Mengstu Desalegn Kiros

Background : The sciatic nerve, the largest nerve in the body is derived from the sacral plexus. It is composed of tibial and common fibular nerves; the division of this nerve varies; it may occur within the pelvis, gluteal region, upper, mid and lower part of thigh. Injury of the nerve may lead to loss of sensation in posterior thigh, whole leg and foot. The anatomical variations of the level at which the sciatic nerve divides is considered important by clinicians during neuromuscular diagnosis and treatments of the lower limb. Objective : To determine the level of sciatic nerve bifurcation and its side symmetry. Materials and Methods : Observational based descriptive study was conducted to determine the variation of sciatic nerve level of bifurcation on 25 human preserved cadavers. The data were analyzed manually using numbers, frequencies and percentages. Results : The findings of this study states that in 4 limbs (8%), the nerve divided in the pelvis region; in 2 limbs (4%), in the gluteal region; in 12 limbs (24%), at upper, middle and lower part of the posterior. The highest incidence of division occurs in 32 limbs (64%) in the popliteal fossa; in addition 8 (32%) of the 25 cadavers were asymmetrical between right and left sides. Conclusion : The findings of this study revealed that the majority of sciatic nerve divisions occur in the popliteal fossa while some divided into other regions such as pelvis, gluteal and thigh regions. Key words : Bifurcation, common peroneal nerve, ethiopia, sciatic nerve, symmetry, tibial nerve

BACKGROUND: Fontanels are anatomical features of the infant human skull comprising any of the soft membranous gaps between the cranial bones that make up the calvaria of a neonate. Various factors are taught to be responsible for the differences in the size of the fontanel at birth. Accordingly, this study is performed to examine the size of the anterior fontanel, associated factors, and the clinical significance in Northern Ethiopia at birth. METHODS AND MATERIALS: A Cross-sectional study was conducted in a sample of 425 neonates. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 21. Descriptive and summary statistics were presented in the form of tables and figures. All the data were presented as mean ± S.D. The association between dependent variables and independent variables was explored by using Pearson's chi-square test and logistic regressions. P-values <0.05 were considered to be statistically significant. RESULTS: The mean anterior fontanel size for the study population was 3.07 cm with a 95% confidence interval (3.00, 3.14). For a unit increase of head circumference of a neonate, the odds of having abnormal fontanel increase by 52.6%. Term neonates were 74.4% less likely to have abnormal fontanel size than preterm. Vaginally delivered neonates were 64.2% less likely to have abnormal fontanel size than neonates born by caesarean section. Low birth weight neonates were at risk of abnormal fontanel size. The odds ratio of the normal weight of neonate at birth was 0.327473 [95%, CI, (0.153364, 0.6992422)]. CONCLUSION: Gestational age, mode of delivery, head circumference, and birth weight are the most important determinant factors associated with anterior fontanel size.

Objectives: In Ethiopia, western modern education has been introduced in 1908, though there has been traditional education starting from the entrance of Christianity in Ethiopia in the sixth century. Currently, there are thousands of government and private schools in the country. The objective of this study is to identify who scores well in anatomy in the university; students coming from government or private schools? Methods: A cross-sectional study design was used to assess the effect of high school background on medical students’ performance in anatomy among 120 randomly selected students at Bahir Dar University College of Medicine and Health Sciences. Results: Anatomy is given for medical students as separate course in regional approach for ten months after they complete premed courses as five hours lecture and one hour practical session per week. Students than take an exam with theoretical and practical parts, after completion of each region. Out of 120 randomly selected students about 64% joined the university from government schools and the rest were from private schools. From the government school group, only 17% of the students scored low. However, out of the total private school students 40% were low scorers. There was a statistically significant correlation between school background and medical student performance in anatomy (p=0.007). The odds of private school students performance in anatomy was 3.22 times lower than those of government school students (p=0.007) Conclusion: Students graduated from government high schools perform better in academics than students graduated from private schools.

The testicular veins are formed by the veins emerging from the testis and epididymis forming the pampiniform venous plexus. The right testicular vein drains into inferior vena cava and the left testicular vein to the left renal vein. Testicular veins display a great variability with regard to their number, course and sites of termination. Awareness of the possible variations of gonadal vessels is necessary for adequate surgical management. Keywords: Testicular vein, Termination, Inferior vena cava, Renal vein