Stroke in Sub-saharan Africa: Observations from Donka National Hospital

Abstract

Introduction: Stroke is a major public health problem, the consequences of which are as much medico-social as they are economic. The main objective is to make a socio-demographic, clinical, therapeutic and prognostic assessment in the short term in a medico-surgical emergency department in Guinea. Material and Methods: This was a descriptive retrospective study lasting 2 years from January 1 st , 2014 to December 31 st , 2015 inclusive. All complete medical records of patients hospitalized for stroke confirmed by brain scan were included in this study. Sociodemographic, clinical, para-clinical, therapeutic and evolutionary data were collected. Results: During the 2 years out of 1321 patients hospitalized in the intensive care unit, strokes represented 7.3% of cases. The average age was 67.2 years old with the extremes of 30 and 99 years old. We had a male predominance of 59 men versus 38 women with a sex ratio of 1.55. The most common cardiovascular risk factors were high blood pressure (74.23%), diabetes (22.68%), and age (89.69%). The Glasgow Score was between 3 -8/15 in 49 patients or 50.52%. The death rate was 14.4%. Conclusion: The management of serious strokes in intensive care units in emergency rooms considerably reduces short-term mortality and neurological sequelae of patients.