Outcome of non-traumatic coma in a tertiary referral hospital in Cameroon.

Introduction: Coma is a medical emergency, and optimal management, especially in a resource-poor setting, depends on knowledge of its aetiology and predictors of outcome. This study aimed to provide hospital-based data on the prevalence, etiology, and outcome of non traumatic coma (NTC) in adults at a tertiary level in Cameroon.

Methods: A three year retrospective cohort study of medical records of patients aged 18 years and above, who presented in coma of non-traumatic origin at a Cameroon emergency department (ED) was conducted.

The burdens attributable to headache disorders in Cameroon: national estimates from a population-based door-to-door survey, including a headache-care needs assessment.

Background: We have previously shown headache to be highly prevalent in Cameroon. Here we present the attributed burden. We also perform a headache-care needs assessment.

Headache in the adult population of Cameroon: prevalence estimates and demographic associations from a cross-sectional nationwide population-based study.

Background: Knowledge of headache prevalence, and the burdens attributable to headache disorders, remains incomplete in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA): reliable studies have been conducted only in Zambia (southern SSA) and Ethiopia (eastern SSA). As part of the Global Campaign against Headache, we investigated the prevalence of headache in Cameroon, in Central SSA.

Methods: We used the same methodology as the studies in Zambia and Ethiopia, employing cluster-randomized sampling in four regions of Cameroon, selected to reflect the country's geographic, ethnic and cultural diversities.

Short Physical Performance Battery and Study of Osteoporotic Fractures Index in the Exploration of Frailty Among Older People in Cameroon.

To investigate the relationship between the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) and the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures (SOF) index. We present data from a cross-sectional survey conducted in Cameroon. Frailty was defined as an SOF index > 0.

Beliefs and attitudes of traditional healers regarding epilepsy in Cameroon.

Introduction: People living with epilepsy suffer from stigmatization, overprotection, or exclusion, thus, part of these population in developing countries uses traditional medicine as a first resort.

Methods: We prospectively conducted a study to determine the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of traditional healers (THs) concerning epilepsy. Over a 9-month period, we included 208 THs practicing in the Littoral, Center and West regions of Cameroon who agreed to participate in the study.

Self-reported visual impairment and sarcopenia among older people in Cameroon.

Aging has been clearly associated with decline in visual and physical performance. Alteration of visual function is associated with negative health outcomes including physical frailty. We assessed the relationship between Visual Impairment (VI) and sarcopenia in older persons in Cameroon.

Epilepsy surgery in Africa: state of the art and challenges.

Objective: Epilepsy is an important public health problem representing 0.6% of the global burden of disease that particularly impacts people living in the lowest income countries where epilepsy incidence may be 10 fold more than in the developed world. The battery of treatments designed to counteract the clinical manifestations of this disease are various and range from a wide spectrum of antiseizure medicationand specific diets, to surgical techniques for resection of the epileptogenic focus.

Neuropathic pain in Mali: The current situation, comprehensive hypothesis, which therapeutic strategy for Africa?

Introduction: According to the taxonomy of the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP 2011), neuropathic pain (NeuP) is defined as "". NeuP is currently well-defined clinically, despite a high degree of etiological variation, and it has become a significant public health problem. This work aimed to study the situation regarding NeuP in current practice in Mali, as well as to analyze the therapeutic environment of the patients.

Correlates of diabetic polyneuropathy of the elderly in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Background: Diabetic polyneuropathy is associated with significant physical disability among older adults. However, their frequency and correlates are not well known in the older adults in Sub-Saharan-Africa. The objectives were to evaluate the hospital-based prevalence of diabetic polyneuropathy and identify its correlates in older adults.

Clinical predictors of significant intracranial computed tomography scan findings in adults experiencing headache disorder.

Introduction: Radiological assessments for adult headache disorder show significant intracranial findings in 2.5% to 10% of performed computed tomography scans (CT-scans), leading to an overuse consideration for CT-scan requests by physicians in headache-experiencing patients. Therefore, we undertook this study in order to determine predictors of significant intracranial CT-scan findings in adults experiencing headache disorder; in order to help physicians better select patients who need imaging, which would subsequently decrease the costs of headache disorder management and the useless irradiation rates.

Physical status and frailty index in nursing home residents: Results from the INCUR study.

Aim: The Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) is a widely used instrument for measuring physical performance, consisting of 3 sub-tests: a hierarchical test of balance, a gait speed test, and a chair stand test. Although equally considered in the computation of the SPPB score, each of the components may present a specific and different weight in clinical practice. The aim of this study was to estimate the relationship between SPPB and its component of an age-related deficit accumulation index (the so-called Frailty Index [FI] proposed by Rockwood).

Association of Gait Speed, Psychomotor Speed, and Dementia.

Background: Gait speed (GS) and psychomotor speed (PS) could be considered as two different dimensions of age-related slowness and both measures are associated with higher risk of adverse health-related outcomes among elderly people.

Objective: To determine the association between GS, PS, and incident dementia among community-dwelling older adults.

Methods: Twelve-year longitudinal study of 1,265 participants in the Bordeaux Three-City Study, a French prospective cohort designed to determine the risk of dementia and cognitive impairment attributable to cardiovascular risk factors.

The pattern of neurological diseases in elderly people in outpatient consultations in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Background: Neurological diseases are frequent in older adults, affecting between 5% and 55% of people age 55 and older. They are associated with a high risk for adverse health outcomes, including mortality, disability, institutionalization and hospitalization. Little is known about the epidemiology and clinical pattern of neurological disorders of the elderly in developing countries.

Multiple myeloma revealed by spinal cord compression and herpes zoster in a 36-year-old Cameroonian.

Multiple myeloma is a malignant plasma cell disorder occurring mostly in people above 60 years old. The authors describe a case of multiple myeloma in a 36-year-old patient revealed by spinal cord compression and Herpes zoster with a rapidly unfavourable outcome.

Occipital lobe epilepsy secondary to posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) during a post-partum eclampsia in Mali (West Africa).

Background: Eclampsia is known to cause posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) that is often associated with an extensive neurovascular damage affecting preferably posterior regions, often leading to reversible cortical blindness. In spite the magnitude of these lesions, post eclamptic symptomatic epilepsy is rare. We therefore report a case of symptomatic occipital lobe epilepsy secondary to PRES.

The spectrum of neurological disorders presenting at a neurology clinic in Yaoundé, Cameroon.

Introduction: The burden of these neurological diseases is higher in developing countries. However, there is a paucity and scarcity of literature on neurological diseases in sub-Saharan Africa. This study was therefore undertaken to determine the pattern of neurological diseases in this setting and then, compare to those elsewhere in the African continent and also serve as a baseline for planning and care for neurological disorders in Cameroon.