The epidemiological, clinical, radiological profiles and outcome of stroke in reference sub-Saharan African intensive care unit: a cross-sectional study

Background: Although stroke or cerebrovascular accidents (CVA) account for the second cause of death worldwide, data on CVA in the intensive care units (ICU) of Cameroon is scant. We investigated the sociodemographic, clinical, and radiological profiles, as well as outcomes of patients with CVA admitted to the ICU of the Yaounde Central Hospital. Methods: We analyzed the hospital files of all patients admitted to the ICU of Yaounde Central Hospital from 1st January 2016 to 31st December 2016. All patients with confirmed CT-scan diagnosis of CVA were retained. Patients’ files were studied for sociodemographic data, clinical variables, radiological patterns, and outcomes of ICU admission. Results: The prevalence of cerebrovascular accidents was 12.2%. The mean age was 66.2±13.5 years and 50% were males. The main reason for ICU admission was coma in 92.3%. The frequencies of comorbidities were hypertension (65.4%) and diabetes (7.7%). The main lesion for hemorrhagic CVA was at the capsulolenticular area and the main occluded vessel in ischemic CVA was the middle cerebral artery. Conclusions: The findings suggest CVA patients in the aforementioned ICU have modifiable cardiovascular factors such as hypertension and diabetes for preventive interventions. Many patients have severe hypertension on admission, reflecting uncontrolled high blood pressure before their cardiovascular event. Overall, there is an urgent need for adequate follow-up of hypertension especially in elderly patients for CVA prevention.