Prevalence of gall stones in a group of antenatal women in Ibadan, Nigeria.

The prevalence of gall stones in Africa is low even though this varies from one part of the continent to another. The few studies were hospital based and excluded majority of silent stones. Abdominal ultrasounds were carried out prospectively on 4,214 consecutive patients referred to an ultrasound centre which cares primarily for pregnant women--a well known vulnerable group for gall stones. An overall prevalence rate of 2.1% was found. This represents a 300-fold increase over previous figures in Ibadan albeit from a different study group. A further study of the disease in the general population is necessary, though it is suggested that the figure in the general population may be less. When this figure is compared with the 10 to 20% in Europe and North America, it confirms the low incidence of the disease in our environment. Majority of the stones were asymptomatic (95%). This needs to be confirmed in the general population. The average stone former in our environment as in previous study does not conform to the classical caucassian description.