The Role of Necropsy in Diagnostic Dilemmas as Seen in a Tertiary Hospital in North Central Nigeria

Background. Necropsy (autopsy) has helped medical science and law. It has given rise to numerous diagnostic surprises as it explains cause of death; pathogenesis of diseases; and circumstances of death. It also explains reasons for most therapeutic failures. In spite of its usefulness; the rate has dropped worldwide and Africa is worse hit. This work aims to highlight the role autopsy (Necropsy) plays in demystifying diagnostic dilemmas and to encourage its patronage by medical practitioners; law enforcement agents and society. Methods. This is a retrospective review of autopsy and clinical reports of cases seen by pathologists and physicians in the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH); Jos; North central Nigeria. Results. A total 166 cases were studied out of which 52 had same diagnosis for both attending physician and pathologist; 106 had different diagnoses and in eight cases diagnoses remained unknown even after autopsy was performed. Conclusions. Autopsy remains an important tool for obtaining definitive diagnosis; determining cause of death to explain pathogenesis of diseases; medical auditing and a vital source of data for health statistics and planning

Paediatric solid tumours in Nigerian children: a changing pattern?

Background: Childhood cancer is fast becoming an important paediatric problem in Nigeria and several parts of Africa; with the progressive decline of infectious and nutritional diseases. The following study was a 5-year retrospective review of paediatric solid tumours as seen at the Jos University Teaching Hospital; Nigeria. Objective: To determine the relative frequencies of childhood solid malignant tumours in Jos; Central Nigeria and compare with reports of previous studies both locally and abroad. Materials and Methods: Cancer registers and medical records of patients were used to extract demographic data; specimen number and/or codes. Archival materials were retrieved from the histopathology laboratory and sections were made from paraffin embedded blocks of these specimens. Slides of these histological sections were reviewed and reclassified where necessary. The relative frequencies were then determined. Results: One hundred and eighty one solid tumours of children were diagnosed within the study period. Ninety-four (51) were benign and 87 (49) malignant. Male: Female ratio was 1.3:1. The commonest malignant tumour diagnosed was rhabdomyosarcoma which accounted for 27 (31); comprising of 15 (55.6); 11 (40.7) and 1 (3.7) embryonal; alveolar and pleomorphic rhabdomyosarcomas; respectively. Non Hodgkin lymphoma and Burkitt lymphoma accounted for 17 (19.5) and 12 (13.8); respectively. Conclusion: Based on the result of our study; we conclude that the commonest solid malignancy of childhood in Jos; Nigeria is rhabdomyosarcoma. This has implications for diagnosis; management and prognosis of theses soft tissue sarcomas in our paediatric population