Intracardiac Masses: Epidemiological, Clinical, Therapeutic and Evolutionary Aspects in a Cardiology Department in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

Introduction/Objective: Intracardiac masses include thrombi, cardiac tumours and valvular vegetations. The aim of this study was to describe the epidemiological, clinical, therapeutic and evolutionary aspects of intra-intracardiac masses in a cardiology department in sub-Saharan Africa.  Patient and Methods: This was a retrospective descriptive study conducted in the cardiology department from 1 January 2011 to 31 March 2013. All patients diagnosed and hospitalised with intracardiac masses were included in the study. Sociodemographic, clinical, paraclinical, therapeutic and prognostic variables were collected. Qualitative and quantitative variables were assessed in terms of frequency and mean plus or minus standard deviation. Comparison of means and percentages was performed using Pearson's Chi2 test with a significance level of p = 0.05. Results: The hospital incidence of intracardiac masses was 7.5%. Diabetes was found in six patients (7.6%) and arterial hypertension in 57 patients (71.3%). The main aetiologies were dilated cardiomyopathy in 28.8% (n=23) of cases, ischaemic heart disease in 10% (n=8), and peripartum cardiomyopathy in 3.8% (n=3). Treatment consisted of anticoagulants in 65% of cases, antibiotics in 58.8% of cases and instrumental treatments in 1.3% of cases. The mortality rate was 18.5%. The causes of death during hospitalisation were thrombo-embolic complications (30%), uncontrolled heart failure (81.3%), cardiogenic shock (25%) and septic shock (20%). Conclusion: Intracardiac masses are serious because of their high mortality rate. The most frequent were thromboses. They therefore require prolonged monitoring in order to preserve the patient's survival.