Epidemiological and Clinical Aspects of Male Infertility in Patients Consulting at the Urology Department of the Yaounde Central Hospital

Introduction: About 10 to 15% of couples in the world and 20 to 30% in Cameroon consult for infertility problems. Infertility is of male origin in 40% of cases. Our objective was to evaluate the epidemiological and clinical aspects of male infertility in our setting. Methods: This was a cross-sectional and descriptive study, with retrospective data collection from the files of patients received for male infertility, over 5 years and 6 months (from January 1st, 2016 to April 30th, 2021) at the Urology Department of the Yaounde Central Hospital. Phone calls were made to patients with incomplete records for completion following a verbal consent. Data reported on data collection forms were entered into a data entry form designed on CSPro software version 7.2. The database was later exported for descriptive statistics using the IBM SPSS software version 23. Qualitative variables were summarized in frequencies and percentages while quantitative variables were summarized in means with their standard deviations for normally distributed data, or medians and interquartile ranges otherwise. Results: Out of 110 patients whose records were analyzed, the median age was 37.0 years, with an interquartile range of 8.3, with 55.5% in the age group 30 to 39 years. Of these 95 (86.4%) were married, 58 (52.7%) were from the West region, 76 (69.1%) were employed. Past history was dominated by mumps 40 (36.4%), varicocele surgery 25 (22.7%), alcoholism 87 (79.1%) and smoking 15 (13.6%). A disorder of spermatogenesis was found in all our patients: 37 (33.6%) azoospermia, 27 (24.6%) asthenospermia and 26 (23.7%) oligospermia patients. Paraclinical evidence of chlamydia and gonococcal infections were found respectively in 38 (34.5%) and 14 (12.7%) patients, varicocele and testicular dystrophy respectively in 95 (86.4%) and 38 (34.5%) patients. Infertility was primary in 67 (60.9%) patients. Conclusion: Most patients with infertility were in their thirties, had risky social habits and comorbidities. An early start of health promotion activities, comorbidities prevention and early detection of spermogram abnormalities would make it possible to reduce the frequency of male infertility.

Use of Chinese Herbal Medicine Therapies in Comprehensive Hospitals in Central China: A Parallel Survey in Cancer Patients and Clinicians

Summary： Chinese herbal medicine （CHM）, as the largest application category of traditional Chinese medicine （TCM）, is widely accepted among cancer patients in China. Herbal slice （HS） and Chinese patent drug （CPD） are commonly used CHM in China. This study aimed to investigate the utilization of CHM among clinicians and cancer patients in central China. Five hundred and twenty-five patients and 165 clinicians in 35 comprehensive hospitals in central China were asked to complete an anonymous questionnaire that was designed to evaluate the use of CHM. The results showed that 90.74% clinicians and 72.24% cancer patients used CHM during cancer treatment. The educational backgrounds of the clinicians and the age, education level, annual income, and cancer stage of the cancer patients were re- lated to use of CHM. More than 90% clinicians and cancer patients had used CPD. Comparatively, the percentage of HS use was 10% lower than that of CPD use among clinicians and cancer patients. More clinicians preferred to use CHM after surgery than cancer patients did （20.41% vs. 5.37%）. Enhancing physical fitness and improving performance status were regarded as the most potential effect of CHM on cancer treatment （85.71% among clinicians and 94.07% among cancer patients）, in comparison with directly killing tumor cells （24.49% among clinicians and 31.36% among patients）. As for refusal rea- sons, imprecise efficacy was the unanimous （100%） reason for clinicians＇ rejection of CHM, and 95.58% patients objected to using CHM also for this reason. Furthermore, the side effects of CHM were more concerned by clinicians than by patients （33.33% vs. 15.81%）. In conclusion, our survey revealed that CHM was popularly accepted by clinicians and cancer patients in central China. The reasons of use and rejection of CHM were different between clinicians and cancer patients.

