Computed tomography patterns of intracranial infarcts in a Ghanaian tertiary facility.

Objective: To determine the Computed Tomography (CT) patterns of intracranial infarcts. Design: A retrospective cross-sectional study. Setting: The CT scan unit of the Radiology Department, Cape Coast Teaching Hospital (CCTH), from February 2017 to February 2021. Participants: One thousand, one hundred and twenty-five patients with non-contrast head CT scan diagnosis of ischaemic strokes, consecutively selected over the study period without any exclusions. Main outcome measures: Patterns of non-contrast head CT scan of ischaemic strokes. Results: About 50.6% of the study participants were females with an average age of 62.59±13.91 years. Males were affected with ischaemic strokes earlier than females (p<0.001). The risk factors considered were, hyperlipidaemia (59.5%), hypertension (49.0%), Type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM-2) (39.6%) and smoking (3.0%). The three commonest ischaemic stroke CT scan features were wedge-shaped hypodensity extending to the edge of the brain (62.8%), sulcal flattening/effacement (57.6%) and loss of grey-white matter differentiation (51.0%), which were all significantly associated with hypertension. Small deep brain hypodensities, the rarest feature (2.2%), had no significant association with any of the risk factors considered in the study. Conclusion: Apart from the loss of grey-white matter differentiation, there was no significant association between the other CT scan features and sex. Generally, most of the risk factors and the CT scan features were significantly associated with increasing age. Funding: None declared.

Evaluation of the Anatomical Locations of Stroke Events From Computed Tomography Scan Examinations in a Tertiary Facility in Ghana.

Introduction Stroke events are leading causes of mortalities globally and currently increasing alarmingly in low- and middle-income nations including Ghana, thus overburdening national healthcare delivery sectors. This trend is predicted to ultimately have an impact on the socio-economic development of these countries, thus gaining the attention of policy-makers and implementers. This study was therefore conducted to evaluate the anatomical locations of stroke events from CT scan examinations and the possibly associated variables to assist in managing this non-communicable pandemic. Methods All computed tomography (CT) scans performed for stroke events at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital from June 2016 to June 2020 were retrieved and reviewed for this study. The socio-demographics and the presence of hypertensive risk factor were also retrieved. Data were then collated, grouped, coded, inputted, and used for analysis. Chi-square test of independence was employed for assessing possible associations, and logistic regression analysis was performed to predict the anatomical locations of stroke events using sex and hypertension. Statistical significance level was specified at p ≤ 0.05. Results A total of 1,750 stroke cases were recorded during the study period, comprising 1,237 (70.7%) ischemic strokes and 513 (29.3%) hemorrhagic strokes. Majority (54.3%) of the patients were males. The average age of participants was 62.46±14.74 years. Basal ganglia (43.0%), parietal lobe (26.7%), and frontal lobe (6.9%) were the commonest anatomical locations. The elderly (≥ 60 years) were significantly affected at the basal ganglia (p=0.006), parietal lobe (p=0.005), frontal lobe (p=0.013), temporal lobe (p=0.048), and cerebellum (p=0.049). Basal ganglia lesions were significantly recorded in men, whereas lesions located at the pons were significantly seen in females. The regression model revealed that the risk of stroke at the pons increased by 2.155-folds in males (p=0.043; 95% CI=1.026-4.528). Generally, gender and hypertension were not significant predictors of stroke lesion locations. Conclusions The basal ganglia area, which falls under the middle cerebral artery territory, was the commonest anatomical location for stroke events in our setting. Knowing the anatomical locations of these stroke events has an impact on the type of interventions needed, especially at the early stages of these stroke events. CT perfusion, CT angiography, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with MR angiography (MRA) when available can further assist in determining the exact cause so that urgent interventions such as endovascular treatments can be offered.