Epidemiology of ischaemic heart disease in sub-Saharan Africa

Background

The epidemiology of ischaemic heart disease (IHD) in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) remains largely enigmatic. Major obstacles to our understanding of the condition include lack of reliable health statistics, particularly cause-specific mortality data, inadequate diagnostic capabilities, shortage of physicians and cardiologists, and misguided opinions.

Methods

This review of the epidemiology of ischaemic heart disease in sub-Saharan Africa involved a systematic bibliographic MEDLINE search of published data on IHD in SSA over the past century. Search words included epidemiology, ischaemic (coronary) heart disease, myocardial infarction, cardiovascular risk factors and sub-Saharan Africa. Selected data are presented on the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors and mortality from ischaemic heart disease from different countries representing the main regions of the continent.

Results

Although IHD in SSA remains relatively uncommon, its prevalence is predicted to rise in the next two decades due to the rising prevalence of risk factors, especially hypertension, diabetes, overweight and obesity, physical inactivity, increased tobacco use and dyslipidaemia. It is estimated that age-standardised mortality rates for IHD will rise by 27% in African men and 25% in women by 2015, and by 70 and 74%, respectively by 2030.

Conclusion

Ischaemic heart disease remains relatively uncommon in SSA, despite an increasing prevalence of risk factors, but its incidence is rising. The pace and direction of economic development, rates of urbanisation, and changes in life expectancy resulting from the impact of pre-transitional diseases and violence will be major determinants of the IHD epidemic in SSA. The best window of opportunity for prevention of the emerging epidemic of ischaemic heart disease in sub-Saharan Africa is now.     

先天性心脏病介入治疗1016例临床疗效分析

目的探讨先天性心脏病介入治疗的临床疗效。方法回顾性分析1016例行先天性心脏病介入治疗的先天性心脏病患者的临床资料,着重分析手术方法和结果。其中动脉导管未闭（PDA）364例,房间隔缺损（ASD）199例,室间隔缺损（VSD）270例,肺动脉瓣狭窄（PS）107例,房间隔缺损合并动脉导管未闭22例,室间隔缺损合并动脉导管未闭11例,肺动脉瓣狭窄合并动脉导管未闭8例,房间隔缺损合并肺动脉瓣狭窄27例,房间隔缺损合并室间隔缺损3例,法洛四联症合并侧支5例。结果技术成功率98．6％（1002／1016）,全组无死亡。随访1～6个月,封堵器位置固定,无移位或破损。结论先天性心脏病介入治疗具有成功率高、创伤小、并发症低,操作简单,疗效确切,恢复快等特点,是治疗先天性心脏病的理想手段之一。     

小儿先天性心脏病介入治疗302例回顾分析

目的总结先天性心脏病患者介入治疗疗效、并发症情况及预防措施。方法回顾性分析302例行介入治疗的先天性心脏病患儿的临床资料,着重分析治疗疗效及总结并发症的处理经验。本组共302例患儿,男125例,女177例,年龄3个月～14岁,中位年龄4.4岁,体质量(12.8±6.7)kg。其中动脉导管未闭(patent ductus arteriosus,PDA)组183例、房间隔缺损(atrial septal defect,ASD)组69例、室间隔缺损(ventricular septal defect,VSD)组50例,分别行PDA、ASD、VSD堵闭术,术后半年内每个月随访心电图及超声心动图检查1次,半年后每6～12个月复查心电图及超声心动图检查1次。结果 PDA组、ASD组、VSD组的成功封堵率分别为99.4%(182/183),100%(69/69),98%(49/50)。各组术后并发症发生率(术后72h内)分别为2.2%(4/183),4.3%(3/69),10%(5/50)。PDA组183例患儿3例存在残余分流,1例出现溶血;ASD组69例患儿2例存在少量残余分流,1例出现暂时性Ⅱ度房室传导阻滞;VSD组50例患儿1例存在残余分流,1例出现Ⅲ度房室传导阻滞,3例出现完全性右束支传导阻滞。在6个月～3年的随访中,PDA组仅1例有微量残余分流,2例心脏扩大;ASD组无残余分流,Ⅱ度房室传导阻滞转为Ⅰ度房室传导阻滞;VSD组1例有少量残余分流,1例持续存在完全性左束支传导阻滞。结论 PDA及ASD封堵技术成熟,手术效果好,并发症发生率低。VSD封堵术后早期心律失常(术后5d左右)发生率较高,术后持续监测患者心电图的变化非常重要。     

