Cervical Rib Variant in a Nigerian Population

Background: Cervical ribs often go unnoticed or are incidental findings in frontal chest radiographs of individuals. The prevalence of this congenital variant in our environment has not been documented hence the need for such study. Objective: The objective of this study is to determine the prevalence of cervical rib in a Nigerian population and to describe prevalence in relation to sex. Methodology: Successive technically adequate postero-anterio chest radiographs of adults taken over a period of seven months were scrutinized for the presence or absence of cervical ribs. The results were analyzed thereafter using Epi-Info. Results: A total of 1384 conventional radiographs of adults were analyzed comprising 617(44.6%) males and 767(55.4%) females. 9 patients were found to have cervical ribs: prevalence of 0.7%. A higher occurrence was found in females with 5 cervical ribs (55.6%) and sex specific prevalence of 0.7% compared to males with 4 cervical ribs (44.4%) and sex specific prevalence of 0.6%. Conclusion: The prevalence of cervical rib variant in our environment compares well with that seen in other places but could be higher if digital radiography is employed.