Gastrointestinal Pathologies in a Center with Limited Resources: Pilot Study at the Bafoussam Regional Hospital, Cameroon.

Abstract

Rationale: The pathology of the digestive tract is frequent in Cameroon. Despite this situation, studies of gastrointestinal pathology are rare. The pathological anatomy service is almost non-existent in the Cameroonian suburbs. Bafoussam in the west of the country is a semi-urban area and one of the rare ones to have a pathological anatomy department. This is why we decided to present the epidemiological data of the pathologies of the digestive tract of this locality. Methods: We carried out a prospective study over three months (October 2019 - January 2020), in the pathological anatomy department of the Bafoussam Regional Hospital in Cameroon with the aim of presenting the structural pathologies of the digestive tract listed in this institution. . Results: the pathology of the digestive tract has an incidence of approximately 400 in this locality, and represents 45.24% of all the pathologies identified in the pathological anatomy department of the Bafoussam Regional Hospital The age of our patients varies between 17 and 98 years old, with an average of 52.8. Women are slightly more represented (sex ratio M: F of 1: 1.3). Samples from the digestive tract represent 45% of all histological samples recorded in this department. The most common location, in decreasing order, is the stomach (84%), followed by the esophagus (5%), the colon and the rectum (4% each). On the other hand, other sites including the duodenum are rather rare. Of 100 samples of the digestive tract examined, 98 were pathological with a preponderance of inflammatory lesions (80.61%) against 19.39% of neoplastic nature. The inflammatory pathology was distributed uniformly in all age groups while the malignant pathologies were not observed until after 50 years. Malignant pathologies were more common in men (sex ratio M: F of 3: 1). Gastritis was the most common diagnosis (76.53%) and 94.66% of these gastritis were associated with Helicobacter pylori. Conclusion: The pathology of the digestive tract is important in our community and dominated by the inflammatory type. The most common site is the stomach, most of the lesions of which are linked to Helicobacter pylori. It would be desirable to actively seek out and eradicate Helicobacter pylori infection to decrease the incidence of digestive pathology. Further studies are recommended to establish the true epidemiological trend of gastrointestinal pathology in our community.