[Paragonimiasis in Cameroon: clinicoradiologic features and treatment outcome]. / La paragonimose au Cameroun: tableaux radio-cliniques et évolution sous traitement.

A prospective study of paragonimiasis was undertaken from September 1992 to July 1997 in the Mount Kupe zone of the Southwest Province of Cameroon. In a group of 2700 subjects, 312 presenting one or more signs of paragonimiasis underwent testing to detect Paragonimus africanus eggs in sputum and stools. Eggs were found in 30 subjects (9.61%). These patients underwent chest x-rays to assess radiological lesions due to paragonimiasis before and after treatment with Praziquantel. Symptoms included cough in all patients, hemoptysis in 13 (43.33%) and chest pain in 18 (60%). Only one patients presented altered general status. No patients presented fever. Before treatment chest x-rays demonstrated perinodular shadow in 22 patients (73.33%), pulmonary infiltrative opacity in 12 (40.00%), pulmonary nodules and cavitation in 3 (10.00%), pleuropulmonary calcification in 3 (10.00%), and cicatricial lesions in 2 (6.66%). Radiological findings were normal in 8 patients (26.66%). Following treatment parasitological and clinical cure was achieved at 1 and 2 months in all cases but X-ray abnormalities persisted for six months in 56.6% of cases. The most notable changes included disappearance of perihilar shadow in 8 out of 22 patients (36.36%) and worsening of radiological findings in 3 (13.66%). In 19 patients, treatment had no effect on X-ray findings in comparison with baseline. Absence of pleural effusion and high incidence of perihilar shadow may be specific features of paragonimiasis in Central Africa where the incidence of concomitant parasitic, fungal and microbial diseases is high.

[Fetal ultrasound biometry in a Cameroonian population: study of femur length]. / Biométrie foetale ultrasonore sur une population Camerounaise: étude de la longueur du fémur.

The length of the fetal femur was measured by fetal ultrasonography in Cameroonian population as a preliminary step in constructing local curves for fetal growth. This prospective cross-sectional study was conducted in 3 centers in Yaoundé, Cameroon over a period of one year. A total of 803 pregnant women (mean age, 27.15 years) knowing the exact date of the last menstrual period (LMP) were included. Based on ultrasound findings demonstrating a single fetus with normal development. Gestational age ranged from 12 to 42 weeks of amenorrhea (WOA). The mean length of the femur increased from 16.61 +/- 2.25 mm at 13 WOA to 75.36 +/- 4.85 mm at 42 WOA. There was a good correlation with gestational age and findings reported in the literature. Curves obtained using these data were compared with those in the literature. In most cases femur lengths measured in Cameroonian fetuses were slightly longer than European standards throughout pregnancy.

Aspects echographiques de la pathologie hypertrophique du corps thyroide a l'Hopital Militaire de Yaounde

Les auteurs procedent a une etude retrospective de 36 patients; porteurs d'une hypertrophie de la thyroide; sur un bilan clinique; echographique; hormonal; chirurgical et anatomo-pathologique. Ils notent comme beaucoup d'auteurs une absence de specificite entre les aspects cliniques echographiques et histologiques. Ils preconisent un examen echographique systematique pour le bilan d'une masse thyroidienne; car dans un contexte comme celui du Cameroun sans examen scintigraphique; l'echographie bien que non specifique est plus sensible que l'examen clinique; elle permet un bon bilan diagnostique; revelant des criteres de presomption de benignite ou de malignite. Associee a la cytoponction echo-guidee; elle ameliore la precision diagnostique; permettant un traitement plus efficace

[Benign sacro-coccygeal teratoma. A case report in Yaounde, Cameroon]. / Tératome sacro-coccygien bénin. A propos d'un cas observé à Yaoundé, Cameroun.

The authors describe a cases of sacrococcygeal teratoma observed in an infant after pregnancy without ultrasound surveillance. The mass was located in the buttock with a mainly exo-pelvic extension. There was no other malformation. Ultrasound examination revealed a heterogeneous structure with solid and liquid areas. Alphafoetoprotein level was high but the beta-HCG level was normal. The surgical specimen weighed 1990 grams and presented microcystic cavities and calcifications. Histological examination confirmed the diagnosis of benign complex multitissue teratoma. Postoperative recovery was uneventful and development of the child was normal 45 months after the procedure. The authors review the histologic, diagnostic, and prognostic features of teratomas and emphasize the importance of early surgical management, which is usually feasible in Africa.

[An echographic study of the urologic lesions of urinary bilharziasis in children in Barombi Kotto (Cameroon)]. / Etude échographique des lésions urologiques de la bilharziose urinaire chez les enfants de Barombi Kotto (Cameroun).

Ultrasonographic examination was performed on 212 school age children (152 proven Schistosomiasis, 60 normal) living in the endemic area of Barombi Kotto (Cameroon). 86.8% of urologic lesions were observed in the diseased group. 73 renal lesions were detected: these consisted of various degrees of dilatations. Urinary bladder lesions were present in 132 cases: they consisted of wall thickenings (84.9%), wall irregularities (79.6%) and localized hypertrophies (24.3%). 11 normal (18.4%) children presented with urologic complications. The prevalence of urologic lesions increased with the intensity of infection as measured by urinary egg output, but there seemed to be no direct relationship between the parasitic load and the severity of morbidity in the study. The authors recommend the use of ultrasonography as a public health tool for the diagnosis and control of disease complications in endemic areas.

[Epidemiologic and radiologic study of urinary bilharziosis in a focus at the Barombi Lakes (Mémé Department), Cameroon]. / Etude épidémiologique et radiologique de la bilharziose urinaire dans le foyer des lacs Barombi (Département de la Mémé) Cameroun.

A recent epidemiological and radiological study of urinary schistosomiasis in the Barombi lake foci (South West Cameroon) shows that the intensity of the disease is very high, 76% and 50% in Barombi Kotto and Barombi Mbo respectively, when compared to the level observed by DUKE and MOORE during a five year control period, from 1970 to 1975, respectively 6.9% and 2.4% in Barombi Kotto and Barombi Mbo. The endemicity is not influenced by age or sex. On the average, the parasitic load is highest in the 5-15 years age group. Bulinus camerunensis and B. rohlfsi are the known intermediary hosts of this parasite, with an infection rate of 17.2%. B. camerunensis is the most abundant species, but B. rohlfsi is the frequently infected. The bilharzia patient had very important and very frequent lesions of the urinary system. A normal X-ray shows calcifications localised on the ureter and more often on the bladder. The frequency of these calcifications increases with age. The intravenous pyelography (IVP) shows functional (delay in secretion observed in 47% of cases) and morphological lesions (87% of the patients). Morphologically, the bladder present irregularities of the contours and the mucosa. Irregular contours of the ureters with strictures, including dilation and stenosis, are observed. On the kidney, dilated calyces (hydronephrosis due to obstruction on lower side) are evident. There does not seem to be any relation between the number of eggs discharged by the patient and the importance or frequency of lesions observed in a normal X-ray or IVP.