Management of Cardiovascular Emergencies in Ziguinchor: Difficulties and Prospects in Semi - Urban Areas. About a Prospective Study at the Hospital de La Paix in Ziguinchor

Introduction: Cardiovascular diseases are one of the leading causes of death in the world. In our countries, they are underestimated because of the insufficiency of the diagnostic means. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the management of cardiovascular emergencies at hospital de la Paix in Ziguinchor, to identify problems related to the caring and to propose solutions to improve it. Methods: We conducted a prospective 18-month study at the Emergency Department of the hospital la Paix in Ziguinchor. We included all hospitalized patients for cardiovascular emergency during the study period. The studied parameters were socio demographic data, antecedents, field, time of consultation, means of transport, time of care, main reason for hospitalization, medical diagnosis and evolutionary modalities. Results: The average age was 57.5 ± 15 years with female predominance (52.9%). Majority of our patients were of low socioeconomic status (53.6%). Transport mode was unsafe in the majority of cases (73.3%). Average consultation time was 10 days and the average time to take care was 2 hours and 30 minutes. Hypertension was the main cardiovascular risk factor (60.1%) and acute dyspnea, the main reason for hospitalization (56%). Cardiomyopathy was the main underlying pathology. A mortality rate of 26.8% and an average ICU length of stay of 4.32 ± 2 days were noticed. Conclusion: Cardiovascular emergencies are common. They are dominated by hypertensive emergencies in our series, the mode of transport is inadequate, consultation time is long and mortality rate is high.