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Children account for nearly half the population of Nigeria yet the capacity for effective imaging of children is unknown. In order to determine clinical resources for and challenges of paediatric radiology in Nigeria, certified radiologists at an exit examination in radiology for resident doctors, and resident doctors in radiology attending an update course, completed a semi-structured questionnaire detailing personal information, radiology training, practice and perceived priorities of paediatric radiology in Nigeria. Of 100 questionnaires, 80 were returned, completed (80%) by 46 (58%) certified radiologists, 14 (18%) senior and 20 (25%) junior radiology residents. Only 1 (2.2%) certified radiologist received dedicated albeit short training in paediatric radiology. Nine (20.0%) certified radiologists and 1 (2.9%) resident doctor target their practice to paediatric imaging. Only 2 (4.4%) certified radiologists devote at least half of their time to paediatric radiology. Forty-two (91%) of the certified radiologists are not aware of any radiologist primarily affiliated with a dedicated children's hospital or who practices in a dedicated paediatric unit of a mixed hospital. Eight (19%) radiologists work in a facility with a consultant who has some training in paediatric radiology. Surgeons (64%), neonatologists (53%) and neurologists (45%) were the other paediatric specialties usually available where the respondent works. Fourteen (4.9%), 4 (2.1%), and 1 (1.3%) ultrasound, X-ray and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) units, respectively, were reserved for paediatric imaging while no fluoroscopy or computed tomography (CT) unit was dedicated to children. Lack of dedicated equipment (44%) and trained paediatric radiologists (24%) were the main challenges to paediatric imaging as perceived by the respondents. Substantial deficits in human and material resources require informed investment in dedicated equipment and training to boost capacity for paediatric radiology in Nigeria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We describe the advent of pediatric radiology in Nigeria and the challenges associated with establishing the subspecialty. Nigeria has very few radiologists with a special interest in pediatric radiology caring for more than 82 million children. One major challenge is the lack of interest in the subspecialty owing to the lack of remuneration when compared with others like interventional radiology. The majority of the radiologists also do not have specialized training in pediatric radiology. With very few children's hospitals, where to work after graduation is also a deterrent for pediatric radiologists. Put simply, Nigeria needs help. We also suggest ways to overcome these challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Ultrasonography is noninvasive, relatively inexpensive and useful for resource-poor settings. US spleen and liver sizes have been observed to differ among populations, so there is a need for reference values for different geographic populations., Objective: To describe the sizes of the spleen and liver of children living in a rural community in southwest Nigeria and assess the relationship between these measurements and the children's anthropometry., Materials and Methods: We conducted a community-based cross-sectional study among 358 apparently healthy children ages 1-14 years. We obtained the participants' weights, heights, body mass index and body surface area. They underwent US imaging to obtain longitudinal measurements of their spleen and liver. We used independent t-test to compare means, and linear regression analysis to assess relationships between continuous data. The significance level was set as P < 0.05., Results: There were more girls (181; 50.6%). Most children were ages 1-5 years (172; 48.0%). The body surface area had significantly strong positive relationships with US spleen size (r = 0.769; R 2  = 0.592; P < 0.0001) and US liver size (r = 0.819; R 2  = 0.671; P < 0.0001) but body mass index had weak positive relationships., Conclusion: This study contributes to data on US spleen and liver sizes of Nigerian children. The findings buttress observations that body surface area strongly correlates with US spleen and liver measurements. It is recommended that more studies be conducted among Nigerian children to generate a robust pool of data that are useful for creating homogeneous formulae to ease interpretation of US measurements of these intraabdominal organs., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)