title: Cardiac surgical experience in northern Nigeria.
abstract: A pilot study was undertaken to determine the feasibility of establishing a heart   surgery programme in northern Nigeria. During three medical missions by a visiting US team, in partnership with local physicians, 18 patients with heart diseases underwent surgery at two referral hospitals in the region. Sixteen (88.9%) patients underwent the planned operative procedure with an observed 30-day mortality of 12.5% (2/16) and 0% morbidity. Late complications were anticoagulant related in mechanical heart valve patients and included a first-trimester abortion one year  postoperatively, and a death at two years from haemorrhage during pregnancy. This has prompted us to now consider bioprosthetics as the valve of choice in women of childbearing age in this patient population. This preliminary result has further stimulated the interest of all stakeholders on the urgency to establish open-heart surgery as part of the armamentarium to combat the ravages of heart diseases in northern Nigeria.
authors.affiliation: Section of Cardiothoracic Surgery, St Joseph's Hospital, Atlanta, GA, USA. Jnwiloh@gtcvsurg.com
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nwiloh
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Edaigbini
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Danbauchi
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Babaniyi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aminu
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Adamu
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Oyati
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D006348:Cardiac Surgical Procedures; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007391:International Cooperation; D008297:Male; D009549:Nigeria; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality; D011247:Pregnancy; D016730:Program Development; D016019:Survival Analysis; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult