from April to July 2017. A...

Background: In spite of over a decade of operations, the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) of Nigeria has continuously been criticized for its quality of services. Healthcare consumer satisfaction surveys (an important measure of service quality worldwide) in this domain have presented differing accounts of satisfaction with the services of t...

Objective: To assess emergency department utilization at a semi-urban (resource-limited) Nigerian hospital. Methods: A systematic random sampling technique was adopted. A proforma was used to obtain general information such as age, gender, mode of transfer, time of presentation, symptom duration, diagnoses, treatment duration, treatment outcome (tr...

Infants of diabetic mothers are prone to cardiac malformations due to teratogenicity of diabetes mellitus (DM). We present here the case of a macrosomic neonate who had marked difficulty with breathing. He had severe hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with patent ductus arteriosus and cor triatriatum dexter, and although his mother had obstetric and a fam...

Introduction: Hand washing has been proven to reduce the risk of acquiring infection; this is why every 15th October is being set aside as Global Hand washing Day, which aims at improving global awareness on the importance of hand washing. Materials and Methods: The study was cross‑sectional, parents/caregivers were consecutively recruited over 8 m...

Background: Pulmonary hypertension (PH), a complication of sickle cell anaemia (SCA), results in considerable morbidity. This study aims to determine the prevalence and associations of echocardiography-suggested PH in children with SCA. Methods: We performed a cross-sectional comparative study involving 100 systematically sampled SCA subjects 3-...

Background: Snakebite envenoming is a neglected tropical disease that accounts for preventable morbidity and mortality, especially in resource‑limited settings. This review aimed at examining the snake and human behaviors that facilitate snake‑human encounters and highlighting the primary preventive measures for snakebite and the resultant envenomi...

Cervical cancer is an important public health problem whose prevention should be integrated in all existing primary health care and women's health programmes in Nigeria and other developing countries. Cervical cancer is the second most common female malignancy in the world and it is the leading cause of cancer related deaths among women in developi...

Introduction: Menstruation is a normal physiologic phenomenon which is indicative that a woman is ready for her reproductive roles. Adolescents are often uninformed and inexperienced on most health‑related issues including menstruation. This study therefore hopes to determine the common menstrual hygiene practices among adolescent females. Material...

Background: Older reports estimate that malaria accounts for 60% of outpatient clinic encounters in Nigeria. However, current estimates suggest that malaria control programs have considerably reduced malaria‑related morbidity and mortality on a global scale. The extent to which these programs impacted malaria prevalence in endemic countries such as...

INTRODUCTION: Elimination disorders consist of enuresis and encopresis. When a child fails to successfully achieve toilet training by the age of five and has repeated voiding of urine on the bed or clothing at least twice per week for at least 3 consecutive months it is called enuresis; while bowel continence if not achieved by age 4 years, is enco...