Acute intermittent porphyria in Nigerians; a rare disease or a low suspicion index?

The rarity of acute intermittent porphyria (AIP) in Negroes has been emphasized by various authors. But the increasing number of cases reported from the University College Hospital, Ibadan, shows that this may be an overgeneralization. Most of these reported cases have initially been misdiagnosed and only found accidentally to be cases of AIP. Considering the frequency of misdiagnoses in most reported cases, it is worthwhile to alert doctors working among Negro populations to be on the look out for this disease. A simple Watson-Schwartz test for porphobilinogens will save many patients from the unnecessary hazards of treatment they are exposed to when misdiagnosed.