Background and Purpose: Ischemic stroke causes death and disability worldwide. Better understanding and controlling factors associated will improve the prevention of the disease. This study reviews records of patients with ischemic stroke in Central Africa. Material and methods: Patients of Bantu ethnicity with clinical diagnosis of stroke and lesion on computed tomography scan from January 2011 to December 2012 were selected. Computed tomographic subtypes of ischemic stroke and factors associated were considered with tropical seasonal variation. Results: Of the 303 first-ever stroke patients (average age 53 years old, range 3-84 years old; 62% male) were included in the study. The prevalence of computed tomography stroke subtypes was: lacunar infarct (63%) and non lacunar infarct lesion (37%). Silent brain infarct was seen in 9 % of patients. Prevalence of factors associated with ischemic stroke was: age≥60 years old (55%); male gender (63%), chronic and uncontrolled hypertension (54%) and type 2 Diabetes mellitus (11%). A seasonal high prevalence was observed in warmer season (p < 0.05). Conclusions: This study shows a high prevalence of lacunar infarct than non lacunar in Bantu of Central Africa.

Background Several classic/traditional risk factors are associated with intima–media thickness (IMT), a novel risk of cardio metabolic risk (CMR) in the literature but not in Kinshasa, a megacity prone to CMR. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate potential correlations between inflammation, kidney function, psychological stress, hemodynamics, and changes in IMT. Methods This cross-sectional study was carried out between 2018 and 2021 within Monkole and Biamba Marie Mutombo Hospitals, respectively, and randomly selected from 10 health structures from East and West of Kinshasa, Capital of Democratic Republic Congo (DRC). A random sample of adult hypertensive Bantu Central Africans was examined after bivariate correlations and multiple linear regression. Results Out of 280 patients with 140 men and 140 women aged 62 ± 11 years, the mean carotid intima–media thickness (CIMT) was 1.06 ± 0.5 mm and 73% (n = 204) patients had uncontrolled hypertension. After controlling for confounders, 52.9% variations (R2) of CIMT were independently and significantly (P = 0.037) predicted by CRP, 24-hour proteinuria, urinary albumin/creatinine ratio, duration of hypertension, heart rate, hip circumference, and psychological stress with Equation Y = 0.717 + 0.87 × CRP + 0.02 × 24 H – proteinuria + 0.005 × urinary albumin/creatinine ratio + 0.05 × duration of hypertension + 0.001 × heart rate + 0.006 × hip circumference + 0.017 × psychological stress. Conclusion There is an urgent need to control inflammation, impaired renal function, cardiac rhythm, peripheral obesity, longer duration of hypertension management, and stress, which are emerging as specific novel determinants of the subclinical atherosclerosis for those Bantu Central African hypertensive patients.

Objective: To identify independent determinants of selected emerging cardiometabolic risk factors of increased carotid intima – media thickness (CIMT) in uncontrolled hypertensive patients in a hospital setting in Kinshasa. Material and method: A cross-sectional study was performed between September 2018 and January 2021 in hypertensive patients admitted to Cliniques Universitaires de Kinshasa (CUK), Centre Hospitalier Mère et Enfant Monkole (CHME) and Hôpital Biamba Marie Mutombo (HBMM) to measure CIMT on ultra sonography. Some cardiometabolic and atherogenic markers were evaluated by Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) and logistical regression. Results: 280 hypertensive patients were examined with 72.9% uncontrolled hypertension. The CMIT threshold >0.8 mm associated with uncontrolled hypertension was significantly and independently predictive of subclinical atherosclerosis. Conclusion: The present study identified independent determinants of increased CIMT in globally uncontrolled hypertensive patients in a hospital setting in Kinshasa, DR Congo. Thus, the optimal and specific thresholds for subclinical atherosclerosis were: urinary albumin/creatinine ratio, TyG Index, BMI and LVMI in the direction of health promotion and atherosclerosis prevalence in the management of hypertensive patients in the hospital setting of Kinshasa, DR Congo.