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Background and Purpose - The rising prevalence of hypertension in Nigerians may account for the increase in rate of cardiac diseases, most often associated with left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH), an end-point measure of cardiac end-organ damage. The study cohort drawn from the Owerri Heart Study (OHS) were examined to determine the left ventricular posterior wall thickness (LVPWT) at the different levels of blood pressure according to the classification of the Seventh Joint National Committee (JNC 7) report. ⁼ Methods - One hundred and eighty consecutive patients including 108 men and 72 women of mean age 53.2+14years, were clinically evaluated by measurements of systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure using mercury sphygmomanometer. The blood pressures were classified according to the JNC 7 report. The LVH was determined by measurement of left ventricular posterior wall thickness (LVPWT) using twodimensional(2-D) Color Flow Echocardiography, Results - Patients with normal blood pressure (SBP = 114.7±11.7 mmHg, DBP = 69.4+3 mmHg) were n=17, the LVPWT = 14.1±2.2mm. Patients with Pre-hypertension (SBP = 133.8+18.5 mmHg, DBP = 80.1+0.85 mmHg) were n = 33, LVPWT = 15.4+2.74mm. Patients with Stage 1 hypertension (SBP = 144±13.9 mmHg, DBP = 90.1+0.9 mmHg) were n = 59, LVPWT = 15.2+2.6mm. Patients with Stage 2 hypertension (SBP = 159.6+20.6 mmHg. DBP = 106.7±10.4 mmHg) were n=71, LVPWT = 16.67+3.5mm. Analysis of variance (AN0VAJ revealed significant differences in SBP F(3, 176) = 37.68,p< 0.0001, DBP F(3,176) = 217.7,p<0.0001,andLVPWr/F(3,176) = 4.66,p< 0.01. Conclusion - The LVPWT at prehypertension did not differ significantly [p> 0.05) with the LVPWT of normatensives, hypertension Stage 1 and Stage 2. This may suggest that the distinction of prehypertension may include patients with blunted nocturnal fall in BP defined as 'non-dippers' that has been associated with increase in left ventricular mass index. This may suggest that, patients with prehypertension should be eval uated for LVH and if present, there should be no delay in early therapeutic intervention with antihypertensive drugs along lifestyle modification.

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Background: It is a common conception that myopes tend to have larger pupil size and hyperopes smaller pupil size. This research was designed to investigate the effect of age, genderand refractive error on the pupil size of humans. Methods: A total of six hundred (n=600) subjects made up of 280 (46.67%) males and 320 (53.33%) females within 10 to 65 years (mean age: 37± 16.7 years) were used for this study. Retinoscopy was carried out on all subjects as well as their pupil size measurements taken under both ambient and dim illuminations. Results: There was a statistically significant difference between pupil size and refractive error under both ambient and dim illumination (p<0.05).There was no statistically significant difference between the pupil size of males compared to females under both illuminations (unpaired t-test: p>0.05) and there was a relationship between pupil size and age with a regression line pupil size= 4.26 - 0.033age. for ambient illumination, and pupil size=6.44-0.047age for dim illumination. Conclusion: Pupil size is dependent on refractive error but independent of gender.

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Background: Water ideally should be odourless, colourless, tasteless, clear and without turbidity. It is an essential part of life and is needed in every day life. Socio-economic status refers to the measure of one's access to collectively designed resources and it is a fundamental element in the social and health sciences. Inadequate supply of water most times results from low socio-economic status and diseases associated with poor water supply abound in households of low socio-economicstatus. Objectives: To assess the socio-economic status of households in communities In Njaba Local government area of Imo State, their sources of water supply and associated water related diseases prevalence. Methodology: A descriptive cross-sectional study of households in the communities of Njaba Local Government Area, Imo State. Multi-stage sampling method was used to select the communities to be studied. At the village level, cluster sampling was used to select the clans, while systematic random sampling was used to select 400 households. Results: The study showed that majority of the respondents were between the age of 50-59 years 173(43.3%); most lived in bungalows 190(47.5%); majority were married 199(49.8%); fathers highest level of education was senior secondary 211 (52.8%), mothers highest level of education was senior secondary school 203(50.8%); fathers occupation was mainly farming 162(40.5%); mothers occupation was mainly farming 131(32.8%). Sources of water were mainly boreholes 397(46.8%), and prevalence of water related diseases showed that diarrhoeal diseases have the highest frequency 180(52.2%) and occurred more in households of low socio-economic class. Conclusion: Most of the households belong to the low and middle socio-economic classes. Sources of water were mainly borehole. Diarrhoeal diseases were found to be more prevalent among the households in the area and occurred more in the low socio-economic households.

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Introduction: Fairly used clothes also known as "second hand" is commonly used in Nigeria. These clothes including undergarments are brought into the country from developed countries. It is widely used as some people believe that they last longer and are more durable than locally made clothes and undergarments including underwear and pants but they can be vehicles for transmission of skin infections. Case summary: A fifty year old woman had rashes which were itchy, tender and bled on scratching. It commenced following wearing of fairly used brassieres. The patient was restless and unable to sleep at night. She had taken several medications but the condition stopped when she soaked and washed all the undergarments in disinfectant. The rashes then disappeared. Conclusion: Fairly used garments can cause dermatitis.

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Background: The relatively high prevalence of multiple gestations together with their contributions to perinatal morbidity and mortality warrants an integrated approach to its management. Age, parity, race are some of the significant factors that affects the prevalence of multiple pregnancy in our environment. The objective is to evaluate the socio-demographic determinants and prevalence of multiple pregnancy in ImoState University Teaching Hospital from l")anuary 2004 to 31" December 2012. Methodology: It was a retrospective, analytical cross sectional study. Case folders of all patients who attended antenatal clinic within the period of study were collected from the medical records. Using a data collection proforma. the relevant information was obtained from the case folders. The data was analyzed using simple descriptive statistical methods. Results were presented using frequency tables andbarcharts. Results: A total of two thousand, two hundred and thirty-seven (2237) deliveries took place within this period, out of which ninety-seven (97) were twins and three (3) triplets. The prevalence therefore was 44.7 per 1000 births, out of which twins were 43.4 per 1000 births and triplets 1.3 per 1000 births. The age ranges of the mothers were 16-41 years with the mean maternal age being 28.5 ± 12.5 years. The range for parity was 1-7 with a mean of 3.0 ± 2.0. Non civil servants had the highest prevalence of multiple pregnancies (540/1000). Multiparous mothers with multiple pregnancies were found to have a decrease in attendance to antenatal clinics compared to primiparous mothers. Conclusion: The prevalence of multiple pregnancy in IMSUTH Orlu is quite high (44.7%). Determining risk factors associated with this were age, parity, occupation and attendance to antenatal clinics.

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