Pattern of neurological admissions in the tropics: Experience at Kano, Northwestern Nigeria

Kano is the most populated state in Nigeria with a population totaling 9,383,682. The pattern of neurologic diseases in this area is not known.

To determine the of pattern of neurologic diseases warranting admission in a tertiary hospital in Kano and compare it with those elsewhere in the country with the view to using the data generated as a baseline for planning purposes and for future studies.

The medical records of all cases admitted with neurologic diseases in the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano between January 2005 and September 2008, were retrospectively reviewed and the frequency of neurologic diseases, sex, age, and outcome of these diseases analyzed.

Stroke, predominantly ischemic, accounted for 77.6% of the neurological cases for the period of study. Central nervous system infections, comprising mainly of meningitis and tetanus, accounted for 6.6% (64) and 3% (29) of cases, respectively. The myelopathies were the cause of neurologic admissions in 5.4% (53) with paraplegia and quadriplegia resulting from myelopathies accounting for 5% (49) and 0.4% (4) of the cases. Hypertensive encephalopathy and status epilepticus as the causes of admissions accounted for 1.6% each. Gullain Barre syndrome, Parkinson's disease, and cerebral malaria were relatively rare causes of neurologic admissions in this study. The average duration of hospitalization was 25 days, and regarding outcome, 219 (22.4%) of these cases died.

Stroke appeared to be the most common neurologic admission and the most common cause of neurologic and medical death in Kano as observed in other regions of the country and a little over one-fifths of stroke patients die. Central nervous system infections mainly meningitis and tetanus are the next common cause of admission. In view of these findings, the provision of a regional stroke unit, the improvement of the sanitary conditions of the home and environment; the widespread use of immunizations against meningitis, tetanus cannot be over-emphasized. These interventions will go a long way to reduce morbidity and mortality of stroke and neurologic infections.