CT Tagny, S Moudourou, A Ndoumba and D Mbanya
Background and Objective: In sub-Saharan Africa, hemophilia remains a huge problem mainly because of ignorance of the disease, limited screening capabilities and access to treatment. This review aims to discuss the characteristics of Cameroonian patients living with hemophilia.
Methods: A retrospective study was done on the data of four main reported studies between 1972 and 2010 in Cameroon. Epidemiological, clinical and biological features of PLWH in Cameroon were analyzed.
Results: The mean age of the patients was between 14 and 16.2 years. All hemophiliacs reported by the studies were male. For most patients, the frequency of bleeding episodes ranged from 2-15 bleeds per year. Chronic joint complications were found in almost all patients in the 2010 study. Hemophilia A was more common than B, representing 88.4% and 87.5% in the 2008 and 2010 studies respectively. All the 37 patients reported in the 2010 study were tested negative for HIV in spite of multiple transfusion histories.
Conclusion: Some features of hemophilia in Cameroon are different from those of other African countries. However, as in many countries, the biggest long term challenge is the constant availability of clotting factors concentrates for patients.
PDFShare this article
Journal of Blood & Lymph received 443 citations as per Google Scholar report
