Larissa PONE SIMO1*, Manuel NDO AKONO2,SylvainLAAH NJOYO3, Valirie NDIP AGBOR4, DoraMBANYA6
1Faculty of Health Sciences, the University of Bamenda; 2Bamenda Regional Hospital ; 3Providence Polyclinic ; 4Ibal Sub divisional Hospital ; 6Centre Hospitalier et Universitaire, Yaounde
CaHReF 2018, Yaoundé Congres hall, 08 – 11 January 2019 , OERF030
Background: Non-communicable diseases are the leading causes of global mortality, and the second commonest cause in sub-Saharan Africa. They are projected to drive mortality in sub-Saharan Africa by 2030. Cardiovascular diseases have emerged a growing public health problem worldwide, with heart failure being the outcome of a greater majority.
Objectif: To determine the profile heart diseases amongst adult patients referred for echocardiography at the Bamenda Regional Hospital in the North West Region of Cameroon.
Methodology: This was a descriptive retrospective study of echocardiographic records between July 2015 and April 2018 at the Bamenda Regional Hospital. Data were collected with a pre-structured data extraction sheet and entered into Epidata 3.1. The extracted data was analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0. Means and median were used to summarise continuous variables, while proportions and frequencies were used to describe categorical variables. Proportions were compared using the Bonferonni's method. P values < 0.05 were considered statistically significant.
Results: A total of 673 records were included in our study. Of these, 506 had a definite heart disease amongst which 93 had mixed cardiopathies. The age range was from 18– 105 years with a median age of 64.0 (Interquartile range [IQR] = 47 – 75) years. The greater proportion of the study population was made of females (55.3%). Hypertensive heart disease (41.1%), valvular heart disease (22.3%) and cardiomyopathies (11.4%) were the most common echocardiographic diagnoses. Rheumatic heart disease accounted for 5.8% of the valvulopathies. The prevalence of heart failure was 17.5%, and hypertensive heart disease was the leading cause.
Conclusion/Recommandation: The most common heart disease in this semi-urbansetting of Cameroon is the hypertensive heart disease. A sizeable proportion of the population has more than one heart disease (mixed cardiopathies). Prevention of heart diseases in our setting should re-enforce awareness, treatment and control of hypertension. Rendering cardiac ultrasound more available and affordable, will improve the diagnosis, treatment and follow up of these patients; and consequently reduce the incidence of heart failure in our context.
Key Words:Heart disease, mixed cardiopathies, heart failure.