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Cardiac rehabilitation is still underused in Africa, despite its cost effectiveness widely demonstrated around the world. Aim: To evaluate the results of a cardiac rehabilitation program in the first Senegalese outpatient center in low resource context. Patients and Method: We carried out a prospective and interventional study. It compared on one hand a group of coronary patients at baseline and after 6 months of our rehabilitation program and on the other hand a control group of patients not enrolled in rehabilitation. Results: We included 70 patients (30 in the rehabilitation group and 40 in the control group). After rehabilitation, the functional capacity improved: 6.99 ± 2.9 Mets at M0 vs 8.8 ± 2.23 Mets at M6, p = 0.0001. Patients of intervention group significantly increased motivation to lifestyle changes and knowledge about their disease. We found better control at 6 months of hypertension (84.50% vs 33.70%, p = 0.003), diabetes (70.00% vs 26.70%, p = 0.0042), LDL cholesterol (33.00% vs 5.00%, p = 0.002) in the group “Rehabilitation”. Prevalence of psychosocial issues like anxiety and depression decreased in intervention group: 50.00% at M0 to 23.33% at M3 (p = 0.021), then 30.00% at M6 (p = 0.18). Return to work and resuming sexual activity were not significantly different. Conclusion: Comprehensive cardiac rehabilitation program, with low cost equipment in a short duration, could have real benefits in the management of coronary artery disease by reducing anxiety and depression, improving treatment compliance, control of cardiovascular risk factors, lifestyle changes and disease knowledge.

Introduction: Venous thromboembolism disease (VTE) is a common complication of hospitalization. Objective: To assess the practice of thromboprophylaxis in hospitalized patients in the department of medicine. Patients and Methods: It is an observational cross-sectional study conducted from 01 February to 31 March 2019 in the medical departments of the Saint Jean de Dieu Hospital of Thies. All the patients hospitalized with at least 18 years of age were included. The thromboembolic risk was assessed with the Padua score and thromboprophylaxis assessed according to the ACCP 2012 recommendations. Results: One hundred and forty four patients were included. Seventy-one (49.3%) were in the high thromboembolic risk category. The most frequently reported risk factors were mobility impairment (n = 72; 50%), age of 70 years or above (n = 35; 24.3%), heart failure (n = 23; 16%), acute infections (n = 14; 9.7%) and cancers (n = 13; 9.02%). The prevention of venous thromboembolism was practiced in 25 of the 71 patients with high thromboembolic risk or a rate of 35.2%. Thromboprophylaxis was exclusively drug-based with Enoxaparin. Conclusion: The practice of prophylaxis for VTE was low in the medical departments. Efforts still need to be made to reduce the high rate of thromboembolic complications associated with hospitalization.

Management of stable angina is still a matter of debate. Whether a conservative or invasive approach is better remains unclear. Even though recent large-scale randomized trials depict the conservative strategy as safe and efficient. In this report, we present a case of a 53-year-old male patient with cardiovascular risk factors of hypertension and hypercholesterolemia. He complained about typical chest pain at exertion. The coronary angiogram (CA) revealed severe stenosis of the proximal left anterior descending artery (LAD) ostium. After heart team discussion, coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) was advocated. However, due to a lack of means, the CABG was postponed. Meanwhile, he was managed with guideline-based medical therapy. In addition, he exercised regularly and adopted a healthy diet. Evolution was favorable with excellent symptoms control. A regular follow-up was organized with his cardiologist. A new CA before an eventual CABG six years later showed a significant plaque volume regression of the proximal LAD. We decided to continue conservative management. The stress echocardiogram to assess symptoms and exercise tolerance was normal. Our patient was sent to surgery on top of optimal medical therapy even though angioplasty was a good indication and was feasible. However, while he was struggling to afford the CABG procedure, he adopted a very healthy lifestyle along with medical therapy. Six years later, the result of that approach was without appeal, suggesting and reinforcing the conservative management of stable heart disease over invasive strategy. The recent ISCHEMIA trial is a major argument supporting that approach.

A 53 years old female patient with hypertension presented with constrictive retrosternal chest pain. Initial Electrocardiogram (ECG) showed ST elevation in aVR and high level cardiac Troponin-I. Thrombolysis with streptokinase was performed and she underwent coronary angiography who showed a long tight anterior inter ventricular lesion, occlusion of the proximal circumflex and an intermediate lesion of segment 2 of the right coronary.

