¹Charles Mve Mvondo, ²Essam Nloo Alain, ³Hamadou Ba and ¹Jean Claude Ambassa

Authors’ affiliations

1. Division of Cardiac Surgery, Shisong Cardiac Center, Kumbo, Cameroon
2. Department of cardiology, Military Hospital, Yaoundé, Cameroon
3. Department of cardiology, Central Hospital, Yaoundé, Cameroon

Corresponding Author: Charles Mve Mvondo. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Abstract

Objectives: Reports on thoracic aorta aneurysm (TAA) management have been anecdotal the in the sub-Saharan region. This paper reports the results of TAA surgery at the Shisong Center over a 7-year period.

Patients and methods: The data of 26 patients [Mean age: 43.8±14.7 years, range: 18-72 years; males: 17/26 (65.3%)] who underwent TAA surgery at the Shisong Center (November 2010 - May 2017) were retrospectively reviewed (Patient profiles, disease etiology and the surgical outcomes).

Results: Uncontrolled hypertension the commonest risk factor (17/26, 65.3%); Genetic disorders: 5/26 patients (4 bicuspidia, 1Marfan); 9/26 (34.6%) had Stanford type A dissection. The operative mortality was 7.6% (n=2/26). Twenty (n=20/26, 76.9%) patients had Bentall operation; four ascending aorta graft replacement (n=4/26, 15.3%), two (n=2/26, 7.6%) reductive aortoplasty. Associated procedures: mitral surgery (n=4), tricuspid repair (n=3), CABG (n=1). No case of stroke was observed. One cardiac and two non cardiac related deaths were reported at follow-up (1 and4-year survival: 95.2±4.6% and 78.6±9.6% respectively). No patient underwent reoperation at follow-up.

Conclusion: The incidence of TAA in the sub-Saharan region seems to be underestimated due mainly to insufficient number of specialists and medical infrastructures. A major attention should be paid during the evaluation of patients with risk factors. Our initial experience demonstrates the feasibility of TAA surgery in our region with encouraging results.