[A prospective longitudinal study of coma in the intensive care unit in an African setting: case of Dakar, Senegal]

Little is known on coma in neurological intensive care unit (NICU) in the setting of developing country in Sub-Saharan Africa. The aim of this study was to determine the morbi-mortality and survival of coma in the NICU of Dakar, Senegal. We carried out a prospective longitudinal study in the NICU of the teaching hospital of Fann in Dakar during a period of 15 months (with 12 months of inclusion) on comatose patients. Were included all patients presenting with a Glasgow score inferior to 9. Standard biological analyses were prescribed for each patient while CT scan was performed if indicated. Daily evaluation was done and complications recorded. Each patient was followed for at least 3 months. Survival was determined by the Kaplan Meier method. 345 patients were admitted in the NICU and 169 were included (48,99 %). The mean age of the patients was 58.04 +/- 17.55 years with a sex ration of 0.92. The mean time from installation of disorders and initial consultation was 47.30 +/- 138.34 hours. Etiologies were vascular disease (71 %), status epilepticus (9.47 %), meningoencephalitis (8.88 %) and metabolic disorders (8.88 %). The mean duration of hospitalization was 8.89 +/- 9.53 days associated with a mortality rate of 82.25 % for the same period. Survival at day 90 was 10.65 %. Mortality was related to infectious condition (28.4 %), renal failure (14.78 %), cardiovascular failure (13.61 %), cerebral engagement (12.43 %), multivisceral failure (11.24 %), pulmonary embolism (1.18 %) and unknown cause (18.34 %). In conclusion, coma is associated with a high mortality rate in our context and suggests that early consultation, a good control of vascular risk factors and better management of infectious condition should reduce this impact.