title: [Coronary disease in black Africans: epidemiology, risk factors, clinical symptomatology and coronarography, evolution].
abstract: The study of the epidemiological data (published since 1952) seems to show an increasing frequency of the coronary disease for 15 last years. But this incidence seems to reach a stable level about 6 to 7% of the cardiovascular diseases at the Abidjan Institute of Cardiology; and 3.17% in a study in 13 countries but without coronarography (except at the Abidjan Institute). The study of the risk factors show that they are the same ones than in Europa. The risk index in Black Africa was 2.1 to 2.7 risk factor patient. These numbers are lesser than the risk index noted in France (3.6 in coronary patients and 1.9 in non-coronary subjects). The signs of the disease show that myocardial infarctions were frequent (48.8%) and often were the first manifestations of the coronary disease (40%). Angina pectoris was observed in 32.2%, an ischemic cardiomyopathy in 6.6% and a ventricular aneurysm in 6.6%. A silent ischemia was observed in 5.5% among at risk diabetic patients. The in-hospital mortality after myocardial infarction was 15% and was the same in European and African patients. But the mortality in Africans was greater than in Europeans the next years. Coronarography showed that 18.8% of the patients with coronary disease had normal coronary arteries. The arteries were also normal in 19.9% of the patients examined after an infarction. These high percentages can be related to coronary arterial spasms or to recanalized thrombosis. A spontaneous spasm was observed in 6.6% of the patients (a provoked coronary arterial spasm was not studied. The coronary arterial lesion was an one artery disease in 38.8% of the coronary patients and 50% of the patients with infarction. The stenosis were frequently proximal (82.6%) and the anterior descending artery was interested in 45.6%. Ventricular aneurysms were observed in 56.6% and the ejection fraction was lower than 0.50 in 63.3%. These data permit to compare the myocardial infarction of Blacks with the myocardial infarction of the young occidental men. We can think that thrombolysis or angioplasty would be very useful but they are often impossible in the Black African conditions.
authors.affiliation: Faculté de Médecine de Marseille, Hôpital Nord.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bertrand
mesh_terms: D000349:Africa / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D012307:Risk Factors
vernacular_title: La maladie coronaire en Afrique noire: épidémiologie, facteurs de risque, symptomatologie clinique et coronarographique, évolution.