儿童先天性心脏病介入治疗436例临床分析

目的总结儿童先天性心脏病介入治疗的临床经验,分析其疗效。方法2007年1月至2013年6月新疆维吾尔自治区人民医院北院共施行0～14岁儿童先天性心脏病介入封堵治疗436例,其中继发孔型房间隔缺损213例,室间隔缺损83例,动脉导管未闭139例,房间隔缺损合并动脉导管1例。房间隔缺损、室间隔缺损及动脉导管未闭封堵术均采用Amplatzer法。结果全组患儿无手术死亡病例,封堵成功423例（97．4％）,房间隔缺损组、室间隔缺损组和动脉导管未闭组的成功封堵率分别为97．7％（208／213）,94．0％（79／83）,98．6％（137／139）。室间隔缺损封堵术后早期心律失常发生率较高（15．2％）。全组门诊心脏超声心动图、心电图、胸部X线片随访3-36个月,无残余分流、死亡及严重心脏事件。结论经导管介入治疗先天性心脏病创伤小、安全、可靠、成功率高,部分患者可替代外科手术。     

先天性心脏病介入封堵未成功原因分析

目的：分析先天性心脏病（先心病）介入封堵治疗未成功原因及防治措施。方法：对206例3种常见先心病施行了介入封堵治疗．其中动脉导管未闭（PDA）封堵64例（PDA组）;房间隔缺损（ASD）封堵76例（ASD组）;室间隔缺损（VSD）封堵66例（VSD组）。对介入治疗未成功的7例作了回顾分析。结果：未成功率为3．40％（7／206）。其中PDA组为3．13％（2／64）,ASD组为2．63％（2／76）,VSD组为4．55％（3／66）。未成功原因是：对导管大小判断有误,放置封堵伞有误,输送鞘管引起迷走神经反射。结论：先心病介入封堵术是一种微创、有效的治疗措施,但影响手术成功的因素不容忽视。     

The progressive nature of subaortic stenosis in congenital heart disease

Data derived from serial hemodynamic and angiocardiographic investigations on pediatric patients not subjected to intervening intracardiac operations support the view that subaortic stenosis in congenital heart disease tends to be a progressive disorder. Our data are obtained from two groups of patients. The first comprised 22 patients with discrete subaortic stenosis in relative isolation. The second was made up of 19 patients with the fibrous or fibromuscular forms of discrete subaortic stenosis associated with a perimembranous ventricular septal defect. The results from both groups support our initial contention. The progressive character of subaortic stenosis in these two situations illustrates the dynamic nature of congenital heart disease, and the tendency of a changing form and function.     

基因突变在先天性房间隔缺损和室间隔缺损发育形成中的作用研究

对于先天性房间隔缺损、室间隔缺损通过外科和介入手术治疗可大大提高患者生存率,但对其发育畸形的根本原因仍属于探索阶段。目前现有的研究表明,先天性心脏病是由于控制人体心脏发育的基因在时间(发育阶段)和空间(组织特异性)上的表达调控失误而引起的。现即从现有的基因水平研究对基因突变在先天性房间隔缺损和室间隔缺损发育形成中的作用研究作一综述,为从基因方面早期筛检、诊断、治疗先天性房间隔缺损、室间隔缺损提供参考。     

