Geographic Distribution of Childbirth among Adolescents in Cameroon from 2003 to 2005

Objective. To determine the frequency and the trend of adolescents (10–19 years) in childbirth within a period of 3 years in referral maternity units in Cameroon. Method. Descriptive and retrospective study for a 3-year period (2003–2005) in referral maternity units headed by a qualified Obstetrician-Gynecologist. We analyzed the trend and geographic distribution of 8222 adolescent deliveries over 3 years. Epi Info 3.5 software was used for data analysis. Chi square test for trend was used to assess the contribution of adolescent deliveries over years. The trend was considered significant if P < .05. Results. During the period of the study, there was a total of 8387 deliveries. We excluded 165 women because of lack of information about age. We therefore included a total of 8222 adolescent deliveries. Overall, the contribution of adolescents to deliveries ranged from 6.87% to 26.51%, depending on the region with a national mean of 14.23%. Adolescents aged 16 or less contributed to 2.82% of deliveries while those aged from 17 to 19 contributed to 11.41%. The contribution of adolescents to deliveries decreased significantly over 3 years (P < .0001). Conclusion. The study underscores the importance of Public Health programs in strengthening maternity services for adolescents in Cameroon while taking into consideration geographic differences

Correlation between the anti-Müllerian hormone and endovaginal ultrasound in the predictivity of polycystic ovary syndrome at Chracerh

Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a heterogeneous syndrome posing diagnostic problems in current practice, because of the cumbersomeness associated with the application of the criteria that define it; giving rise to over or under diagnosis of it. Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) is an effective alternative in this case, being a stable, reproducible and non-operator dependent marker to diagnose PCOS due to the link that binds it to the multiple pre-antral follicles in the ovaries of PCOS patients. The aim of this study was to determine the threshold value of AMH required to define PCOS in our African population, by revealing the correlation with antral follicles count (AFC) on endovaginal ultrasound.Methods: We carried out a comparative cross-sectional study, with retrospective data collection in 23 infertile patients diagnosed with PCOS according to the Rotterdam 2003 criteria, and 23 non-PCOS infertile controls having performed the AMH test using the Immunotech technique at CHRACERH. Endovaginal ultrasound (U/S) was performed using a 7.5 mega Hertz (MHz) transvaginal transducer by different qualified operators (radiologists, gynecologists). The comparison of the two independent groups (PCOS and non-PCOS) was performed by the Student t-test; correlations between AMH, age, AFC and ovarian volume obtained by the Pearson test; and the diagnostic power of AMH test in PCOS was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic curves (ROC).Results: AMH was approximately twice as high in PCOS compared to controls (6.09 versus 3.80, P <0.001) and was inversely correlated with age (r = -0.301; P ˂0.05); significantly correlated antral follicle count (R = 0.85, P <0.0001) and ovarian volume (r = 0.625, P <0.0001). ROC analysis revealed that the AMH test was very informative for the diagnosis of PCOS with an area under the curve (AUC) at 0.90 (0.81-0.99; 95% CI); and the threshold value given by the farthest point of the diagonal representing the nil contribution test was 4.40 ng/L, and predicted PCOS with a sensitivity of 96% and a specificity of 70%.Conclusions: AMH is a predictive marker for PCOS. It is highly correlated with AFC and ovarian volume and appears to decrease with age. It offers good diagnostic performance in PCOS, with a threshold value of 4.40 ng/L for a sensitivity of 96% and specificity of 70%

Breast Cancer Profile in a Group of Patients Followed up at the Radiation Therapy Unit of the Yaounde General Hospital, Cameroon

Objective. To describe the profile of breast cancer in the patients attending the radiation therapy unit of Yaounde General Hospital. Method. From 1989 to 2009, we conducted a descriptive retrospective study based on the register and medical records of patients. Results. During the study period, 531 breast cancer patients were recorded of which 0.75% were male. Age range was 18 to 82 years, with a mean of 45.17 years. Out of these, 66.1% were less than 50 years old and 31.9% less than 40. Self detection was the discovery method in most cases (95.34% of patients). Mean delay before presentation at hospital was 10.35 months, and 54.94% had used traditional medicine before medical evaluation. Metastasis and locally advanced breast cancer at diagnosis were present in 08.13% and 62.78%, respectively. Mastectomy was used in 88.08% of patients. Conclusion. The study reinforces the position occupied by late presentation and advanced stage at diagnosis of breast cancer profile in developing countries