Characterizations of infant flours and profiles of populations using them in the center of Côte d'Ivoire.

Introduction: Infant malnutrition is a public health issue observed in children from the age of 6 months, period of food diversification. The objective of this study was to characterize the infant flours intended for children from 6 to 24 months on the Ivorian market and to identify the profiles of the populations using them in order to improve a new type of flour manufacturing. Materials and methods: Then, a cross-sectional investigation was conducted among 300 households with young children in the center of Cote d'Ivoire. This survey should point out the different types of complementary foods percentages used in households and the ones who use these foods which have an impact on child malnutrition; this in order to highlight the social and economic factors which influence the practices of use, preferences and choices of complementary foods of the populations that use them. Results and discussions: The results indicate that 76 % of the households surveyed use industrial infant flours, 22 % traditional flours and 2 % make a combination of both industrial and traditional flours. The overall populations find imported manufactured flours too expensive with a preference rate of 41.5 %, 26 % for traditional flours and 32.5 % for products made up of the two previous ones. As for the practice of using complementary foods by households: 18 % practice it early, 54 % at the recommended age (6 months) and 28 % use them late. Conclusions: a preference for traditional flours by households is observed because of their accessibility (affordable prices). Also, to better the nutritional and economic qualities of these traditional flours would be a good strategy to fight against child malnutrition in Africa.

Reperfusion arrhythmias in acute myocardial infarction.

In 27 patients with acute myocardial infarction (MI) and their infarct-related coronary artery being completely occluded who received thrombolytic therapy or percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty, reperfusion was confirmed by immediate coronary angiography in 24. Reperfusion arrhythmias (RA) occurred in 19 (79.2%) of the patients, including ventricular arrhythmias in 13 (54.2%). Ventricular fibrillation and sustained ventricular tachycardia developed in 2 (8.4%) and accelerated idioventricular rhythm in 5 (20.8%), the latter was a reliable indicator of coronary recanalization. Transient sinus bradycardia or AV block occurred in 10 (66.7%) of the 15 patients with inferoposterior MI. The occurrence of RA was not related to the duration of ischemia; ventricular RA was also not related to the location of MI and the occurrence and severity of ischemic arrhythmias before reperfusion.

[Clinical characteristics and coronary angiographic findings of spontaneous angina].

The clinical characteristics and coronary angiographic findings in 50 patients with spontaneous angina (SA) were studied. Coronary angiography did not disclose any severe fixed narrowing in 7 patients with SA only; the episodes of SA in these patients is the result of subtotal occlusion of a major coronary artery induced by spasm. 43 patients with both SA and effort angina (EA) had more severe coronary obstructive lesions. In these patients, the localization of electrocardiographic ischemia during episodes of SA and EA were always identical, indicating that the episodes of SA are related to the coronary narrowing lesions. Our study showed that incidence of SA was highest with 90% stenosis of the ischemia related artery, suggesting that besides coronary spasm, physiological coronary vasoconstriction or increase of coronary vasomotor tone could play an important role in the production of SA. In addition, turbulent flow, stasis, platelet aggregation and transient thrombosis might be individually responsible for episodes of SA in patients with severe coronary stenosis.