The incidence of Turner's syndrome in Ibadan, Nigeria

A study of 22 769 consecutive live births in a Nigerian hospital has revealed the incidence of Turner's syndrome to be 1 in 2745 live females. Shortness of stature and neck, low posterior hair line, broad chest with widely spaced rudimentary nipples, congenital lymphoedema, redundant lax neck skin and hypoplastic nails were the most common clinical features. Birth weight was above 2.5 kg in only five of the fourteen cases in which this measurement was taken. Associated renal and cardiovascular anomalies occurred in 87.5 and 45% of the cases respectively. While neither parental age nor the birth rank of the patients were contributory factors in the causation of the syndrome, ingestion of traditional medicinal concoctions during the pregnancy which appeared to have played a role in four out of the sixteen cases requires further studies.