应用超声心动图大规模筛查儿童先天性心脏病

第6届中13德三国联合国际心血管病学术研讨会——心血管病,心脏内外、科进展,于2010年6月26～27日在天津泰达国际心血管病医院召开。这次会议由中、日、德三国心血管内外科、麻醉科、体外循环、心血管诊断影像学数十位专家做了有关专业领域内最新进展的专题报告,涵盖冠心病、心脏瓣膜疾病、先天性心脏病、心脏移植及辅助装置、心律失常、心衰治疗,以及心血管外科手术、麻醉及体外循环等多个领域。这次刊出会议论文摘要选编精华,以帮助心血管专业同道了解相关领域的重要进展。会议发言全部采用英文。为使读者更清晰地了解发言内容,我们对部分讲座由主讲人提供了中文摘要,现同时发表,以飨读者。     

Why is control of hypertension in sub-Saharan Africa poor?

In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) in 2010, hypertension (defined as systolic blood pressure ≥ 115 mmHg) was the leading cause of death, increasing 67% since 1990. It was also the sixth leading cause of disability, contributing more than 11 million adjusted life years. In SSA, stroke was the main outcome of uncontrolled hypertension. Poverty is the major underlying factor for hypertension and cardiovascular disease. This article analyses the causes of poor compliance in the treatment of hypertension in SSA and provides suggestions on the treatment of hypertension in a poverty-stricken continent.     

A systematic overview of prospective cohort studies of cardiovascular disease in sub-Saharan Africa

Background

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are becoming increasingly significant in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Reliable measures of the contribution of major determinants are essential for informing health services and policy solutions.

Objective

To perform a systematic review of all longitudinal studies of CVDs and related risk factors that have been conducted in SSA.

Data source

We searched electronic databases from 1966 to October 2009. Published studies were retrieved from PubMed and Africa EBSCO. Reference lists of identified articles were scanned for additional publications.

Study selection

Any longitudinal study with data collection at baseline on major cardiovascular risk factors or CVD, including 30 or more participants, and with at least six months of follow up were included.

Data extraction

Data were extracted on the country of study, year of inception, baseline evaluation, primary focus of the study, outcomes, and number of participants at baseline and final evaluation.

Results

Eighty-one publications relating to 41 studies from 11 SSA countries with a wide range of participants were included. Twenty-two were historical/prospective hospital-based studies. These studies focused on risk factors, particularly diabetes mellitus and hypertension, or CVD including stroke, heart failure and rheumatic heart disease. The rate of participants followed through the whole duration of studies was 72% (64–80%), with a significant heterogeneity between studies (for heterogeneity, p < 0.001). Outcomes monitored during follow up included trajectories of risk markers and mortality.

Conclusions

Well-designed prospective cohort studies are needed to inform and update our knowledge regarding the epidemiology CVDs and their interactions with known risk factors in the context of common infectious diseases in this region.     

一侧肺动脉缺如合并先天性心脏病的介入治疗分析

目的:总结经导管介入治疗一侧肺动脉缺如合并先天性心脏病的疗效。方法:我科自2005年1月至2009年4月诊断5例一侧肺动脉缺如合并先天性心脏畸形,其中合并动脉导管未闭4例,合并房间隔缺损1例;左肺动脉缺如1例,右肺动脉缺如4例;本组男性1例,女性4例,年龄1.5～11岁,3例肺部反复感染、1例咯血及1例发绀。均通过临床体检、X线胸片、心电图、经胸超声心动图检查及多排CT或造影确诊。结果:4例合并动脉导管通过介入治疗成功封堵。术后平均3d出院,未出现并发症,随诊3个月～4年心脏均恢复正常大小。1例肺动脉高压为极重度,合并房间隔缺损,出现发绀,不能除外原发肺动脉高压因素,放弃介入治疗,予口服扩血管药物治疗,出院随诊。结论:一侧肺动脉缺如合并先天性心脏病临床常表现为中、重度肺动脉高压多伴一侧肺发育不良,手术风险大。应用介入治疗显示出创伤小、并发症少,恢复快等优势,挽救了一些外科也难以处理的高风险重症患儿。     