Background: First described in 1908, TAK has now been recognized as a non-specific inflammatory disease of unknown etiology, predominantly affecting young females. Sometimes, it progresses into relatively rare and potentially fatal scenarios such heart failure. Case Presentation: Here, we present the case of a 50-year sub-saharan female suffering from acute heart failure related to TAK. Despite constitutional symptoms (fever, malaise, weight loss) and more characteristic features such claudication of lower extremities, carotydinia, and pulseless syndrome, diagnosis of TAK was delayed since main presentation was heart failure. Immunosuppressive and anticoagulant therapies have induced improvement in cardiac manifestations. Conclusion: Early diagnosis and proper treatment can protect the patient from dangerous complications such heart failure.

Introduction: Heart failure is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in children. The authors aimed to report the epidemiological and etiological characteristics of heart failure (HF) in children in Senegal. Patients and Methods: This was a retrospective study conducted at the Children’s Hospital of Diamniadio (CHD) from 01-01-2016 to 31-12-2017. Children aged 0 to 15 years with heart failure confirmed by echocardiography were included. Results: Sixty-six children were admitted for heart failure. The prevalence of HF was 5.3‰. The mean age of the children was 41.59 months ± 53.35 months (range: 0 to 168 months). The 0 - 5 age group was the most represented (n = 48; 72.72%). The HF concerned 38 boys and 28 girls, a sex ratio (M/F) of 1.36. The majority of our patients came from the semi-urban area (42.4%). The etiology of HF was represented in order of frequency by congenital heart disease, rheumatic heart disease and cardiomyopathy with 59.09% of cases, 22.73% of cases and 7.58% of cases respectively. It was unknown in 4.54% of the cases. At echocardiography, the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was impaired (less than 50%) in 19 patients, in 29.2% of cases with an average of 64% +/- 15.16% (extremes: 24% and 86%). Anemia was the comorbidity most commonly associated with their condition (n = 33%; 50%). Conclusion: Heart failure in children is uncommon. The main etiology is represented by congenital heart disease.

Patient: Female, 34-year-old Final Diagnosis: Spontaneous coronary artery dissection Symptoms: Chest discomfort Medication:— Clinical Procedure: — Specialty: Cardiology Objective: Unusual clinical course Background: Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) is a well-known cause of acute coronary syndrome. ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is the most common presentation of SCAD, which can be complicated by sudden cardiac death (SCD). Conservative management is the cornerstone of treatment except in case of ongoing ischemia or large myocardial compromise. Case Report: A 34-year-old woman presented with an anterior STEMI, diagnosed by the Emergency Medical Service (EMS) team, which performed fibrinolysis. SCD resulting from ventricular fibrillation occurred soon after thrombolysis was started. Her pulsed was palpable following defibrillation, and she was immediately intubated. A coronary angiogram (CA) showed total occlusion with dye staining contrast of the proximal left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery. Echocardiogram showed a severe drop in the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF 20%). She was treated with dobutamine and intra-aortic balloon pump implantation because of her poor hemodynamic status. Rescue angioplasty was performed with a drug-eluting stent implanted from the left main stem toward the proximal LAD. However, she developed hemorrhagic shock due to active liver bleeding that was surgically treated. At 3 months, she was asymptomatic, her LVEF had improved (45%), and elective CA showed quite normal coronary arteries. Optical coherence tomography showed residual hematoma as “lunar crescent” and stent under-expansion. The latter was fixed by post-dilatations. Conclusions: Our case adds to the evidence that thrombolysis leads to poor outcomes in patients with SCAD, as reported in numerous reports. OCT was used to confirm, a posteriori, the diagnosis of SCAD. Rescue angioplasty was necessary in our patient due to poor hemodynamic status following unsuccessful fibrinolysis.

