Consultation, Diagnosis and Treatment Delays for Breast Cancer among Patients Followed up at the YaoundéGeneral Hospital, Cameroon

Introduction: Breast cancer is often diagnosed at an advanced stage in Cameroon. The objective was to analyse consultation, diagnosis and treatment delays for breast cancer among patients followed up at the Yaoundé General Hospital (YGH) in Cameroon. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study carried out from the files of patients followed up for breast cancer at the YGH from January 1, 2014 to April 30, 2018. A total of 183 patients were included. We measured time elapsed between the awareness of first signs of disease and the initial consultation (consultation delays), time lapse between the initial consultation and pathological diagnosis of breast cancer (diagnosis delays), interval between pathological diagnosis and treatment onset (treatment delays), time elapsed between the initial consultation and management (health system delays) and time elapsed from awareness of first signs of disease to treatment onset (overall delays). Results: The delays (median, IIQ) were: (5.1 months;IIQ: 1.7 - 12.4), (25 days;IIQ: 10 - 67), (27 days;IIQ: 13 - 63), (2.2 months;IIQ: 1.2 - 5.8) and (9.9 months;IIQ: 4.4 - 17.6) respectively for consultation, diagnosis, treatment, health system and overall delays. The risks associated with a delay in initial consultation of greater than 3 months were (OR;95% CI): unschooled patients (2.01;1.66 - 2.40);monthly income below the minimum wage (2.70;1.81 - 5.96);unemployment (2.14;1.02 - 3.24) and absence of a family history of cancer (2.44;1.66 - 6.10). The main reasons for a late first consultation were: ignorance (60.2%), financial challenges (17.6%) and a preference for alternative treatment (11.1%). Conclusion: The consultation, diagnosis and treatment delays for breast cancer are very often long in our setting than those reported in developed countries. Both patients’ and institutional factors are demonstrated. There is a need to increase public awareness on the value of early diagnosis of breast cancer. Also, health system should be improved to enable early diagnosis and treatment of this affection.

Management of the Torsion of Spermatic Cord in the Urology-Andrology Department of the Ignace Deen National Hospital in Conakry

Introduction: Torsion of the spermatic cord is an emergency whose delay in treatment conditions the functional prognosis of the testicle. The aim of this study was to analyze the management of spermatic cord torsion in the Urology Andrology Department of the Ignace Deen National Hospital in Conakry. Material and methods: This was a ten-year retrospective descriptive study from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2021. It involved all patients admitted for torsion of the spermatic cord, confirmed at surgical exploration. Results: We identified 21 cases of torsion of the spermatic cord. The mean age of the patients was 17.9 ± 4.4 years. The average consultation time was 19.2 ± 21.4 hours with extremes of [2 h and 98 h]. Only 6 patients (28.6%) consulted before the sixth hour. All patients presented with scrotal swelling. At scrototomy, all torsions were intravaginal with two turns of spiral in 13 cases and three turns in 8 cases. Orchiectomy followed by contralateral orchidopexy was performed in 6 cases. In the other cases, bilateral orchidopexy was performed after detorsion. The average hospital stay was 4.5 days. We recorded 4 cases of testicular atrophy after orchidopexy. Conclusion: Spermatic cord torsion is an infrequent emergency in our department. The delay in consultation remains the main predictive factor of testicular necrosis. Emergency exploratory scrotomy should be the rule.