Fifteen years of upper gastrointestinal endoscopy in Zaria (1978 - 1993)

Seven hundred and ninety patients had upper gastrointestinal endoscope in a fifteen-year review in the Ahmadu Bello University Hospital, Zaria. Dyspepsia was the commonest indication for the procedure. The male female ratio was 1.5:1 The mean age of the patients was 37.8 years and most patients presented in the 4th and 5th decade of life. Epigastric tenderness was the commonest physical finding and chronic liver disease was seen in only 4.3%. Gastritis and doudenitis were the commonest endoscopic findings. The duodenal and gastric ulcer ratio was 10:1. Gastric and oesophgeal malignancies were seen in the 6th and 7th decade of life. Non-ulcer dyspepsia was seen in 39% of the patients.