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CARDIOVASCULAR JOURNAL OF AFRICA • Volume 26, No 2, March/April 2015
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AFRICA
cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) was placed. The short-term
follow up of three months did not show any clinical event. The
patient was scheduled for ICD interrogation every six months
and records will be released.
Discussion
Cardiac arrest is characterised by an abrupt loss of effective blow
flow, sufficient to cause immediate loss of consciousness, leading
immediately to death if untreated.
6
This case raises several points
Fig. 1.
Electrocardiogram of the patient a few hours after successful cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The repolarisation pattern
displays negative T waves in the lateral leads.
Table 1. Leading causes of SCA described in sub-Saharan Africa
Main disease Authors
Title
Country
Type of
publication Journal and year
Size
(patients)
1 BrS
Bonny A,
et al
.
Brugada syndrome in pure black Africans
Ivory Coast,
Benin, DR
Congo
Article
J Cardiovasc Electro-
physiol
2008
6
Ouali S,
et al
.
Clinical and electrophysiological profile of
Brugada syndrome in the Tunisian population
Tunisia
Article
Pacing Clin Electro-
physiol
2011
24
2 HCM Hiam I,
et al
Mort subite du sportif au Sénégal: etude
rétrospective sur 8 ans
Senegal
Meeting
abstract
PASCAR conference,
Dakar 15–20 May, 2013
5
3 IHD
Rotimi O,
et al
.
Sudden unexpected death from cardiac causes
in Nigerians: a review of 50 autopsied cases
Nigeria
Article
Int J Cardiol
198l
50
4 Paediatric
sample
Arthur JT,
et al
.
Sudden deaths: cardiac and non-cardiac in
children in Accra
Ghana
Article
West Afr J
1995
16
5
Schneider
J,
et al.
Causes of sudden death in Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia
Ethiopia Article
Ethiop Med J
2001
63
7 Unknown
Houenassi
M,
et al.
Aspect epidémiologiques de la mort subite
dans la ville de Parakou
Benin
Meeting
abstract
PASCAR conference,
Dakar 15–20 May, 2013
23
8 Multiple causes
(IHD, DCM,
LQTS, RHD)
Talle MA,
et al
.
SCD in sub-Saharan Africa: a 12-month
review in University of Maiduguri Teaching
Hospital, Nigeria
Nigeria
Meeting
abstract
PASCAR conference,
Dakar 15–20 May, 2013
17
9 Multiple causes
(DCM, IHD,
RHD)
Thiam I,
et al
.
La mort subite cardio-vasculaire au sénégal-
Etude rétrospective sur 7 ans
Senegal
Meeting
abstract
PASCAR conference,
Dakar 15–20 May, 2013
235
10 LQTS
Leye M,
et al
.
QT long congenital syncopal évocateur de
Syndrome de Jervell Lange Nielsen
Senegal
Abstract
PASCAR conference,
Dakar 15–20 May, 2013
1
11 NCCM Kamotho
C,
et al
.
A rare presentation of non-compaction
cardiomyopathy in Kenya
Kenya
Abstract
PASCAR conference,
Dakar 15–20 May, 2013
1
BRS, Brugada syndrome; HCM, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy; IHD, ischaemic heart disease; DCM, dilated cardiomyopathy; LQTS, long QT
syndrome; RHD, rheumatic heart disease; NCCM, non-compaction cardiomyopathy.