[Screening of cardiac autonomic neuropathy in a group of adolescents and young adult Cameroonians with type 1 diabetes]. / Étude de la fréquence et des caractéristiques de la neuropathie autonome cardiaque chez un groupe d'adolescents et de jeunes adultes diabétiques de type 1 camerounais.

AIM: We aimed to describe cardiac autonomic neuropathy in a group of young Cameroonians type 1 diabetic patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study including consenting patients with type 1 diabetes and without any other comorbidity, who were followed-up at the type 1 diabetic children's clinic at the Yaoundé central hospital. Cardiac autonomic neuropathy was diagnosed and stage using the five functional tests described by Ewang et al., and the heart rate variability assessment. RESULTS: We included 60 with a mean age of 18.6±4.9 years, 38.3% of female and a mean duration of diabetes of 5.9±5.1 years. Cardiac autonomic neuropathy was present in 96.7% of participants. Early, confirmed and severe cardiac autonomic neuropathy were found respectively in 8.3%, 86.7% and 1.7% of the patients. The most frequent clinical signs were exercise intolerance, alternating constipation and diarrhea and resting tachycardia. CONCLUSION: Cardiac autonomic neuropathy is common in young patients with type 1 diabetes. It is important to integrate the assessment of cardiac autonomic reflexes in type 1 diabetic patients' follow-up.

[Gallbladder kinetics in the black African subject with and without cholelithiasis. An ultrasonographic study]. / La vidange vésiculaire chez le sujet noir africain avec et sans lithiase. Une étude ultrasonographique.

PURPOSE: Gallbladder hypomotility could play a significant role in the process of lithogenesis, but this role has yet to be defined in black African populations. This role was assessed by measuring gallbladder emptying after stimulation by a fat meal in a group of black African subjects with and without cholelithiasis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifteen subjects with cholelithiasis and thirty controls divided in two pools were studied. Gallbladder emptying was stimulated by fat meals of 610 and 740 Kcal, and was measured with ultrasound for a period of 120 min. RESULTS: The mean fasting gallbladder Volume of the subjects with lithiasis was significantly superior to that of the controls. Compared to what has been previously published in Caucasian subjects, gallbladder emptying was generally more rapid in our study. Further more, gallbladder emptying was significantly better in the control group than in the group of subjects with cholelithiasis. Two groups of subjects with cholelithiasis were isolated. The first group had poor gallbladder emptying and normal fasting gallbladder Volume; the second had normal gallbladder emptying but significantly increased fasting gallbladder Volume. CONCLUSION: Impaired gallbladder emptying and/or increased fasting gallbladder Volume probably play a role in lithogenesis. Hypomotility seems to play a significant role only for those subjects with normal fasting gallbladder Volume.