Epidemiology of Chest Pain at the University Hospital Center-Référence Nationale (CHU-RN) of N'Djamena

Abstract

Introduction: Chest pain is a frequent reason for consultation in Internal Medicine and especially in cardiology. Few data are available on this condition in Chad. The aim of this work was to describe its epidemiological characteristics. Patients and methods: This was a descriptive and analytical cross-sectional study covering a consecutive series. Included were patients aged at least 18 years, seen in a cardiology consultation for non-traumatic chest pain and having performed an ECG and cardiac ultrasound. Results: A total of 146 patients were included in the study. The mean age was 46.1± 16.3 years. The sex ratio was 0.8 in favor of women. Arterial hypertension was the main cardiovascular risk factor found (41.9%). The pain was epigastric in 41.9% of cases and retrosternal in 23.7% of cases. Dyspnea was the most common associated sign (29.9%). Etiologies were dominated by cardiac (56.4%) and digestive (46.2%) causes. The main cardiovascular etiology was coronary insufficiency (42.4%). Regarding digestive causes, they were dominated by gastropathies and gastroduodenal ulcer disease (40.2%). In 17.1% of cases the chest pain was of pulmonary origin. Conclusion: Chest pain is a frequent reason for consultation. The etiologies are diverse. Apart from the cardiovascular causes likely to compromise the vital prognosis, we must not lose sight of the digestive and pulmonary causes.