Mortalité maternelle chez les adolescentes au service de Gynécologie-Obstétrique de l'Hôpital National Ignace Deen / Maternal mortality among adolescents in the Gynecology-Obstetrics department of Ignace Deen National Hospital

Introduction. L'objectif de cette étude était de contribuer à l'étude de la mortalité maternelle chez les adolescentes. Méthodes. Il s'agissait d'une étude retro-prospective descriptive et analytique cas témoin, d'une durée de trois ans. La collecte rétrospective avait porté sur deux (2) ans allant du 1er Janvier 2018 au 31 Décembre 2019 et celle prospective sur un (1) an allant du 1er Janvier 2020 au 31 Décembre 2020. Résultats. Durant la période d'étude nous avons enregistré 38 cas de décès maternels sur 16175 naissances vivantes soit un ratio de 235 décès pour 100000 naissances vivantes. Le décès concerne l'adolescente de 18-19 ans (65,8%), mariée (63,2%), non scolarisé (42,1%), et nullipare (65,8%). La majorité des adolescentes avait effectué 1-3 CPN (44,7%), et provenait d'une maternité périphérique (84,2%) et avait accouché par voie basse (78,4%). Le moyen de transport le plus utilisé était le transport en commun (63,2%). La cause de décès était dominée par l'hémorragie (44,7%). Le post-partum a été la période la plus pourvoyeuse de décès (52,6%). Conclusion. La mortalité maternelle constitue un problème de santé majeure dans notre pays, sa réduction nécessite la mobilisation de tous les acteurs de la société et implique une bonne éducation pour la santé, l'amélioration de la qualité du suivi prénatal et celle des soins obstétricaux d'urgence.

Introduction. The objective of this study was to contribute to the study of adolescent maternal mortality. Methods. This was a retrospective descriptive and analytical case-control study, lasting three years. The retrospective data collection covered two (2) years from January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2019 and the prospective one over one (1) year from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020. Results. During the study period we recorded 38 cases of maternal deaths out of 16,175 live births, ie a ratio of 235 deaths per 100,000 live births. The death concerns an adolescent girl aged 18-19 (65.8%), married (63.2%), out of school (42.1%), and nulliparous (65.8%). The majority of adolescent girls had performed 1-3 ANC (44.7%), and had come from a peripheral maternity hospital (84.2%) and had given birth vaginally (78.4%). The most used mode of transportation was public transit (63.2%) The cause of death was dominated by hemorrhage (44.7%). The postpartum period was the most significant period of death (52.6%). Conclusion: Maternal mortality is a major health problem in our country, its reduction requires the mobilization of all actors in society and involves good health education, improving the quality of prenatal care and that of obstetric care emergency

Diabète gestationnel (DG) en consultation prénatale: dépistage systématique dans un centre de sante urbain de Conakry / Gestational Diabetes in Antenatal Consultation: Systematic Screening In an Urban Health Center of Conakry

Contexte. Pathologie obstétricale fréquente en Guinée, souvent de découverte fortuite, car il n'y a pas de dépistage systématique. L'objectif : était de déterminer la prévalence du diabète gestationnel (DG) en consultation prénatale dans un centre de santé urbain de la ville de Conakry. Méthodes. Il s'agissait d'une étude prospective de type descriptif et analytique Elle a été menée au centre de santéde Koulewondy du 1er novembre 2019 au 29février 2020. Le dépistage était proposé à toutes les femmes enceintes entre 24 et 27 SA. Les comparaisons statistiques étaient à l'aide du test Chi2. Les différences étaient considérées signifi catives pour p<0,05. Résultats.Le passage du dépistage ciblé sur les facteurs de risques à un dépistage systématique a permis d'avoir une prévalence du diabète gestationnel en Consultation Prénatale Recentrée (CPNR) de 16,78% dans notre série. Le profi l épidémiologique était celui d'une gestante ménagère sans niveau instruction, mariée et dont l'âge moyen était de : 28,7± 6,5 ans, la parité moyenne était de : 2,11± 1,9 accouchements , l'âge gestationnel moyen était de 27,1± 5,6 SA , la valeur prédictive positive du test de dépistage en fonction des facteurs de risque était de 32,6% et la sensibilité 0,157. Conclusion. Le dépistage demeure le meilleur moyen de prévention.

[Analysis of uterus cervical cancer screening campaign results in Conakry, Guinea]. / Analyse des résultats des campagnes de dépistage du cancer du col de l'utérus à Conakry, Guinée.

