Seven hundred and sixty-eight randomly selected single senior secondary school girls from Port Harcourt (mean age 16.32 years) were surveyed on aspects of sexual activity and contraceptive use. Two hundred and ten pregnancies (24 deliveries and 186 induced abortions) had occurred in 142 out of 605 girls (78.8%) who admitted being sexually exposed. The mean, modal and youngest ages of initiation into sexual activity were 15.04, 15 and 12 years respectively. At the time of the survey, 190 girls (24.7%) were sexually active and 74.2% of their male consorts were older working men, suggesting financial gains as a motive for the girls' sexual activity. Other findings were high awareness (72.4%) of the relationship between sexual activity and sexually transmitted diseases; a rather low level (56%) of knowledge of effective contraceptive methods, and limitation of contraceptive method use by sexually active girls, largely to the rhythm and withdrawal methods. Exposure to multiple sexual partners and a high level of parental approval of subjects' use of contraception were also present. In view of our findings, it is suggested that active efforts to promote sexuality education and contraceptive use should be intensified among Nigerian adolescents.

Translocation of an intrauterine contraceptive device to an extrauterine site in the peritoneal cavity is an uncommon complication. In cases reported in literature, the timing of extrauterine presentation and the distant sites of translocation often raise the issue of whether iatrogenic uterine perforation or migration of the device was responsible. We present and discuss five referred cases of the extrauterine device inserted in centres outside the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital. The indication for insertion of the intrauterine contraceptive device in the patients (mean age 25.6 years) was contraception in four patients and adhesiolysis for Asherman's syndrome in the fifth. The most common presenting symptom was inability to feel the device's string (in three patients). Four of the patients presented within one month of the insertion. Three of the five translocated intraperitoneal devices were recovered by laparotomy and the forth by laparoscopy. The fifth patient, pregnant, defaulted with the device still retained. We are of the opinion that primary iatrogenic uterine perforation occurs occasionally. Other possible translocatory mechanisms include spontaneous uterine contractions, urinary bladder contractions, gut peristalsis and movement of peritoneal fluid.

The prevalence of D u phenotype was investigated among rhesus negative women of childbearing age (15-45 years) in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, over a period of 17 months. A total of 1,108 women were randomly sampled, out of which 1,003 (90.5%) were rhesus positive and 105 (9.5%) rhesus negative. Only one (0.95%) of the Rh-negative women was D u positive while 104 (99.05%) were D u negative (true rhesus negatives). The results show that the incidence of D u phenotype in Nigeria may not be uniform -it is high among the Yorubas (7.5%) and rare among the Ijaws and Efik-Ibibios of the south-east. The results also suggest that D u testing may not be indicated in all individuals initially typed as rhesus negative while being strongly indicated only in areas of high prevalence. More studies are required in other parts of Nigeria to provide data that may facilitate the adoption of a comprehensive nationwide policy on appropriate management of rhesus negative women in the country. This will include the D u testing of all rhesus negative mothers in areas of high D u phenotype prevalence before the prophylactic administration of anti-human immunoglobulin (Rhogam

Deficiencies of protein C and free protein S are unlikely to be etiopathogenetic for pre-eclampsia; therefore, therapeutic intervention should focus on other potential pathogenetic pathways.

were estimated by Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) and the results were compared. There was a statistically significant increase in ) levels in the infertile women when compared with the fertile group (13.81 ± 9.8), (p˂0.05). In contrast there was no statistically significant difference in the levels of IL-6, IL-10 and TNF-α between the two groups. The result of this study suggest that an increase INF-γ may be implicated in infertility.