Pattern of thoracic surgical diseases in Nigeria: experience at the University College Hospital, Ibadan.

A prospective study of 595 patients treated by the Thoracic Surgical Unit (TSU) at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan between July 1975 and December 1977 was carried out to determine the pattern of thoracic surgical diseases in Nigeria and to prove or disprove the rarity of certain cardiopulmonary diseases in tropical Africa. This review shows that pyogenic infections of the lung and pleura constitute the largest percentage (38.5) of the thoracic surgical diseases in Nigeria. Although pulmonary tuberculosis accounts for only 23.4 percent of our total inpatient load, it constitutes about 60 percent of our outpatient clinic practice. Cardiovascular diseases form 12.9 percent, notably congenital and acquired valvular heart diseases. An interesting finding was the occasional association of pyomyositis with pyogenic pericarditis and empyema thoracis. This triad is being investigated. Chest trauma was the most common thoracic surgical emergency accounting for 9.2 percent of the total thoracic surgical pathology. The most common causes of dysphagia are strictures from corrosive esophagitis, achalasia, and carcinoma of the esophagus. Present experience confirms the rarity of hiatus hernia, reflux esophagitis, atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, and, perhaps, carcinoma of the lung among Nigerians.