Cerebral Artery Hypoplasia in a Select Adult Kenyan Population.

Background Hypoplasia of cerebral arteries predisposes to stroke and cerebral aneurysms which have an increased incidence in sub-Saharan Africa. The frequency and pattern of cerebral artery hypoplasia, however, shows population variations, and data from the African population remain scanty. Objectives This study aimed to determine the percentage of hypoplasia in the anterior, middle, and posterior cerebral, anterior and posterior communicating, basilar, and vertebral arteries. Materials and Methods Sections of the basilar, vertebral, posterior, and anterior communicating arteries and anterior, middle, and posterior cerebral arteries were taken, processed for histology, and examined with a light microscope at ×40. The images of the vessels were taken by a photomicroscope and circumference analyzed with the aid of Scion image analyzer. The average diameter of 10 sections was taken to be the diameter of the artery in analysis. Hypoplasia was then defined as internal diameter ≤1 mm. Photographs of representative samples of asymmetry were taken, data were analyzed using SPSS, and gender differences were analyzed using the Student's test. Results were presented in tables. Results Two hundred and eighteen formalin-fixed brains of adult Kenyans at the Department of Human Anatomy, University of Nairobi, were studied. Of the 218, 48 brains (22%) did not have vessels with any form of hypoplasia while 170 (78%) did have vessels. Of these, anterior circulation hypoplasia (anterior cerebral artery and posterior communicating artery) was seen in 100 brains (46%) and posterior circulation hypoplasia (middle and posterior cerebral, basilar, and vertebral arteries) in 69 brains (32%). Conclusion Cerebral arterial hypoplasia is frequent in the select adult Kenyan population.

Pattern of Cerebral Aneurysms in a Kenyan Population as Seen at an Urban Hospital.

BACKGROUND: Intracranial aneurysms constitute a significant part of the caseload for any neurosurgical service. Despite the occurrence of intracranial aneurysms and the availability of advanced diagnostic tools and management options, there is a paucity of published data concerning aneurysm patterns in Kenya. METHODS: This was a combined retrospective and prospective quantitative descriptive study. Following ethical approval, all patients with cerebral aneurysms seen on computed tomography angiography who presented at Nairobi Hospital between May 2010 and June 2014 were included. A standardized questionnaire was used to collect data on patient characteristics, indications for imaging, and radiologic findings. Analysis was carried out SPSS for Windows version 15.0. RESULTS: The study included 121 patients with a female (71.9%) predominance; most (30.58%) of the patients were aged 50-59 years. There were 151 aneurysms observed, with 85.95% of patients having solitary aneurysms and 14.05% having multiple aneurysms; 82.1% of the aneurysms were located in the anterior circulation. Mean aneurysm size was 6.92 mm, mean neck diameter was 2.79 mm, and the range of diameter/neck ratio was 1-11.88 (mean 1.16). The rate of subarachnoid bleeding displayed an exponential increase with aneurysms 3 mm in size and appeared to plateau thereafter despite increasing aneurysm size. Most (78.8%) of the observed anterior communicating artery aneurysms were ruptured. CONCLUSIONS: Most patients were postmenopausal women, who had a higher rate of aneurysms with an elevated risk of rupture for small aneurysms; this suggests that clinicians need to be more vigilant and have a higher index of suspicion in such patients with subtle clinical signs. This study revealed a pattern of aneurysms in accord with previous reports and is expected to serve as a basis for further research on aneurysm management, outcome, and prognostic indicators in the Kenyan population.

Predictors of functional recovery in African patients with traumatic intracranial hematomas.

BACKGROUND: Head injury is a critical public health problem responsible for up to 50% of fatalities among trauma patients and for a large component of continuing care among survivors. Intracranial hematomas are among the most common clinical entities encountered by any neurosurgical service and have a very high mortality rate and extremely poor prognosis among traumatic brain injuries. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate reliable factors influencing the functional outcome of the patients with traumatic intracranial hematomas (ICHs). METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted of consecutive patients presenting at the Kenyatta National Hospital between January 2000 and December 2009. Following ethical approval, the records of patients admitted to the neurosurgical unit and diagnosed with traumatic ICH were retrieved and reviewed. The outcome measure was the Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) score at discharge. Data were collected in preformed questionnaires, and the coding and analysis were carried out using SPSS, version 11.5. RESULTS: Of the 608 patients diagnosed with intracranial hematomas during the study period, there was a clear male predominance, with 89.3% male and 10.7% female patients. Majority of the patients (49%) were aged between 26 and 45 years, whereas 5.6% and 9.4% were younger than age 13 years and older than age 61 years, respectively. The most common cause of injury was assault (48%). Good functional recovery was achieved by 280 (46.1%) of the patients in our series, whereas moderate and severe disability accounted for 27% and 6.9%, respectively. Males were more likely to have functional recovery (46.4%) than were females (43.1%), though this finding was not statistically significant (P = 0.069). The proportion of patients who achieved functional recovery seemed to decrease with increasing age. Patients who were involved in motor vehicle accidents were less likely to have functional recovery (33.7%, P = 0.003) than those who fell (53.6%). There was a statistically significant difference in the proportion of patients who achieved functional recovery, with 65.2% of those who had mild head injury as compared to 46% and 15.1% (P ≤ 0.001) for those with moderate and severe head injury, respectively. Patients who had surgical intervention were more likely to achieve functional outcome (51.2%) as compared to 31.7% in those managed conservatively. Furthermore, the time elapsed from initial trauma to surgery significantly influenced outcome. The type of surgery done was not found to significantly influence patient outcome (P = 0.095). CONCLUSION: An increased risk of poor outcome occurs in patients who are older than age 61 years, have lower preoperative GCS scores, pupillary abnormalities, and a long interval between trauma and decompression. The findings would help clinicians determine management criteria and improve survival.