[Diagnosis of pheochromocytoma in Yaoundé (Cameroon): a study of nine cases]. / Phéochromocytomes au Cameroun: neuf observations.

The aim of this study was to describe methods used for diagnosis of pheochromocytoma inYaoundé, Cameroon. This retrospective study was based on analysis of the charts of patients treated in the surgical department of the Yaoundé University Teaching Hospital from 1985 to 2009. Nine patients with histologically confirmed pheochromocytoma were identified. There were 8 women and 1 man with a mean age of 39.5 years (range, 12 and 66). Pheochromocytoma was associated with hypertension in 6 cases. In two women with hypertension, diagnosis was based on palpation of an abdominal tumor after caesarean section following pregnancy associated with arterial hypertension. In another woman, diagnosis was made during laparotomy for a left hypochondrial tumor. In 7 patients, diagnosis was based on laboratory findings showing high urinary levels of vanyl mandelic acid (VMA). In six patients, ultrasound examination allowed topographic diagnosis that was confirmed by CT-scan in 3 cases. Two patients presented extra-renal pheochromocytomas in the abdomen. In three patients, i.e., one third of cases, histology showed malignant features. The findings of this study indicated that diagnosis of pheochromocytoma in Yaoundé be improved with the introduction MRI, scintigraphy, and modern techniques for assaying urinary methoxyderivates.

[Early ENT manifestations of HIV infection/AIDS. An analysis of 76 cases observed in Africa]. / Manifestations Oto-Rhino-Laryngologiques inaugurales de l'infection à VIH/SIDA. Analyse de 76 cas observés en milieu africain.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this work is to describe the ENT clinical manifestations by which HIV positive patients inaugurate their AIDS-illness and to classify these manifestations in respect to the biological state of the infection. MATERIAL AND METHOD: It was a multicenter, prospective study carried out in the ENT services of Yaounde (Cameroon), between the period of September 2000 and June 2002. Included in this study were HIV patients who started their AIDS with an ENT illness. The stage of evolution of the HIV infection was evaluated using the CD4 and CD8 T lymphocyte counts. This was carried out using the Flux cytometric technique of Fascount/Becton. RESULTS: We thereafter recruited 76 patients. The incidence rate of ENT early manifestations in HIV positive patients was 11.5%. Pharyngeal and oral candidosis represented the most observed manifestation (30.60%), followed by peripheral facial paralysis (11.13%) and rhino-sinusitis (10.58%). Parotid gland hypertrophy represented 8.23% of the affections. Persistant cervical lymphadenopathy was observed in 7.05% of cases. Kaposi sarcoma and cervical lymph node tuberculosis represented each 3.53% of cases of the sample. The correlation of lymphocytic count and initial ENT manifestations showed that these manifestations were observed in all the biological states of the HIV/AIDS infection. CONCLUSION: The above mentioned ENT manifestations in the patient should motivate the request of the HIV screening tests.