An elusive chest coin in an african child: a pleural fibroma’s long, tortuous path to freedom

Fibrous tumour of the pleural is rare and controversial tumor. Most of the reported cases is adults and the elderly. This case presentation is a solitary fibrous tumour in a fifteen year old girl, which to the best of our knowledge is the youngest report, who was sent for a psychiatric evaluation due to persistent complaint of "movement" in her chest, later referred to a tuberculosis clinic because of a chest radiograph report of loculated pleural effusion likely secondary to tuberculosis. She eventually had a chest computerized tomography and subsequent resection of the lesion. Histology confirmed the computerized tomography diagnosis of solitary fibrous tumour and there was no recurrence five years after excision. This report highlights the difficulty often encountered in developing countries where clinicians solely rely on clinical acumen for diagnosis and treatment due to poor patients' financial status and scarcely available diagnostic resources.Pan African Medical Journal 2013; 14:1

Clinical audit of paediatric magnetic resonance imaging under sedation at a Nigerian tertiary institution

Background: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in paediatric patients requires them to be calm during the procedure to avoid motion artefacts in the acquired images. Sedation and/or anaesthesia is a way to achieve this. We evaluated all paediatric MRI sedations since installation of an MRI device in our hospital. Material/Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 69 paediatric MRI sedations performed over a 5-year period using records of patients' biodata, MRI date, indication, findings and scan time, sources of referral, body region scanned, type, dose, related adverse events and route of administration of sedatives as well as image quality. Results: The median age and weight of the patients were 24 months {range of 0.3 months (10 days) to 132 months (11 years)} and 11.5 kg (range of 2.6 kg to 42 kg), respectively. Males constituted 50.7% of the patients. Most participants (94.2%) were in-patients of the hospital, mainly (60.0%) referred from the paediatric unit, with slightly over one third (36.2%) of the studies performed in 2015. The commonest indication and scanned body region were macrocephaly (18.8%) and the brain (76.8%), respectively. Hydrocephalus (17.4%) was the commonest MRI finding. Sedation was planned in 66 (95.7%) patients and was successful in 68 (98.6%). Midazolam and the IV route were the commonest sedative agent and route of administration, respectively. Image quality determined by age was fair to good in 68 (98.6%) patients with only 1 patient requiring re-scanning due to motion blur. No adverse events with sedation were recorded. Conclusions: Midazolam via the IV route with or without oral route is the drug of choice for MRI sedation in children in our institution with a success rate of about 99%

Sonographic evaluation of structural changes in post-stroke hemiplegic shoulders

BACKGROUND: Stroke and hemiplegia are frequent complications of stroke. This study was performed to sonographically evaluate post-stroke hemiplegic shoulders and explore possible relationship(s) between the sonographic findings and clinical indices. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Forty-five stroke patients and 45 age- and sex-matched controls were recruited. Standard sonographic examination of both shoulders was performed to assess for joint subluxation, rotator cuff tears, tendinosis, subacromial-subdeltoid bursitis or effusion and adhesive capsulitis. RESULTS: Hemiplegic shoulders exhibited significantly higher number of pathologies compared to the unaffected shoulders and shoulders of controls (p=0.000). One or more structural abnormalities were found in all 45 (100%) hemiplegic shoulders, 25 (55.6%) unaffected shoulders of the stroke subjects, and 39 (43.3%) control shoulders. The most frequent pathologies in the hemiplegic shoulders were the following: tendinosis of the long head of bicep tendon (48.9%), inferior shoulder subluxation (44.4%), co-existing subacromial-subdeltoid bursa/long head of bicep tendon sheath effusion (44.4%), and long head of bicep tendon sheath effusion only (40%). Tendinosis of the long head of bicep tendon was commoner in hemiplegic shoulders with poor motor status than those with good motor status. CONCLUSIONS: Hemiplegic shoulders have significantly higher number of structural abnormalities than unaffected shoulders and the shoulders of controls. Hemiplegic stroke patients should undergo ultrasonography of the hemiplegic shoulder to define the nature and extent of soft tissue injuries prior to physical therapy

Optic nerve sonography: A noninvasive means of detecting raised intracranial pressure in a resource-limited setting

Objective: The aim was to assess the use of optic nerve sonography (ONS) as a quick, noninvasive diagnostic test tool for detecting raised the intracranial pressure (ICP). Materials and Methods: A prospective blinded observational study was conducted at Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals Complex (OAUTHC), Ile-Ife, Nigeria. The study population consisted of 160 adult patients referred to the radiology department for cranial computed tomography (CT) scan. There were 80 subjects and 80 controls. Optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD) was measured by a radiologist using a 7.5 Megahertz ultrasound probe while cranial CT was reviewed by other radiologists blinded to the ONSD. Results: Sixty-nine subjects (86.3%) had intracranial space occupying lesions (SOL) with cranial CT confirmed features of increased ICP, mean binocular ONSD of 5.7 ± 0.59 mm while 11 (13.7%) had intracranial SOL without any cranial CT evidence of increased ICP, mean binocular ONSD of 4.8 ± 0.39 mm. The difference of mean ONSD of the two groups was statistically significant (P = 0.0001). The controls had a mean binocular ONSD of 4.5 ± 0.22 mm and the difference in mean binocular ONSD for subjects with raised ICP and the controls were also statistically significant (P = 0.0001). A cut-off value of 5.2 mm (sensitivity 81.2% [95% confidence interval (CI): 69.9–89.6], specificity 100% [95% CI: 71.5–100]) was obtained from the receiver operator characteristics curve as the mean binocular ONSD that best predicts raised ICP confirmed by at least a sign on cranial CT. Conclusions: Optic nerve sonography can differentiate between normal and elevated ICP and may serve as a useful screening tool in resource-limited practice