Alo hol and Alcoholism Preventing alcohol problems : a job for Canute ?

A retrospective study of all 100 cases of non-traumatic(medical) paraplegia admitted to a large hospital innorthern Tanzania over aneight-year period was under-taken; 15 of thepatients wereexamined. Patients' agesrangedfrom 2 to80 years(mean 31), and 67 weremale.Seventy-one lived under 85 km (53 miles) from thehospital, and the average period from onset of symptomsof paraplegia to admission to the referral hospital wastenweeks. Tuberculosis was the mostfrequent cause ofparaplegia (54%), followed by neoplasia (13%) andschistosomiasis (6%). No cases of nutritional myelopathywerediagnosed. In 12 cases adiagnosis could notbeestablished. The averageperiod spent in hospital was 11weeks, and 35patients made agood recovery and wereambulant at discharge.