Prevalence of Cervical Rib in an African Population

Abstract

Cervical rib also known as “Eve’s rib” is a component of the body located in the thoracic outlet and by far the least study by radiologist and clinicians. A cervical rib is an important cause of non-traumatic thoracic outlet neurovascular compression. To determine the prevalence of cervical rib among patients undergoing chest radiograph in Gwagwalada, Nigeria. This was a prospective study involving one thousand five hundred and twenty consecutive technically adequate posterior-anterior chest radiographs of both adults and children (>15 years) evaluated for cervical rib over a period of ten months. This study was carried out among children and adults between the ages of fifteen and seventy years with a mean of 38.8 years ±18.5. From the 1520 chest radiographs examined for the presence of cervical rib, the prevalence of cervical rib was 0.7% (a total of 10 positive radiographic evidence of cervical rib). There was more bilateral cervical rib in this study with four cervical ribs recorded between 21 and 40 years. Out of the 950 males chest radiographs examined six chest radiographs had cervical rib with prevalence of 0.6% and of the 570 females chest radiographs investigated four chest radiograph had cervical rib with prevalence of 0.7%. The prevalence of cervical rib in this study was similar to what was obtained in Nigeria but lower with other parts of the world.