Hemodynamic instability secondary to left atrial (LA) compression by an aortic aneurysm is a rare entity. We report the case of a 43-year old woman with no previous diagnosis of congestive heart failure who was admitted for an initial diagnosis of pulmonary embolism (PE) based on shortness of breath, hypotension and D-Dimers elevation. The electrocardiogram and blood counts were within normal limits. The chest X-ray revealed widening of the mediastinum. Transthoracic echocardiography demonstrated LA compression by a large descending thoracic aortic aneurysm. Left and right ventricle systolic functions were preserved. Chest angiography showed LA and left pulmonary artery (LPA) compression by a descending aortic aneurysm and an intramural hematoma with no evidence of PE evidence. Emergency surgery could not be done because of her financial status. She was treated medically and was discharged 1 week later with significant improvement. However she remained hypotensive.

Introduction: Coronary angioplasty is not widely conducted in sub-Saharan Africa in general and Senegal in particular. The objective of this work was to describe the indications, techniques, results and difficulties of coronary angioplasty in Senegal. Patients and Methods: We prospectively included all patients who underwent coronary angioplasty between July 2012 and November 2014. We evaluated the clinical characteristics, techniques used, and the peri-procedural complications. Results: 110 coronary angioplasties were performed at the cardiac catheterisation unit of the Clinique du Golf in Dakar. The average age of patients was 60.41 ± 10.93 years. A male predominance was noted with a sex ratio of 6.3. Hypertension was found in 57% of patients. The principal indications for coronary angioplasty were for the management of acute coronary syndromes with or without ST elevation, in 29 and 39 patients respectively. The femoral artery was the puncture site in 104 patients. The lesions treated were type A/B1 or B2/C in 53 and 57 cases respectively. The success rates of coronary angioplasties and 30-day mortality were 91% and 0.9% respectively. Conclusion: In sub-Saharan Africa, Senegal in particular, the practice of coronary angioplasty is low. Indeed, many factors linked to socioeconomic status limit the development of coronary angioplasty in Senegal.

Les troubles du rythme cardiaque mal tolérés du nouveau-né sont une véritable urgence nécessitant une prise en charge rapide et adéquate. Nous rapportons le cas d'un nouveau-né de 15 jours présentant une tachycardie atriale en défaillance cardiaque aiguë ayant nécessité une cardioversion électrique.

Pulmonary Artery Sling (PAS) is a rare congenital heart disease due to abnormal origin of Left Pulmonary Artery (LPA) from the Right Pulmonary Artery (RPA), then encircling the distal part of the trachea. The treatment is a surgical repair consisting of reimplantation of the LPA on the main pulmonary artery over cardiopulmonary bypass. The authors report a clinical case of PAS in a 5.5 years old boy diagnosed in Senegal then successfully operated in France.Cardiovasc. j. 2017; 10(1): 94-96

Background: Since the discovery of the ABO blood group system by Karl Landsteiner in 1901, several reports have suggested an important involvement of the ABO blood group system in the susceptibility to thrombosis. Assessing that non-O blood groups in particular A blood group confer a higher risk of venous and arterial thrombosis than group O. Epidemiologic data are typically not available for all racial and ethnics groups. The purpose of this pilot study was to identify a link between ABO blood group and ischemic disease (ID) in Africans, and to analyze whether A blood group individuals were at higher risk of ischemic disease or not. Methods: A total of 299 medical records of patients over a three-year period admitted to the cardiology and internal medicine department of military hospital of Ouakam in Senegal were reviewed. We studied data on age, gender, past history of hypertension, diabetes, smoking, sedentarism, obesity, hyperlipidemia, use of estrogen-progestin contraceptives and blood group distribution. In each blood group type, we evaluated the prevalence of ischemic and non-ischemic cardiovascular disease. The medical records were then stratified into two categories to evaluate incidence of ischemic disease: Group 1: Patients carrying blood-group A and Group 2: Patients carrying blood group non-A (O, AB and B). Results: Of the 299 patients whose medical records were reviewed, 92 (30.8%) were carrying blood group A, 175 (58.5%) had blood group O, 13 (4.3%) had blood group B, and 19 (6.4%) had blood group AB. The diagnosis of ischemic disease (ID) was higher in patients with blood group A (61.2%) than in other blood groups, and the diagnosis of non-ischemic disease (NID) was higher in patients with blood group O (73.6%) compared to other groups. In patients with blood group B or AB compared to non-B or non-AB, respectively there was no statistically significant difference in ID incidence. Main risk factor for ID was smoking (56.5%), hypertension (18.4%) and diabetes (14.3%). In our study, there was no statistical difference between blood group A and non-A in myocardial infarction (MI) incidence (p = 0.09, 95% CI = 0.99–2.83) but a statistically significant difference between blood group A and non-A in stroke and coronary artery disease (CAD) incidence (p

