C47. CARDIAC SURGERY IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA: A REPORT OF 3-YEAR EXPERIENCE AT THE DOUALA GENERAL HOSPITAL
Félicité Kamdem1,2,3, William Ngatchou2,4, Ba Hamadou5, Alexia Mboulley1, Henry Luma1,5, Marie Solange Doualla1,5, Daniel Lemogoum2, Olivier Germay4, Jean Luc Jansens4, Pierre Origer4, Jacques Berre4, Philippe Dehon4, Maimouna Bol Alima4, Anastase Dzudie1,3,5, Henry Ngote1,3, Yves Monkam1,3, Sidiki Mouliom1,3, Romuald Hentchoua3, Albert Kana3, Aminata Coulibaly3, Eugène Belley Priso5, Samuel Kingue5
Authors’ affiliations :
1Internal Medicine Service, Douala General Hospital, Douala, Cameroon; 2Faculty of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Douala, Douala, Cameroon; 3Intensive Care Unit, Douala General Hospital, Douala, Cameroon; 4Department of Surgery, Hopital Saint Pierre, Bruxelles, Belgium; 5Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaoundé I, Yaoundé, Cameroon
Corresponding Author : Dr. Félicité Kamdem. Internal Medicine Service, Douala General Hospital, PO Box, 4856 Douala, Cameroun. Email: Cette adresse e-mail est protégée contre les robots spammeurs. Vous devez activer le JavaScript pour la visualiser. .
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.
Keywords: Cardiac surgery; Douala General Hospital; sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)