Intracranial tumors in Enugu, Nigeria.

Over a five-year period, there were 48 cases of intracranial tumors at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu, Nigeria. All the patients were Nigerian Negroes. Glial tumors accounted for 20.8%, pituitary tumors 18.8%, and meningiomas 16.7%. There were five cases of tuberculomas and five cases of metastatic tumors. Miscellaneous tumors contributed 22.9% of the total. There were more males than females, especially in the meningioma and tuberculoma groups. Nearly one-half of the tumors were in people in their first and second decades of life; two-thirds of the tumors were in those under 30 years of age. One-third of the patients have died within the five years under review. The results of this survey are strikingly different from Caucasian series. The relatively low incidence of gliomas and the high incidence of meningiomas and pituitary tumors in this study are interestingly similar to the results of other workers who studied Negro populations and may underscore the importance of genetic factors in the development of some brain tumors.