Ophthalmic disorders in Adult Lymphoma Patients in Africa

Context: Ocular manifestations of lymphoma are rare events. Most reports of ocular involvement in lymphoma are case reports or reports of a few patients. Aims: To determine the ophthalmic disorders in adult; African; lymphoma patients. Settings and Design: A prospective study of ocular disorders in adult patients with lymphoma was conducted at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital; Benin City; Nigeria; between July 2004 and June 2007. Materials and Methods: The patients were interviewed and examined by the authors and the ocular findings recorded. Statistical Analysis: Data was analyzed on computer with the aid of the Instat GraghPadT v2.05a statistical package software. The mean; standard deviation; Mann-Whitney U-statistic and P value were calculated. Results: A total of 111 patients with hematological malignancies were seen over a period of three years of which 62 (55.85) had lymphomas. Of these; 51(82.3) were non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and 11(17.7) were Hodgkin's lymphoma. Ocular disorders occurred in 16 patients (31.4) with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and none of the patients with Hodgkin's lymphoma (Mann-Whitney U-statistic is equal to 7.500; U' is equal to161.50; P ; 0.0001). The ocular disorders due to non-Hodgkin's lymphoma were seen as - proptosis in six patients (11.8); retinopathies in three (5.9); conjunctival infiltration in three (5.9); optic atrophy in two (3.9); keratoconjunctivitis in one (two per cent); desquamating nodular lid lesions in one (two per cent); papilloedema in one (two per cent); and upper lid mass in one (two per cent). Four patients (6.5) had monocular blindness. Conclusions: Ophthalmic disorders are relatively common in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Ophthalmic evaluation is needed in these patients for early identification and treatment of potentially blinding conditions

Haematological aspects of antiretroviral naive HIV patients in a Nigerian tertiary hospital: laboratory and clinical considerations

To determine the baseline haematological parameters including CD4+ cell count in naive HIV patients; which has not been documented in this part of the country; the study group comprised of 191 consecutive antiretroviral (ARV) naive adults living with HIV and AIDS recruited into the ARV pilot project in University of Benin Teaching Hospital; Nigeria between July and September 2004. They were classified with respect to severity of their disease state in accordance with Center for Diseases Control Clinical Categorization of HIV/AIDS. The patients had CD4+ cell count and haematological indices done to assess disease status and need for ARV therapy. This comprised of 69(36.1) males and 122 (63.9) females with a M:F ratio of 1:1.8. The median age at enrollment was 38 years (range; 21 to 75 years). At presentation; there were cytopenias and the males tended to have a slightly higher (195 cells/?l) CD4+ cell count than the females (180 cells/?l) with an overall median CD4+ cell count of 146 cells/?l. The difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.5407). There was a no significant correlation between the lymphocyte count and the CD4+ cell count. This study establishes local standard values for haematological indices including CD4+ cell count in naive HIV infected Nigerians