Patterns of Mortality Occurrence in a Cardiology Unit of a Low-Income Country: A Critical Analysis at the YaoundéCentral Hospital

Background: In-hospital mortality is high in low-income countries. Currently, little is known in Cameroon concerning the characteristics of patients who die in cardiology units. Our objectives were to determine the in-hospital mortality rate;describe the general characteristics of death patients, and factors associated with mortality. Material and Methods: We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional study by reviewing the medical records of all patients admitted to the cardiology unit of the Yaoundé Central Hospital (CHY) between January 2018 andJanuary 2019. The files of all death patients were studied for socio-demographical, clinical and therapeutical variables. Bivariate analysis was conducted to order to check the association between independents variables and time of death. A p-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: A total number of 860 patients were admitted in the cardiology unit of CHY during the study period. Amongst the 860 patients admitted 78 had a fatal outcome, hence, an in-hospital mortality rate of 9.06%. The male gender was predominant amongst the deceased patients (n = 45). The mean age at death was 69 ± 15.19 years. The median time before death was 6 days and they ranged between 1 to 25 days. Hypertension was the most frequent comorbidity (65.4%). Stroke was the principal cause of admission (40.3%), whereas the main presenting complaint was dyspnea (26.9%). Before being admitted to the cardiology department, the majority of the deceased patients were from the emergency department. The major clinical sign of death was respiratory distress (39.74%). Shock on admission was the sole factor found to be associated with the mean time of death (p = 0.012). The patients with deep venous thrombosis compared to other diagnoses were less like to die early (r = 16, p = 0.016). Conclusion: The patient admitted in the cardiology unit of Yaoundé Central Hospital died mainly from stroke and the death is earlier when the patient has signs of shock on admission. These results emphasize the need for a good primary evaluation at the emergency room, to better manage patients with cardiovascular diseases in the cardiology ward.

Random Forest Analysis the Influencing Factors on Adverse Drug Reactions of Qingkailing Injection

Objective:To investigate the influencing factors of adverse drug reaction(ADR)in Qingkailing injection.Methods:Based on the hospitals centralized monitoring data of multicenter and prospective,the patients who used Qingkailing injection from January 2013 to March 2016 were monitored in 48 medical institutions in China.The nesting case-control study was used and the random forest was used for analysis.The main contents of the analysis are as follows:past history,past allergy history and ADR history,clinical diagnosis,dosage,interval drug,solvent type,combined drug use,etc.Results:A total of 30842 cases with Qingkailing injection were included,with 92 cases of adverse reactions and the incidence of adverse reactions was 3‰.According to the nested case-control study design,the influencing factors of 92 patients with ADR and 276 non-drug-related adverse reactions were displayed on the basis of statistical description(significance level P≤0.2 and clinical information)using Random forest analysis shows that the factors affecting the ADR of the Qingkailing injection according to the MeandecaseGini are from high to low in the first 15 positions:Vitamin supplements,tumors,gastrointestinal diseases,traditional Chinese medicine,previous allergic history,cerebral insufficiency,rash,urinary tract infection,vascular and lymphovascular diseases,pioglitazone,metabolic and endocrine system drugs,past ADR history,respiratory and mediastinal diseases,dioxpromazide,pneumonia.Conclusion:The incidence of adverse reactions in Qingkailing injection hospital is 3%.The factors closely related to the occurrence of ADR are previous tumors,gastrointestinal diseases,history of adverse reactions of rash,urinary tract infection,insufficient cerebral blood supply,respiratory system and other diseases,pioglitazone and other combined drugs.

Clinical Application Analysis of Andrographolide Total Ester Sulfonate Injection,a Traditional Chinese Medicine Licensed in China

Andrographolide total ester sulfonate（ATES） injection is one of the products of traditional Chinese medicine（TCM） currently used against viral infection in China.ATES injection was approved for manufacturing and marketing in January 2002.It is indicated for acute respiratory infections,tonsillitis,chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,influenza,foot and mouth disease,bronchiolitis,herpangina,mumps,infectious mononucleosis and psychosis.However,its usage also carries risk.We investigated the use of ATES at the Wuhan Union Hospital from January 2014 to December 2014 and evaluated its real-world clinical application using the hospital centralized monitoring method.A total of 848 cases were enrolled in this study.In these cases,it was mainly used for postoperative anti-inflammation and treating upper respiratory infection,pneumonia and bronchitis.Among them,39.86% were contraindicated.Irregular medication of adults and children accounted for 1.91% and 23.38%,respectively.Improper choice of solvent accounted for 3.18%.The choice of intravenous drip versus aerosol inhalation was reasonable.A case of adverse events（AEs） was observed in the monitoring period,and the incidence of adverse drug reaction（ADR） of ATES injection was 0.12%.ATES injection in our hospital is relatively safe with a low incidence of adverse reactions.The study assesses the clinical usage and adverse reactions of ATES injection,and provides suggestions for rational use in clinical practice.