An unusual image: Pacman heart

Partial ventricular septal defect (VSD) (Pacman heart) is extremely rare heart defect which may be a complication of myocardial infarction or congenital deformity. In this image, a 65‐year‐old male patient admitted with headache and blood pressure dysregulation. Incidentally, transthoracic two‐dimensional echocardiography revealed partial VSD which was ensuingly confirmed in thoracic computed tomography. This is the fourth case in light of current literature. Partial VSDs are clinically silent, which can be diagnosed with echocardiography, computed tomography, or cardiac magnetic resonance imaging modalities.     

Prevalence and determinants of electrocardiographic abnormalities in sub-Saharan African individuals with type 2 diabetes

Aim

This study assessed the prevalence and determinants of electrocardiographic abnormalities in a group of type 2 diabetes patients recruited from two referral centres in Cameroon.

Methods

A total of 420 patients (49% men) receiving chronic diabetes care at the Douala General and Yaoundé Central hospitals were included. Electrocardiographic abnormalities were investigated, identified and related to potential determinants, with logistic regressions.

Results

The mean age and median duration of diagnosis were 56.7 years and four years, respectively. The main electrocardiographic aberrations (prevalence %) were: T-wave abnormalities (20.9%), Cornell product left ventricular hypertrophy (16.4%), arrhythmia (16.2%), ischaemic heart disease (13.6%), conduction defects (11.9%), QTc prolongation (10.2%) and ectopic beats (4.8%). Blood pressure variables were consistently associated with all electrocardiographic abnormalities. Diabetes-specific factors were associated with some abnormalities only.

Conclusions

Electrocardiographic aberrations in this population were dominated by repolarisation, conduction defects and left ventricular hypertrophy, and were more related to blood pressure than diabetes-specific factors.     

Understanding culture and HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa

Early in the study of HIV/AIDS, culture was invoked to explain differences in the disease patterns between sub-Saharan Africa and Western countries. Unfortunately, in an attempt to explain the statistics, many of the presumed risk factors were impugned in the absence of evidence. Many cultural practices were stripped of their meanings, societal context and historical positioning and transformed into cofactors of disease. Other supposedly beneficial cultural traits were used to explain the absence of disease in certain populations, implicitly blaming victims in other groups. Despite years of study, assumptions about culture as a cofactor in the spread of HIV/AIDS have persisted, despite a lack of empirical evidence. In recent years, more and more ideas about cultural causality have been called into question, and often disproved by studies. Thus, in light of new evidence, a review of purported cultural causes of disease, enhanced by an understanding of the differences between individual and population risks, is both warranted and long overdue. The preponderance of evidence suggests that culture as a singular determinant in the African epidemic of HIV/AIDS falls flat when disabused of its biased and ethnocentric assumptions.     

先天性心脏病膜周部室间隔缺损自愈性闭合情况观察

目的:观察先天性心脏病膜周部室间隔缺损(P-VSD)的自愈性闭合(SC)情况,探讨P-VSD的治疗时机。方法:选取经超声心动图确诊为单纯P-VSD的患儿112例(平均年龄4.7 d),根据有无膜部瘤形成分为膜部瘤形成组(n=59)和无膜部瘤组(n=53)。所有患儿在入选、出生1个月、出生6个月时行超声心动图检查,之后每半年检查1次,随访至6周岁,观察6年内P-VSD的SC率和SC时间。结果:P-VSD患儿6年内发生SC者共64例,其中≤3岁者52例,占≤3岁患儿的46.43%,>3岁者12例,占>3岁患儿的25.00%,3岁以前发生SC的情况较多。所有发生SC的患儿缺损大小平均为(3.9±1.5)mm,SC率为57.14%,SC时间为(2.3±1.5)岁,其中膜部瘤形成组49例,缺损大小平均为(4.0±1.5)mm,SC率83.05%,SC时间为(2.4±1.5)岁;无膜部瘤组15例,缺损大小为(3.5±1.2)mm,SC率28.30%,SC时间为(2.0±1.4)岁。膜部瘤形成组SC率显著高于无膜部瘤组(P<0.05)。26例P-VSD患儿在随访期间接受了手术闭合治疗,其中膜部瘤形成组7例,无膜部瘤组19例,接受手术治疗的患儿缺损明显大于发生SC的患儿[(6.2±1.0)mm对(3.9±1.5)mm,P<0.05]。结论:缺损较小的P-VSD患儿出生后6年内的SC率>50%,有膜部瘤形成的P-VSD患儿较易发生SC;缺损较大的P-VSD患儿SC率较低,建议手术治疗。     

