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Information about patterns of expression of neurological soft signs (NSS) in schizophrenia among individuals belonging to the same genetic ancestry may provide new insight for the understanding of the disease’s genetic functions. This study aimed to investigate whether patterns of NSS expression in first episode schizophrenia are comparable in populations with dissimilar genetic ancestry. A sample of 207 patients with first episode schizophrenia were examined using the Neurological Evaluation Scale before they were exposed to anti-psychotics. They were allocated to two African ancestry groups: Black (81 Yoruba Nigerians, and 18 Xhosa South Africans), and non-Black (98 Coloured, and 10 White South Africans). Assessments were carried out using validated measures of clinical characteristics of schizophrenia. We determined the frequency, severity, factor structure, and association of NSS with clinical characteristics. Factor derived categories were compared using the Pearson’s (r) and Tucker’s congruence methods. The associations between factor derived categories and clinical characteristics of schizophrenia were determined using Pearson’s correlations and multiple regression analyses. Neurological soft signs were more frequent and more severe in the Black African ancestry group. Also, the factor structure and presentation of NSS in the two ancestry groups were significantly different. Neurological soft signs, especially motor sequencing and cognitive-perceptual abnormalities, were independently associated with disorganization psychopathologies in all the participant groups. Differences in the profile of NSS in Black compared with non-Black African ancestry patients with first episode schizophrenia may suggest differing patterns of expression of NSS in schizophrenia according to genetic ancestry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Bipolar disorder impacts negatively on the patient, the family, as well as the society. It taxes the health care services due to a combination of the illness with associated medical and psychiatric comorbidities. In Africa, unfortunately, knowledge of the epidemiology and burden of bipolar disorder is based mainly on studies from the USA and Europe. In this systematic review of literature from Africa, we highlight the epidemiology and burden of bipolar disorder.Methods: A systematic review of publications from Africa relating to the epidemiology and burden of bipolar disorder was conducted.Result: Data from community surveys conducted in Nigeria and Ethiopia indicated a lifetime prevalence estimate of 0.1 % to 1.83 for bipolar disorder. Missed diagnosis rate of bipolar disorder was up to 36.2 %. In one study, 8.1 % of the males and 5.4 % of the females reported a previous suicide attempt. A study showed that up to 60 % of patients with bipolar disorder had at least one comorbidity. There were no reports on all-cause mortality and cost of illness.Conclusion: Bipolar disorder is a major mental health problem in Africa. Scientific findings on bipolar disorder from Africa are consistent with the existing literature from other parts of the world. There still exists a dearth of high quality studies addressing the epidemiological, clinical, social, and economic burden of the disorder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An atrial septal aneurysm (ASA) is a rare but well-recognized abnormality of uncertain clinical relevance. It is a localized bulging of the inter-atrial septum into either or both atria during the cardiac cycle. ASA has been reported as an unexpected finding during autopsy but may also be diagnosed in living patients by echocardiographic techniques. We present a 37-year-old woman with a recurrent atypical chest pain of one-year duration. She was found to have a congenital atrial septal aneurysm on evaluation. The echocardiographic images mimicked a left sided cor triatriatum sinister. She had no other symptoms and had no co-morbidities. There was no audible murmur. ASA can mimic cor-triatriatum and echocardiographic examination should be performed from multiple views before any echocardiographic diagnosis is made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]