Annals of Tropical Pathology

Late Dr. Paul Gowon Jibrin (24th June 1967 - 31st October 2024)

Henry Ewunonu — Mon, 10 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

No abstract

From Bench to Bedside: The Evolution of Human Genome Editing in Clinical Practice

Ehimen Phyllis Odum — Mon, 10 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Genome-editing is a precise technology used to insert, delete, replace or modify a specific DNA sequence, and also used for epigenome and gene regulation. The haploid human genome (23 chromosomes) is about 3 billion base-pairs long and contains 20,000–25,000 distinct protein-coding genes. Genome-editing tools include meganucleases, zinc-finger nucleases (ZFNs), transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs) and clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) systems. Genome-editing technology is mostly used in research and ongoing clinical trials to diagnose and treat certain conditions including hematologic disorders, cancers and infectious diseases. There are some technical challenges, safety and bioethical concerns that limit routine clinical applications of genome-editing technologies. However, quality control measures are being developed to minimize off-target effects, DNA-damage toxicity and immunotoxicity, improve delivery methods and editing-efficiency, and thus provide more precise, more efficient and safer editing tools

Histiocytic Sarcoma: An Unusual Presentation of a Rare Entity

Mon, 10 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Histiocytic sarcoma (HS) is a rare non-Langerhans histiocytic disorder accounting for less than 1% of all hematolymphoid disorders, with an aggressive clinical course with limited treatment options. It has a male predominance with extranodal sites as the commonest site of involvement although it can affect nodal sites, can also arise de novo from these sites or certain hematolymphoid disorders such as B-cell lymphomas, chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma.

Congenital Infiltrating Lingual Chondromyomyxoid Lipoma in a Young Child: Case Report and Literature Review

Mon, 10 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Oral cavity lipoma is uncommon and the tongue is an unusual site in paediatric age. Most oral cavity lipomas arise from the buccal mucosal or floor of the mouth, whereas tongue involvement may be part of inherited disease syndromes such as neurofibromatosis, multiple familial lipomatosus, and Gardner syndrome or a sequela of trauma. We report case of congenital infiltrating tongue chondromyomyxoid lipoma in 21-month-old male child. This case illustrates a single lesion with multiple histological variants which may be misdiagnosed as a harmatomatous lesion

Artificial Intelligence in Laboratory Medicine

Mon, 10 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Artificial intelligence has found its way into virtually all human endeavours and the spectrum of engagement keeps enlarging. Art, finance, data analysis, automobile, cybersecurity, and healthcare have all benefitted from the enormous remodelling artificial intelligence has brought to those fields. Laboratory medicine is a branch of the medical practice involved in taking samples from the human body and examining them to determine patients’ diagnosis and aid in administering the appropriate treatment. Existing literature was reviewed to identified how well laboratory medicine has utilized artificial intelligence in its operations. Anatomical pathology, chemical pathology, haematology, and clinical microbiology specialties of laboratory medicine have embraced artificial intelligence, deploying several tools into almost all the phases of the total testing process. They have incorporated machine learning, deep learning, artificial neural network and several other tools into electronic medical records, screening, diagnosis, and data curation. This has led to a great improvement in the quality of work and turnaround time in most of the laboratories. Although there are challenges currently limiting the deployment of artificial intelligence in these specialties, there is a continual effort at circumventing them, and improving service delivery to the end users. It is expected that the expansion in the technological spectrum in all the phases of laboratory practice will continue to improve workflow and efficiency of laboratories in the provision of quality services to patients and clinicians

SARS-CoV-2 Antibody Prevalence Among Blood Donors at a Southern Nigerian Teaching Hospital in the Post-Pandemic Context

