ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Pulmonary embolism (PE) is common but difficult to diagnose. OBJECTIVE: To describe the epidemiological, clinical and paraclinical characteristics of PE in Kinshasa hospitals. METHOD: This was a retrospective study in 158 cases with suspected PE. RESULTS: The prevalence of PE was 37% among cases with suspicion of the disease. Male sex was predominant (55%). The mean age was 55 ± 15 years. The main risk factors were obesity (53%), immobilisation (43%) and surgery (14%). The main symptoms were dyspnoea (98%), cough (59%), chest pain (43%) and unilateral limb pain (36%). Tachypnoea (88%), tachycardia (53%) and signs of deep-vein thrombosis (36%) were the main clinical presentations. Lung examination was normal in 55% of the patients. PE prevalence in the 'PE likely' category based on the Wells score was 53%. Levels of D-dimers were elevated in all patients. Sinus tachycardia (72%), S1Q3T3 pattern (30%) and T-wave inversion in V1-V4 (34%) were the main electrocardiographic abnormalities. Chest X-ray was normal in 30% of patients. Right ventricular pressure overload was detected in 58% of patients who had access to echocardiography. Computed tomography pulmonary angiography was performed in 65% of patients. All patients were treated with anticoagulants; no cases received thrombolytics. Patients who died (7%) were all in class III-V according to the Pulmonary Embolism Severity Index prognostic score. CONCLUSION: PE is common in Kinshasa, with characteristics similar to those reported in the literature.
Subject(s)
Anticoagulants/administration & dosage , Chest Pain/etiology , Dyspnea/etiology , Pulmonary Embolism/epidemiology , Adult , Aged , Chest Pain/epidemiology , Computed Tomography Angiography/methods , Cough/epidemiology , Cough/etiology , Democratic Republic of the Congo/epidemiology , Dyspnea/epidemiology , Echocardiography , Female , Fibrin Fibrinogen Degradation Products/metabolism , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Prevalence , Prognosis , Pulmonary Embolism/diagnosis , Pulmonary Embolism/physiopathology , Retrospective Studies , Risk Factors , Severity of Illness IndexABSTRACT
"Objectif : Determiner la frequence; le profil et l'evolution de la resistance primaire aux antituberculeux parmi des sujets seropositifs et seronegatifs pour le VIH traites dans deux centres de Kinshasa. Methodes : Les expectorations des sujets eligibles ont ete ensemencees sur milieu de Lowenstein Jensen et la sensibilite des souches aux antituberculeux usuels testee selon la technique des proportions de Canetti et al. (7). La resistance globale a un ou plusieurs antituberculeux etait de 42et la comparaison des donnees entre sujets VIH+ et VIH- a ete effectuee a l'aide du test de Chi-carre ou du test exact de Fisher selon le cas. Resultats : Sur 161 souches isolees de Mycobacterium tuberculosis; 68 (42) se sont revelees resistantes a au moins un de quatre antituberculeux testes. La monoresistance a ete plus marquee pour la streptomycine (30;4) et l'Isoniazide (19;9). La frequence la plus faible a ete observee pour la rifampicine (5). Le profil de la resistance globale n'a pas montre de difference significative entre sujets VIH+ et VIH- (45""vs 40; p=0;505) tandis que la resistance isolee est apparue plus marquee pour les sujets VIH+ pour tous les antituberculeux testes hormis l'ethambutol La multiresistance (MDR-TB) a ete observee pour 8 souches (5). Conclusion : Le taux de resistance primaire a au moins un antituberculeux et la presence de la multiresistance justifient l'extension de la surveillance au reste du pays en vue de definir les strategies adequates de riposte. L'impact du VIH sur la resistance merite d'etre etudie dans des series plus grandes."