经导管同期介入治疗复合型先天性心脏病--附2例报道

目的:探讨经导管介入治疗在复合型先天性心脏病中的应用。方法:2例患者,术前超声检查分别提示ASD合并VSD和鲁登巴赫综合征(Lutembacher’s syndrome)。ASD均为继发孔型,其延伸直径分别为18 mm与20 mm, VSD为膜周部室缺(PMVSD),直径3．5mm,术前二尖瓣狭窄瓣口面积1．0cm2。分别先行VSD封堵后再行ASD封堵及先行二尖瓣狭窄球囊成形术(PBMV),再行ASD封堵术。结果:2例患者均经导管一次封堵治疗成功。病例一术后出现短时间的室性自主心律、房颤及束支阻滞,经地塞米松治疗后5 d恢复正常。未见有其它严重并发症。结论: 对于复合型先天性心脏病经导管介入治疗技术同样可获得良好的疗效。     

Tei指数及脑钠肽评估先天性心脏病婴儿术前左心功能的研究

目的探讨检测血清脑钠肽浓度结合左心室Tei指数评估先天性心脏病婴儿术前左心功能的临床应用价值。方法选择先天性心脏病患儿60例为试验组,同期小儿外科住院患儿20例为对照组,将心功能分为四级,用多普勒超声心动图测量左心室Tei指数及左心室射血分数,采用酶联免疫吸附法(ELISA)检测血清BNP浓度。结果患儿血清BNP浓度、左心室Tei指数在心功能0级、Ⅰ级、Ⅱ级、Ⅲ级组呈逐渐增高趋势,左心室射血分数呈逐渐减低趋势,且方差分析显示各组间均数比较,差异有统计学意义(P0.01)。直线相关分析显示,血清BNP浓度与左心室Tei指数、心功能分级具有良好的正相关关系(r1=0.73,P0.01;r2=0.62,P0.01),与左心室射血分数具有负相关关系(r3=-0.48,P0.01);左心室Tei指数与心功能分级呈正相关关系(r4=0.57,P0.01),与左心室射血分数呈负相关关系(r5=-0.52,P0.01);左心室射血分数与心功能分级呈负相关关系(r=-0.56,P0.01)。结论 Tei指数及血清BNP浓度能够迅速、准确评估术前先天性心脏病婴儿心功能,具有临床推广应用价值。     

1O公斤以内婴幼儿复杂先天性心脏病的体外循环管理

目的总结106例10kg以内婴幼儿复杂先天性心脏病的体外循环（extracorporeal circulation,ECC）管理体会。方法回顾性分析2009年1月至2010年12月在广州军区医院住院的106例10kg以内婴幼儿复杂先天性心脏病的临床资料和ECC资料。分析全组患儿ECC预充液的组成,不同温度时对灌注流量的要求;重视血液和各脏器的保护,行常规超滤和改良超滤以维持液体出入量的平衡。结果体外循环时间45～354min,主动脉阻断时间18～228min,转流中尿量10～300mL。术后死亡4例,与ECC无直接关系。结论合理的预充,充分的引流与有效的灌注流量,联合应用常规超滤、平衡超滤和改良超滤,重视血液和各脏器的保护是管理低体质量婴幼儿复杂先天性心脏病ECC的有效方法。