[Effusive pericarditis: clinical and etiological aspects in Lomé]. / Les péricardites liquidiennes : aspects cliniques et étiologiques à Lomé.

OBJECTIVE: to describe the course and the etiologic, prognostic, and therapeutic aspects of effusive pericarditis (EP) in Togo. MATERIAL ANDMETHODS: Prospective and longitudinal study conducted at the cardiology department of Sylvanus Olympio Teaching Hospital of Lome from February 1, 2011, to January 31, 2014, of patients hospitalized for EP, confirmed by Doppler echocardiography. RESULTS: The study included 38 patients. The hospital incidence rate of EP was 2.0%. The mean age was 42.5 ± 14.9 years (range: 16 to 73 years) with a sex ratio of 0.7. Exertional dyspnea, poor general condition, chest pain, and fever were the main symptoms. Pericardial effusion was abundant in 24 patients (63%). The Koch bacillus was identified on direct examination in five patients (13%) and only from sputum. HIV serology was positive in 18 patients (47%). Pericardial fluid was collected from 24 patients (63%). Pathology examinations of pericardial tissue found nonspecific inflammation in 5 patients and pericardial tuberculosis in 7. The causes of EP were: tuberculous (55%), idiopathic (16%), bacterial (8%), HIV-related (5%), uremic (5%), neoplastic (5%), lupus (3%), and rheumatic (3%). CONCLUSION: EFP is a frequent, serious, even deadly disease in Africa because of the HIV-AIDS pandemic. Treatment depends on the cause, most often tuberculosis.

[Panorama of digestives violations related to HIV in CHU Campus in Lome (Togo)]. / Panorama des atteintes digestives liées au VIH au CHU Campus de Lomé (Togo).

OBJECTIVE: To describe the different gastrointestinal manifestations encountered in adult patients with HIV infection in a gastroenterology department in Togo. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This one-year (2011) prospective, descriptive study included all adult HIV-positive patients admitted to our department. Patients not known to be HIV-positive before admission were tested after informed consent. RESULTS: 82 (8.4% of departmental admissions) HIV-positive patients participated in the study. Their mean age was 38.78 years ± 9 years, and they were mainly women (sex-ratio = 0.82). The reasons for consultation were mainly asthenia (39%), weight loss (35.4%), and vomiting (34.1%). Their histories included tuberculosis (4%), jaundice (4%), and herpes zoster (2%). Nearly all (91%) had CD4 counts below 350 cells/L, and most (80%) were treated with antiretroviral agents (ARV) before admission. Most patients were also chronic alcoholics (72%) and took traditional herbal treatments (55%). General symptoms included deterioration of the general condition (77%) and conjunctival pallor (48%). Physical signs included ascites (32%) and hepatomegaly (29%). All patients were positive for HIV-1; 30% were co-infected with HBV and 1.2% with HCV. The main diagnoses were hepatobiliary diseases (46%), including cirrhosis (24.4%), acute toxic hepatitis (12%), and hepatocellular carcinoma (6.1%). Of the latter, one also had lung metastases. Esophageal diseases included candidal esophagitis (24%), and the gastric diseases, two gastric ulcers (2%) and one case of gastric cancer. The primary disease of the colon and small bowel was acute gastroenteritis (38%). Peritoneal conditions were all tuberculosis (7%), and pancreatic involvement was acute pancreatitis (2%).