Background: Psychiatrists who work in the general and teaching hospital settings very often receive referrals to review physically ill patients on account of mental health problems, and these require different sets of clinical experience. This study was aimed at reviewing referrals to psychiatric services within a teaching hospital in Nigeria. Methods: Information in the case notes of patients referred for psychiatric evaluation from other departments of the hospital between June 2009 and May 2012 were used in completing a proforma developed to collect data on socio-demographic and clinical variables for the study. Results: These were highlights of the patients referrals from different departments: Medicine - 40 (49.4%), Surgery - 27(33.3%), Obstetrics and Gynaecology - 8(9.9%), while Paediatrics was 6(7.4%). Organic mental disorders were most frequently diagnosed, accounting for 28(34.6%), followed by mood disorders in 27(33.3%), Schizophrenia and related disorders in 12(14.8%). Two (2.5%) of the patients received no psychiatric diagnosis while another 2(2.5) were diagnosed with somatoform disorders. Conclusions: A wide range of psychiatric diagnosis could be made in patients referred for psychiatric evaluation from other departments. These patients could represent a different subset of mentally ill patients with a different pathway to care and mental health needs.

Background: Adolescent fertility regulation and pregnancy prevention is a pressing health challenge. Family Planning providers should possess the knowledge necessary to enhance adolescent reproductive health and rights. This study was aimed at assessing the attitude of healthcare providers to adolescent contraception in Abakaliki, Nigeria. Methods: It was a cross-sectional study of 360 healthcare providers at the Federal Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki, Nigeria. Statistical analysis was both descriptive and inferential at 95% confidence interval using Epi Info 7.2.1 Atlanta Georgia software. Results: A total of 260 respondents (72.8%) would offer contraception to sexually active adolescents. The commonest reason why they would offer contraception was to prevent unwanted pregnancies/unsafe abortions (90.8%). The other reasons were to prevent sexually transmitted infections (65.6%) and because adolescent contraception was a sexual and reproductive right (36.7%). On the other hand, the healthcare providers who would not offer adolescent contraception believed that contraception would make adolescents promiscuous (66.3%) or infertile (7.1%). Condom was the commonest type of contraceptive that most respondents (76.8%) would offer to adolescents. Majority of the respondents (64.2%) felt that adolescents must have pregnancy test done before offered any contraceptives.Medical doctors were more likely to offer adolescents contraception than nurses/midwives (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Majority of healthcare providers in Abakiliki, Nigeria would offer contraception to adolescents. However, more than a quarter would not offer contraception to adolescents because of some unfounded misconceptions. There is need for further training of some healthcare providers in order to meet with the current needs for adolescent contraception in the study population.

Background: Renal diseases in childhood are increasingly being reported worldwide with significant mortality in the low-income countries. Knowledge of the pattern and possible etiological factors may assist in the prevention as well as early intervention to reduce the disease burden. This study aims to determine the proportion of pediatric admissions due to renal diseases; ascertain the types, demographic characteristics, common presenting features, possible etiological factors and outcome of renal diseases among children admitted into the Federal Medical Centre, Umuahia. Methods: This was a case series review of children aged 1 month to 18 years managed for various renal conditions during a five year period. Information obtained such as patients' biodata, symptoms, clinical and laboratory findings, diagnosis and outcome of treatment were analyzed. Results: Renal disorders accounted for 2.2% of paediatric admissions. Males accounted for 54.2% with a male to female ratio of 1.2:1. The median age was 10 years with a range of 4 months to 16 years. The most common presenting features were proteinuria and oedema of varying degrees. Nephrotic syndrome, urinary tract infection (UTI), acute glomerulonephritis and chronic renal failure were the most common renal disorders. Mortality due to renal disorders was 5.1%. Causes of death were chronic renal failure and acute glomerulonephritis. Conclusion: Chronic renal diseases (Nephrotic syndrome and glomerulonephritis) are the most dominant form of childhood renal disorders in Umuahia. This pattern of disease burden requires the need for early detection and appropriate treatment to help reduce the impact of the diseases among the children in this community.

Aim: To analyze the chest findings in patients clinically diagnosed with hypertension at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Ituku/Ozalla, Enugu, Nigeria. Methods: A retrospective analysis of patients who had plain chest radiographs at the UNTH, Ituku/Ozalla, Enugu, Nigeria between 2009 and 2011. Results: Of the 500 patients studied, 60.2% (301/500) were females and 39.8% (199/500) were males. There were 9.8% (49/500) patients with normal chest findings while 90.2% (451/500) had diverse chest findings which included: cardiomegaly 69% (345/500)), aortomegaly 51% (255/500), artheromatous plaque 6.6% (33/500)), upper lobe blood vessel diversion 11% (55/500), and perivascular cuffing 5% (25/500). The remaining 0.8% (4/500) had unrelated chest findings. Conclusion: Simple chest radiograph interpreted by a competent radiologist is a very useful ancillary diagnostic tool in the detection and management of hypertension.

Patients who present with painful, red swelling of the extremities are occasionally misdiagnosed. The usual differentials may include cellulitis, deep venous thrombosis and lymphoedema. We report a case of erythromelalgia, a rare disorder diagnosed and appropriately managed due to a high index of suspicion based on a good clinical history taking and examination of an elderly patient. The article highlights the importance of a high index of suspicion of a rare disorder when physical examination is marked by paucity of objective signs.