Background: Nutrient foramina form important landmarks on the femur and other bones as the portal of entry for nutrient arteries. Nutrient arteries are important sources of blood supply for growing bones; and their variations may be due to congenital or acquired causes. These variations are important in anatomical comparisons, orthopaedic surgical practice and forensic medicine. Aims: This study aimed at establishing the number and determinants of the nutrient foramina among dry human femur bones from the East African population. Materials and methods: This was a cross-section study of 333 dry femur bones from the East African population, at the Galloway osteological collection of Makerere University college of health sciences. The number of nutrient foramina on the shaft of each femur, the corresponding demographic, clinical and morphometric characteristics were documented. Data were entered in an Excel sheet and exported to STATA 14 for analysis. Univariate, bivariate and multivariable analyses were performed to obtain the summary statistics and the measures of association. At all levels of analysis, a p-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Of the 333 femurs, 291 (87.4%) were from males; and 137(50.15%) were right femurs. The age ranged from 20 to 75 years with a mean age of 35 (SD± 12) years. Nutrient foramina ranged from one to four; mean of 1.4 (SD±0.5) and median of 1 (IQR: 1 to 2). Of the 333 femurs, 199 (59.8%) had one foramen, 129 (38.7%) had two foramina, four femurs had three foramina and one femur had four foramina. There was a statistically significant association between the number of nutrient foramina and the femur’s: mid-shaft circumference (p=0.014; 95%CI: 0.003 to 0.028), nationality (p=0.016; 95%CI: -0.284 to -0.030) and sex (p=0.012; 96%CI: -0.405 to -0.050). Conclusion: Nutrient foramina among femurs from the East African population range from one to four per femur, with predominantly one foramen. The key determinants of the number of foramina are: mean mid-shaft circumference, nationality and sex. These findings are significant in anatomical comparisons; forensic and orthopaedic practices. KEY WORDS: Nutrient foramina, dry human femur, East African population, morphometric characteristics.
Sub-Saharan Africa has the worst global shortage of health professionals. The use of eLearning interventions, that lead to increased interactions according to the Interaction Equivalency theorem, is a potential means of addressing this shortage of health professionals. In this audit we set out to determine the effect of an eLearning general histology and general embryology intervention on student’s summative examination scores. The audit compared the written and practical summative examination scores of three sets of student examinations one of which had a five-week eLearning intervention. Two of the examinations were for the same students in one year but different courses while the other two were for students doing the same subject but in different years. In each of the above pair of examinations there was one group from the course that had the eLearning intervention. A Bayesian multilevel regression modelling approach was used to analyse the student scores. The course with the online eLearning intervention had significantly better scores (p-value < 0.01), than the course on a different subject offered at the same time to the same students without the intervention and the same course with students from the previous academic year. On controlling for other factors, the eLearning intervention led to higher examination scores though this was not significant. Student’s nationality, sponsorship and program significantly affected the examination scores, controlling for other factors. Overall the students in the course with the online eLearning intervention had significantly better examination scores. The student’s nationality, sponsorship and program significantly affect their examination scores. Future, larger and or qualitative studies, are needed to further explore the effect of these factors on student’s examination scores.
Background: Morphometric knowledge of the sternum is of great significance in cardiac surgery as variations in sternal dimensions have been considered a risk factor for translocation of suture material during median sternotomy, leading to poor outcomes. Fatalities attributed to subnor- mal sternal thickness have also been reported during sternal biopsies. Fractures of the sternum secondary to chest injury or cardio-pulmonary resuscitation may also be influenced by sternal thickness. Elongated xiphoid process can be mistaken for an epigastric mass which can be painful on palpation. Morphometric studies of African sterna are rare. The objective is to the study sought to describe the morphometry of adult sterna from the Galloway bone collection, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda. Subjects and Methods: This study employed a descriptive cross sectional design to collect and analyze quantitative data. Eighty five dry adult sterna (75 males and 10 females) were examined at the Department of Human Anatomy, Makerere University. Data analysis at univariate and bivariate levels were performed using SPSS version 21.0 statistical software. Results:A significant difference in the average length of the mesosternum was found between males at 94.6 mm (SD 11.2) and females at 82.2 mm (SD 15.2) (P=0.002). Two cases (9.5%) presented with elongated xiphoid process and one (1.2%) with subnormal mesosternal thickness. Conclusions: Our study highlights the importance of knowledge of the sternal morphometry in sex identification, physical examination, sternal puncture and other thoracic procedures, calling for increased awareness of the findings.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.