[Genito-urinary trauma: epidemiologic and clinical aspects]

To analyze the frequency and the etiology of trauma to the genito-urinary tract as well as the types of lesions encountered This is a retrospective study carried out on 38 patients with genito-urinary trauma seen at Cocody University Hospital, Abidjan, Ivory Coast, between April 2000 and December 2006. The parameters studied were: age, sex, profession, etiology of the trauma, the type of lesions observed and their surgical management. Out of 16,425 trauma patients, 38 [0.2%] had genito-urinary lesions. Thirty-seven of them were males and one female with a mean age of 26.9 [range 5 to 63] years. The majority of the patients were victims of car accidents [42.1%, 16 cases], while 29% [11 cases] had a work accident, and 23.7% [9 cases] were victims of civil violence [physical assaults]. In 81.6% of the cases, the urethra and the bladder were affected, while renal lesions and trauma to the external genital organs were found in7.9% and 10.5% of the cases, respectively. Twenty-five patients [65.8%] had associated pelvic fracture. The trauma was direct in all patients with blunt trauma in 29 [76.3%] and penetrating trauma in 9 [23.7%]. Surgical management consisted of end-to-end urethrorrhapy in the majority of patients [52.6%]. Genito-urinary trauma is rare and is more likely to affect young men. It is primarily caused by car and work accidents. Such trauma is usually associated with serious lesions

[Ruptured aneurysm of the renal artery: case report and review of the literature]

The authors report the first case in Ivory Coast of a ruptured aneurysm of the renal artery in a 23-year-old man admitted for massive hematuria and shock. He was subjected to emergency midline laparotomy which showed that the kidney and the aneurysm were not easily accessible due to fibrosis and a large mass of blood clots. Total nephrectomy was performed. Follow-up after 3 months was uneventful. Based on this case, the authors review the literature concerning the epidemiology, classification, clinical features and management of aneurysms of the renal artery

[Malignant testicular tumors in Cote d'Ivoire - anatomo-pathologic observations on 54 cases]

Objective: The aim of this study was the evaluation of the histological characteristics of testicular cancer in Cote d'Ivoire

Material and Methods: In this retrospective study, the medical charts of 54 patients with testicular tumors [mean age: 23,41 years; range: 13 months - 68 years] seen over a period of 25 years at the anatomy/pathology units of the universities of Cote d'Ivoire were evaluated with emphasis on the following data: patient age, geographical origin and clinical tumor characteristics, such as location, features, histological type. Tumor markers and staging of the disease were not included in the study

Results: On average, two tumors per year were diagnosed. Histologically, 87% were primary tumors, 46, 3% of them being germinal neoplasms [22, 22% seminomas and 24, 07% of the non-seminomatous type] and 40, 74% being non-germinal neoplasms including 18, 5% of rhabdo-myosarcomas. Secondary testicular tumors comprise 13, 9% of the cases of our study; most of them are metastases from Burkitt lymphoma [5 / 7 cases]. The rate of bilateral tumors in our study is high with 31%

Conclusion: Our study shows that testicular tumors are a rare entity in Cote d'Ivoire with an average incidence of 2 cases per year. The disease affects young males at an average age of 23 years, and the prognosis is often unfavorable due to the high incidence of bilateral disease which was found in 31% of our cases