[Intermittent claudication: sign of epidemiological transition in Gabon]

Africa is in the midst of an epidemiological transition characterized by an increase in degenerative illnesses, in particular cardiovascular disease, and a decrease in infectious illnesses. In this context it is of critical importance to develop simple and effective low-cost tools to identify subjects at high risk for cardiovascular events. Screening for subclavian artery stenosis (SAS) could provide a useful risk indicator. The prevalence of SAS in the general population over the age of 40 years in Gabon is 5.1 %, which is close to prevalence values observed in industrialized countries. Presence of SAS has been associated with hypertension (OR: 5.79, 95% CI: 2.21-15.2; p < 0.05) and male gender (OR 2.34, 95% CI: 1.13-4.83; p < 0.05). These data confirm the epidemiological shift towards cardiovascular diseases and suggest that screening for SAS could be useful to identify subjects at high risk for cardiovascular events who could benefit from preventive strategies.