[Descriptive study of cerebrovascular accidents in Douala, Cameroon].

Abstract

A cerebrovascular accident or stroke is a sudden-onset cerebral deficit of vascular origin lasting more than 24 hours. These events represent the second leading cause of death in the world and take a particularly heavy toll in third world countries. The purpose of this study was to describe cerebrovascular lesions (type, location, size) as well as patient age and gender in Cameroon. Brain CT-scan and MRI findings from 50 stroke patients admitted to two health centers in Douala were reviewed. Data showed that 74% of patients were over 50 years of age, the 51-60 year group being the most affected. Patients were male in 64% of cases. Ischemic stroke accounted for 60% of cases versus 40% for hemorrhagic stroke. The most affected sites were the sylvian territory site in ischemic stroke and the temporal lobe in hemorrhagic stroke, acconting for 43.3% and 35% of cases respectively. The median size of ischemic and hemorrhagic lesions were 2.81 cm3, and 26.98 cm3 respectively. Hemorrhagic stroke and lacunar infarcts were more common in this sample. Discrepancies between results at the two hospitals may be due to the use of different imaging techniques. Indeed, MRI is known to be more sensitive than CT-scan for acute detection of stroke lesions.