OBJECTIVE: Reduce morbidity and death rates of women with cervical cancer in Guinea. METHODOLOGY: This was a five-day cross-sectional study carried out in two successive years (2012 and 2013) at the CERFFO-PCG in Conakry. The target population was women aged 25-49. Approximately 500 women for 2012 and 900 women were expected in these cervical screening campaigns by visual methods (IVA and IVL) with immediate treatment of precancerous lesions. After histologic confirmation of the cancer lesions, the management was carried out according to the protocols in force in the country. We performed a simple descriptive analysis and the results expressed as a percentage and on average. RESULTS: The target population represented 60.4% in 2012 and 76.2% in 2013, of the total number of women received. The incidence rate of high-grade intraepithelial lesions and cancers increased from 2.6% in 2012 to 0.9% in 2013. In 2012, the 57 precancerous lesions were treated with immediate treatment and 10 cases of cancers out of the 16 had a surgical treatment. Also in 2013, all precancerous lesions were treated immediately and 2 cancers out of the 4 benefited from surgery. CONCLUSION: Our research shows that, with creativity, flexibility, good organization and efficient use of resources, morbidity and death rates of women with cervical cancer in a very resources can be significantly reduced.

Hepatitis C virus seroprevalence in the general female population of 9 countries in Europe, Asia and Africa.

BACKGROUND: New oral treatments with very high cure rates have the potential to revolutionize global management of hepatitis C virus (HCV), but population-based data on HCV infection are missing in many low and middle-income countries (LMIC). METHODS: Between 2004 and 2009, dried blood spots were collected from age-stratified female population samples of 9 countries: China, Mongolia, Poland, Guinea, Nepal, Pakistan, Algeria, Georgia and Iran. HCV antibodies were detected by a multiplex serology assay using bead-based technology. RESULTS: Crude HCV prevalence ranged from 17.4% in Mongolia to 0.0% in Iran. In a pooled model adjusted by age and country, in which associations with risk factors were not statistically heterogeneous across countries, the only significant determinants of HCV positivity were age (prevalence ratio for ≥45 versus <35 years = 2.84, 95%CI 2.18-3.71) and parity (parous versus nulliparous = 1.73, 95%CI 1.02-2.93). Statistically significant increases in HCV positivity by age, but not parity, were seen in each of the three countries with the highest number of HCV infections: Mongolia, Pakistan, China. There were no associations with sexual partners nor HPV infection. HCV prevalence in women aged ≥45 years correlated well with recent estimates of female HCV-related liver cancer incidence, with the slight exception of Pakistan, which showed a higher HCV prevalence (5.2%) than expected. CONCLUSIONS: HCV prevalence varies enormously in women worldwide. Medical interventions/hospitalizations linked to childbirth may have represented a route of HCV transmission, but not sexual intercourse. Combining dried blood spot collection with high-throughput HCV assays can facilitate seroepidemiological studies in LMIC where data is otherwise scarce.

Socio-demographic and reproductive determinants of cervical neoplasia in seven sub-Sahara African countries.

BACKGROUND: Since most human papilloma virus (HPV) infections regress without any intervention, HPV is a necessary but may not be a solely sufficient cause of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and cervical cancer. Hence, the influence of cofactors on progression from cervical HPV infection to high-grade CIN and invasive cervical cancer has been a subject of intensive research. OBJECTIVE: We assessed the effect of socio-demographic and sexual reproductive factors on the prevalence of invasive cervical cancer and CIN diagnosed in cross-sectional cervical cancer screening projects carried out in seven sites of different sub-Saharan countries. METHODS: Between January 2000 and August 2007, healthy women aged 25-59 who participated in the screening projects were interviewed for socio-demographic, reproductive, and behavioral characteristics, investigated for disease confirmation with colposcopy, and had biopsies directed from colposcopically abnormal areas by trained local physicians. Odds ratios (ORs) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) from logistic regression analyses were used to assess the effect of women characteristics on CIN 1, CIN 2-3, CIN 3, and invasive cancer outcome measures. RESULTS: Among 47,361 women screened and investigated for disease confirmation, CIN 1 was diagnosed in 1,069 (2.3%), CIN 2 in 517 (1.1%), CIN 3 in 175 (0.5%), and invasive cancer in 485 (1.0%). The site-specific prevalence of CIN 2-3 lesions ranged from 0.3 to 5.1% and from 0.2 to 1.9% for invasive cancers. Risk factors for CIN 2-3 were being widowed or separated versus currently married (OR 1.3, 95% CI 1.0-1.7 a); and having had at least four pregnancies versus zero or one pregnancy (OR at least 1.4-fold, 95% CI 1.1-1.8). Risk factors for invasive cancer were being widowed or separated versus currently married (OR 2.0, 95% CI 1.3-3.1); and having had at least three pregnancies versus zero or one pregnancy (OR at least 3.0-fold, 95% CI 2.1-4.2). Additionally, cervical cancer risk increased with increasing age, age at menarche, and age at marriage, while the risk decreased with increasing level of education and in those with some form of employment compared to housewives. CONCLUSION: The exposure of the exocervix and/or the increased levels of estrogen and progesterone for more prolonged periods during pregnancy in multiparous women and the vulnerability of widowed/separated women in society might result in increased risk of cervical neoplasia more so among women exposed to HPV infection. High parity probably explains the persistently high rates of cervical cancer in sub-Saharan Africa.

High risk factors of pancreatic carcinoma.

Over the past decades, cancer has become one of the toughest challenges for health professionals. The epidemiologists are increasingly directing their research efforts on various malignant tumor worldwide. Of note, incidence of cancers is on the rise more quickly in developed countries. Indeed, great endeavors have to be made in the control of the life-threatening disease. As we know it, pancreatic cancer (PC) is a malignant disease with the worst prognosis. While little is known about the etiology of the PC and measures to prevent the condition, so far, a number of risk factors have been identified. Genetic factors, pre-malignant lesions, predisposing diseases and exogenous factors have been found to be linked to PC. Genetic susceptibility was observed in 10% of PC cases, including inherited PC syndromes and familial PC. However, in the remaining 90%, their PC might be caused by genetic factors in combination with environmental factors. Nonetheless, the exact mechanism of the two kinds of factors, endogenous and exogenous, working together to cause PC remains poorly understood. The fact that most pancreatic neoplasms are diagnosed at an incurable stage of the disease highlights the need to identify risk factors and to understand their contribution to carcinogenesis. This article reviews the high risk factors contributing to the development of PC, to provide information for clinicians and epidemiologists.

The next steps in cervical screening.

Cervical cancer is fourth most common cancer among women with four-fifths of the global burden in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Persistent infection with one of the high-risk types of human papillomaviruses (HPV), particularly HPV 16/18, is the central cause of cervical neoplasia. Progress in developing feasible, alternative screening methods in LMICs and HPV vaccines have further improved cervical cancer prevention prospects. While existing screening programs in high-income countries should be re-organized, in view of the downstream effects of national HPV vaccination programs, LMICs should introduce national programs to vaccinate single year cohorts of girls aged 9-13 years with two or three doses and screen 30-35-year-old women with HPV testing to pragmatically decrease their high disease burden.

Pooled analysis of the accuracy of five cervical cancer screening tests assessed in eleven studies in Africa and India.

Cervical cancer is the main cancer among women in sub-Saharan Africa, India and other parts of the developing world. Evaluation of screening performance of effective, feasible and affordable early detection and management methods is a public health priority. Five screening methods, naked eye visual inspection of the cervix uteri after application of diluted acetic acid (VIA), or Lugol's iodine (VILI) or with a magnifying device (VIAM), the Pap smear and human papillomavirus testing with the high-risk probe of the Hybrid Capture-2 assay (HC2), were evaluated in 11 studies in India and Africa. More than 58,000 women, aged 25-64 years, were tested with 2-5 screening tests and outcome verification was done on all women independent of the screen test results. The outcome was presence or absence of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) of different degrees or invasive cervical cancer. Verification was based on colposcopy and histological interpretation of colposcopy-directed biopsies. Negative colposcopy was accepted as a truly negative outcome. VIA showed a sensitivity of 79% (95% CI 73-85%) and 83% (95% CI 77-89%), and a specificity of 85% (95% CI 81-89%) and 84% (95% CI 80-88%) for the outcomes CIN2+ or CIN3+, respectively. VILI was on average 10% more sensitive and equally specific. VIAM showed similar results as VIA. The Pap smear showed lowest sensitivity, even at the lowest cutoff of atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (57%; 95% CI 38-76%) for CIN2+ but the specificity was rather high (93%; 95% CI 89-97%). The HC2-assay showed a sensitivity for CIN2+ of 62% (95% CI 56-68%) and a specificity of 94% (95% CI 92-95%). Substantial interstudy variation was observed in the accuracy of the visual screening methods. Accuracy of visual methods and cytology increased over time, whereas performance of HC2 was constant. Results of visual tests and colposcopy were highly correlated. This study was the largest ever done that evaluates the cross-sectional accuracy of screening tests for cervical cancer precursors in developing countries. The merit of the study was that all screened subjects were submitted to confirmatory investigations avoiding to verification bias. A major finding was the consistently higher sensitivity but equal specificity of VILI compared with VIA. Nevertheless, some caution is warranted in the interpretation of observed accuracy measures, since a certain degree of gold standard misclassification cannot be excluded. Because of the correlation between visual screening tests and colposcopy and a certain degree of over-diagnosis of apparent CIN2+ by study pathologists, it is possible that both sensitivity and specificity of VIA and VILI were overestimated. Gold standard verification error could also explain the surprisingly low sensitivity of HC2, which contrasts with findings from other studies.

