ReviewCureus2026
The State of Open-Heart Surgery in Nigeria: Challenges, Opportunities, and the Way Forward.
Review in Cureus, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Nigeria is facing an increasing burden of cardiovascular diseases, creating an urgent need for sustainable open-heart surgery (OHS) services. Despite decades having passed since the first OHS, the country's progress has been inconsistent, with most centers still operating below capacity. In this paper, we reviewed the existing literature to identify the major challenges facing OHS in Nigeria and to highlight potential opportunities and future directions. Data were collected from articles and reports sourced from PubMed and Google Scholar. The search included keywords such as "challenges", "difficulties", "barriers", "open heart surgery", "cardiac surgery", "Nigeria", and "Federal Republic of Nigeria". Articles that discussed barriers, opportunities, and recommendations for improving OHS services were included. The major challenges identified include inadequate infrastructure and equipment, a shortage of skilled personnel, limited funding and affordability, weak systemic policy, low case volume, and poor incentives and retention. Reasonable opportunities lie in fostering international and diaspora collaborations, increasing private sector involvement and partnerships, and leveraging the epidemiological need. Future directions include strengthening cardiac capacity through sustainable financing mechanisms, workforce development, and integration of OHS into national health policies and insurance schemes. Nigeria's OHS services remain fragile but not without promise. By addressing systemic gaps and capitalizing on emerging opportunities, the country can transition from episodic, externally driven cardiac missions to reliable, self-sustaining national OHS programs.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.