Cranium bifidum in northern Nigeria.

At the Ahmadu Bello University Hospitals in northern Nigeria, 35 girls and 29 boys with cranium bifidum were registered between 1971 and 1985. Only 25% of the patients were brought to the hospital within 24 h of life; 57 had been delivered at home without the mothers having received formal prenatal care. The majority (69%) of the lesions occurred in the occipital region; 52 (81%) were encephaloceles while the others were cranial meningoceles. Resection and repair were performed in 35 patients by general surgeons who had no facilities for vertriculoperitoneal shunts in infants with hydrocephalus. Thirteen children died in the hospital, 3 moved away, and 34 were lost to follow-up at 1 month. Only 3 were seen up to 1 year. Improvement in the care of such patients is expected since a neurosurgical unit has now been established.