Prélèvement de plaquettes pour la chirurgie cardiaque: Première expérience d'aphérèse à l'Hôpital général de Douala

Cardiac surgery with extracorporeal circulation (ECC) is usually associated with the loss of a significant amount of blood. Adequate prophylaxis against blood loss and good perioperative hemostasis are known as processes limiting postoperative bleeding. Until now, the need for platelets in patients operated with extracorporeal circulation in our Department has been compensated for by total blood transfusion or platelet concentrates collected from several donors. We here report our first experience with platelet concentrate collection by apheresis at the General Hospital in Douala.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Cardiac surgery in sub-Saharan Africa: a report of 3-year experience at the Douala General Hospital

Background: Cardiac surgery was started at the Douala General Hospital since 2012 as a result of a North-South collaboration between Cameroon and Belgium. Five cardiac surgery missions have been carried out since then. This work aimed at assessing three years of this initial experience. Methods: We carried out a cross-sectional descriptive study between November 2012 and March 2016. We reviewed the case records of all patients with heart disease, and with an indication for surgery. Results: A total of 45 patients with heart diseases who had an indication for surgery were retained for this study. There were 23 women and 22 men. Of these, 27 patients benefited from surgical intervention. Their mean age was 41±18 years (range, 14 to 85 years). The most common physical sign was heart murmur in 29 (64.4%) patients. Valvular Heart diseases were the most frequent in 32 (71.1%) patients, which were predominantly rheumatic heart diseases (RHD) in 25 (55.6%) patients. The most frequent surgical procedures were valve replacement with prosthesis, followed by repairs of congenital abnormalities. Mechanical prosthesis were mostly used (8/12 cases). Short-term intra-hospital mortality was 7.4%. The main cause of death was acute ventricular failure. Conclusions: The pilot phase of the cardiac surgery program at the General Hospital of Douala (DGH) was successful. Patients could be operated at a lower cost locally. Efforts must be made for the creation of an autonomous local team.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Late mortality after cardiac interventions over 10-year period in two Cameroonian government-owned hospitals

Background: Cardiac surgery is a growing activity in Sub-Saharan Africa, however, data related to long-term mortality are scarce. We aimed to analyze outcome data of cardiac interventions in two hospitals in Cameroon over 10 years' period. Methods: we conducted a retrospective analytical and descriptive study at the Douala General Hospital and Yaoundé General Hospital. All patients operated between January 2007 and December 2017, or their families were contacted by phone between January and April 2018 for a free of charges medical examination. Results: Of a total of 98 patients operated during the study period, 8 (8.2%) were lost to follow-up. Finally, 90 patients [49 (54.4%) women and 41 (45.6%)] men were included. The mean age was 49±22 years (range, 13-89 years). The surgical indications were valvular heart diseases in 37 (41.1%) cases, congenital heart diseases in 11 (12.2%) cases, chronic constrictive pericarditis in 4 (4.4%) cases, and intra cardiac tumor in 1 (1.1%) case. Valve replacement was the most common type of surgery carried out in 37 (41.1%) cases-mostly with mechanical prosthesis. Pacemaker-mostly dual-chambers were implanted in 36 (40.0%) patients. The median follow-up was 26 months. The overall late mortality was 5.7%, and the overall survival rates at 5 and 10 years were 95.5% and 94.4% respectively. The overall survival rates at 5 and 10 years for mechanical valve prosthesis were 93.3% and 90% respectively. The survival at 10 years was 100% for patients with bioprosthesis. The survival rates at 10 years were 94.1% and 100% respectively for dual and single chamber pacemaker. Conclusions: Long-term outcome of cardiac surgery in hospitals in Cameroon are acceptable with low mortality rate. However, outcome metrics beyond mortality should be implemented for a prospective data collection.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe