Acute Coronary Syndromes in Semi-Urban African Areas: Clinical Aspects and Management in Ziguinchor (Senegal)

Abstract

Context and Objectives: Acute coronary syndromes (ACS) constitute a major medical emergency. In Senegal, outside the capital Dakar, there is a lack of appropriate care structures. The objective of this work was to study the ACS treatment in the city of Ziguinchor. Methodology: This was a retrospective study of acute coronary syndromes’ cases admitted to the two-level two hos-pitals in the city of Ziguinchor from January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2019. We included all patients with acute angina pain at rest and/or electrocardiographic changes in at least two contiguous leads. The data were analysed using sphinx V5 software. Results: 57 cases were collected. The average age was 60.1 ± 14.1 years. There was a male predominance with a sex ratio of 3.7. The majority of patients arrived at the hospital by unsafe delivery (70.5%). Symptomatology was dominated by typical angina pain (50.8%). On the electro-cardiogram, a majority of acute coronary syndromes with ST segment shift were observed (70.2%). Doppler echocardiography found abnormalities in segmental kinetics in 69.8% of cases. The troponin dosage was performed in 7 patients, i.e. 12.3%. The average time of treatment was 3.4 ± 4.5 days. Medical treatment remained standard and no patient was thrombosed. The average hospitalization period was 5 ± 3.2 days. The hospital lethality was 7.2%. Conclusion: Acute coronary syndromes constitute a medical emergency. Diagnostic and therapeutic means are lacking in a city like Ziguinchor, hence the importance of good prevention.