Accuracy of visual screening for cervical neoplasia: Results from an IARC multicentre study in India and Africa.

Visual inspection-based screening tests, such as visual inspection with 4% acetic acid (VIA) and with Lugol's iodine (VILI), have been proposed as alternatives to cytology in mass screening programs. To date, there is only limited information on the accuracy of these tests in detecting High-grade Squamous Intraepithelial Lesions (HSIL). Eleven cross-sectional studies involving 56,939 women aged 25-65 years were conducted in Burkina Faso, Congo, Guinea, India, Mali and Niger to evaluate the accuracy of VIA and VILI performed by health workers. A common protocol and questionnaire was used. For final diagnosis, all women were investigated with colposcopy and biopsies were taken when necessary. Data from the studies were pooled to calculate sensitivity, specificity and predictive values of the tests for the detection of HSIL. Of the screened women, 16.1% and 16.4% were positive on examination using, respectively, VIA and VILI; 1,063 were diagnosed with HSIL. The pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values for VIA were 76.8% (95% CI: 74.2-79.4%), 85.5% (95% CI: 85.2-85.8%), 9.4% (95% CI:8.8-10.8%) and 99.5% (95% CI:99.4-99.6%), respectively. The values were 91.7% (95% CI: 89.7-93.4%), 85.4% (95% CI: 85.1-85.7%), 10.9% (95% CI: 10.2-11.6%) and 99.8% (95% CI:99.7-99.9%), respectively for VILI. The range of sensitivity and specificity for VIA was 56.1-93.9% and 74.2-93.8%, respectively, between studies and were 76.0-97.0 % and 73.0-91.3% for VILI. VILI had a significantly higher sensitivity than VIA in detecting HSIL, but specificity was similar. VILI appears to be a more accurate visual test for use in screening and treatment programs in low-resource settings.

Ectopic pregnancy in African developing countries.

OBJECTIVE: We have reviewed the scientific literature on ectopic pregnancy (EP) in African countries published over the past 20 years and available from several databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, POPLINE, and Cochrane Fertility Regulation Group), with the aim of painting a complete picture of the situation (incidence, risk factors, diagnosis, treatment, and complications). RESULTS: Although hospital-based African studies indicate EP incidence has probably increased in Africa in recent decades, major methodological limitations in the published literature make it impossible to draw formal conclusions concerning the incidence of EP in Africa in recent years. As in industrialized countries, pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) associated with sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) must be considered as the most important risk factor for EP in developing countries. In African developing countries, a majority of hospital-based studies have reported EP case fatality rates of around 1-3%, 10 times higher than that reported in industrialized countries. Late diagnosis, leading in almost all cases to major complications, and emergency surgical treatments are key elements accounting for such high fatality rates in women suffering from EP in Africa. CONCLUSION: EP should be considered a relevant public health indicator in developing countries, providing an overall picture of the capacity of a health system to deal with the diagnosis and treatment of emergency situations, especially in the field of obstetrics and gynecology.

Ectopic pregnancy in Conakry, Guinea.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the incidence of ectopic pregnancy (EP) in hospitals in Conakry, the capital of Guinea, West Africa. Data on EP incidence in developing countries are rare and often out of date, particularly in Africa. METHODS: A retrospective study was carried out, examining all cases of EP registered in the medical files of two referral maternity units at the Donka and Ignace Deen university hospitals between 1995 and 1999. FINDINGS: The EP incidence at the two maternity units increased from 0.41% to 1.5% of annual deliveries over this period. Haemoperitoneum was observed in most women, with tubal rupture in 93%; only 6 women received conservative treatment. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that the hospital-based incidence of EP per delivery has increased over the last decade in this West African capital, and that health professionals and public health officials in developing countries, especially those in Africa, should consider EP as a major obstetric problem for maternal morbidity.