Infective Endocarditis (IE) is an endocardial infection usually caused by bacteria that affects not only the native heart valves but also, with increasing frequency intravascular implanted devices and congenital heart diseases. Despite medical advances, IE remains a life-threatening disease with substantial morbidity and mortality. In Africa, its diagnosis and treatment are still a major challenge in clinical practice. The objective of this work was to study the epidemiological, clinical features, diagnostic techniques currently used in medical practice and the range of micro-organisms that are responsible. This was a retrospective study done at Principal Hospital of Dakar. We include all patients who were admitted with clinical manifestations of definite or possible IE according to the extended DUKE criteria between January 1st, 2005 and December 31st, 2014. We collected and analyzed epidemiological, clinical, paraclinical and outcomes data of 42 patients. Hospital prevalence of IE was 0.078% (42/53711). The mean age was 27.5+/- 18 years with a sex ratio (M/F) of 0.55. IE were more common in patients with damaged or abnormal heart valves (78.6%) and in thoses with underlying structural defects (14.3%). The most common presenting symptoms were fever (90%) and cardiac murmurs (81%). Extracardiac clinical manifestations were very rare. The usual laboratory parameters of inflammation were elevated in 90% of patients. Blood cultures were negative in 50% of cases and positive in 21.4%. The main organism found was Staphylococcus aureus. Echocardiography found vegetations in 95.2% of cases, chamber enlargement in 73.8% and mitral regurgiation in 83.3%. Broad-spectrum penicillins including ampicillin and gentamycine were used for all patients. Major complications were heart failure (47.6%). Strokes and cerebral abcess (23.8%) and Vascular emboli 14.3%. Hospital mortality was 31%. IE remains a life-threatening disease with hight mortality despites improved techniques of diagnosis and modern antibiotics.

Les antivitamines K (AVK) sont largement utilisées dans la prévention et le traitement curatif des accidents thromboemboliques. Les objectifs de ce travail étaient de décrire les aspects épidémiologiques, cliniques et évolutifs des surdosages en AVK et d’en déterminer les facteurs hémorragiques. Il s’agit d’une étude descriptive, transversale monocentrique réalisée à l’Hôpital Principal de Dakar. Tous les patients qui présentaient un INR supérieur à 5 étaient inclus. Etaient étudiés le sexe, l’âge du patient, l’AVK utilisé, l’ancienneté de sa prise, les indications, la valeur de l’INR, les médicaments associés, la présence d’hémorragie, la prise en charge immédiate et l’évolution. Nous avons inclus 154 patients. L’acénocoumarol était l’AVK le plus prescrit. Le sexe ratio était en faveur des femmes. L’âge moyen était de 63 ans. Le surdosage était asymptomatique chez 43% des patients. Les hémorragies étaient représentées principalement par des gingivorragies, épistaxis. Des hémorragies majeures étaient présentes chez 8,6% des patients représentées par des mélénas chez 6 patients (3,9%), un hématome musculaire profond chez 2 patients (1,3%) et des hématomes cérébraux intra-parenchymateux chez 2 autres. Deux patients présentaient un collapsus cardiovasculaire avec déglobulisation. Une prise d’AINS était notée chez 21% des patients. Les AVK ont été transitoirement arrêtés chez tous les patients. La mortalité était de 2% par hémorragie intracrânienne. La réduction des surdosages aux AVK passe par une maitrise par le personnel soignant des facteurs de surdosage et par bonne éducation thérapeutique des patients.The Pan African Medical Journal 2016;24

The anomalous origin of the left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery (ALCAPA) is a rare malformation that represents less than 0.5% of the congenital heart diseases. The common clinical feature is congestive heart failure. The treatment is strictly a surgical repair. The authors report the first 3 cases of ALCAPA diagnosed in Senegal in infants under the age of 1 year old. Two were successfully treated by surgical repair; the 3rd child is still waiting for surgical repair to be performed abroad.