Mon, 10 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) no longer constitutes a public health emergency of international concern but remains a global health threat. However, diminishing testing rates in health facilities constitutes a barrier to effective disease surveillance in Nigeria. Objective: To determine the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies among healthy Nigerian blood donors in the post-pandemic era. Methods: A cross-sectional study of consenting voluntary blood donors was conducted in the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Nigeria between January and April, 2024. A rapid lateral flow device, the Standard Q IgG-IgM COVID-19 rapid test (SD Biosensor, Republic of South Korea) was used to test their blood samples for SARS-CoV-2 IgM and IgG antibodies. Data analysis employed descriptive and inferential statistics with statistical significance set at p≤ 0.05. Results: Of 274 blood donors tested, the majority, 227 (82.8%) were males, 123 (44.9%) were in the 21-30-year age bracket and blood group O, 213 (77.7%) was predominant. Seventy-five (27.4%) tested positive for IgM, 90 (32.8%) had IgG SARS-CoV-2 antibodies while 34 (12.4%) had both IgM and IgG. Of 75 donors with IgM antibodies, 17 (44.0%) belonged to blood group A. The association between ABO blood group and IgM seropositivity was significant (p= 0.036). Conclusion: The study demonstrated a notable seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies among Nigerian blood donors indicating ongoing viral circulation and highlighting the association between ABO blood group and recent infections. The findings underscore the importance of serosurveillance in monitoring community-level transmission in the post-pandemic era.

Seasonal Presentation and Microbiological Profile of Infectious Keratitis (IK) in Selected Hospitals in Ilorin, Nigeria

Mon, 10 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Background: Infectious keratitis is a common ophthalmic disease with the potential for severe ocular morbidity. Although, there have been few reports of ocular infections from other geopolitical regions in Nigeria but seasonal variation in patients’ presentation to hospital is yet to be described in this centre. This study sets out to determine the seasonal trends of onset of infectious keratitis and causative microorganisms in selected hospitals in Ilorin, Nigeria. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of patients who presented with infectious keratitis at the Ophthalmology Clinics of selected hospitals in Ilorin. Seasonal distribution of incidence, demographic characteristics, culture and microbiological profiles of the patients were determined. We analyzed the data using SPSS version 20.0 software to determine whether a significant variation existed between rainy and seasons, frequency of presentation of ulcers and other risk factors. Results: A total of 89 patients; 69 males (34 in rainy season, 25 in dry season) and 30 females (20 in rainy season and 10 in dry season), with a mean age of 40 (range 3-77; median, 36) diagnosed with infectious keratitis was included in the analysis. Bacterial culture positivity rate for the rainy and dry season were 36 (59.0%), 25 (40.9%) respectively. Significant variations observed in causative organisms; Staphylococcus species 14 (22.9%) in rainy season, Klebsiella 6 (9.8%) in dry season. Conclusion: Incidence of bacterial-induced infections was high in rainy season. The association of Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection with rainy season was likely attributed to warmer temperature conducive for microbial growth

Population-Based Reference Intervals for Some Chemical Pathology Analytes in Lagos Communities

Mon, 10 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Background: The need to avoid misleading reference intervals (RI) which can affect clinical decisions about the management of patients led this study aimed at determining the population-based RI of some chemical pathology analytes among adults in Lagos State, Nigeria. Methods: This was a population-based, cross-sectional study conducted in August 2022 on selected residents in all the five divisions of Lagos State. Blood samples of Apparently healthy three hundred and forty-one (341) participants aged 18-89 years were analyzed for sodium, potassium, chloride, bicarbonate, calcium, phosphates, magnesium, creatinine, uric acid, albumin, total protein, total bilirubin, direct bilirubin, aspartate transaminase, alanine transaminase, alkaline phosphatase, triglycerides and total cholesterol using Miura 200 machine. Data were analyzed with Statistical Package for Social Sciences, Inc., Chicago, Ill version 26.0. The median, 2.5th and 97.5th percentiles and gender-specific data were obtained. Results: The mean age of the 341 participants was 50.1 ±14.4 years. There were 189 (55.4%) females and 152 (44.6%) males. The male-to-female ratio was 1:0.8. The majority of the parameters had similar median, 2.5th and 97.5th percentiles across the genders while most of the analytes had a wide RI relative to known values. Conclusion: A wider RI found in this study with no gender disparity suggests that caution should be exercised in interpreting biochemical results of South West Nigerians in order to avoid the error of wrong diagnosis and management.

ABSTRACTS PRESENTED AT THE 19TH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING AND SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE OF THE COLLEGE OF NIGERIAN PATHOLOGISTS, JEWEL 2024, GOMBE, NIGERIA

College of Nigerian Pathologists — Mon, 10 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Abstracts Presented at the 19th Annual General Meeting and Scientific Conference of the College of Nigerian Pathologists, Gombe, Nigeria