PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

P Senga

Publications and source records attributed to P Senga.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

[Early neonatal presentation to the pediatric emergency department, Brazzaville (Congo)].

OBJECTIVES: To identify and analyze factors influencing the readmission of newborns to the paediatric emergency unit of university hospital of Brazzaville after their stay in maternity. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A prospective survey was conducted in newborns discharged from maternity for household, excluding infants delivered by caesarean section. RESULTS: A total of 458 (6.3%) newborns were recruited among 7233 children admitted in the paediatric emergency unit. The visits took place between 8 am-1 pm (51.7%), 14 pm-19 pm (31.7%) and 20 pm-7 am (16.4%). Visit motives were cough, fever, digestive signs, and malformations. Main causes of hospitalization were severe sepsis (21.8%), bronchopulmonary infections (23.0%), isolated fever (12.6%), malformations (5.3%). Low bith weight newborns and newborns with shorter length of stay at maternity (less than 24 h) were most often hospitalized than infants with normal weight (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Increased length of hospitalization in maternity, systematic medical examination of newborn in maternity, better information of mothers on breastfeeding, and improved health care should contribute to decrease the rehospitalization rate during the first month of life.

Birth Weight↗
PubMed2006

[A nutrition survey among schoolchildren in Brazzaville, Congo].

OBJECTIVE: To identify nutritional characteristics among schoolchildren in Brazzaville, Congo. POPULATION AND METHODS: A 3-day feeding survey was undertaken in 3 primary education schools in the Brazzaville borough. The study was conducted among 1066 schoolchildren (534 boys, 532 girls) ranging from 6 to 14 years. The subjects were divided into 4 age groups: 6-7, 8-9, 10-11 and 12-14 years old. The evolution of the feeding was studied according to age, and the nutritional intakes were compared with recommended dietary allowances. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The energy intakes were low, the mean caloric intake was 1984.9+/-448 Kcal. They increased between 6 and 14 years, especially between 13 and 14 years, where mean increase was twice as important as between 6 and 7 years. Energy provided by the evening meal was equivalent to 67.5% of mean caloric intake per day. The quantities of aliments taken increased with age. In addition, there were excesses and insufficiencies common or specific to the Congolese children of 4 age groups. High natrium intakes were observed at age 12 years, insufficient intakes of phosphore and lipids at 10 years. CONCLUSION: On the basis of the observation of the schoolchildren's behavior at Brazzaville, poverty seems to influence the schoolchildren's nutritional status. But, one could propose dietary advices, in order to improve the problems described here.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

[Retrospective study of visceral surgical emergencies in children at the University Hospital Center of Brazzaville (Congo)].

The purpose of this study was to estimate the Incidence of visceral surgical emergencies In children and to determine the main causes and their prognoses. A retrospective study was carried out among children ranging from 1 month to 15 years who underwent emergency visceral surgery in the pediatric surgery unit of the University Hospital Center in Brazzaville, Congo. A total of 185 of the 206 children (14.1%) admitted for emergency visceral surgery were included In the study. The study population was predominantly male (67%). Most patients (71.3%) were over 5 years of age. The main indications for visceral surgery were acute appendicitis (30.3%), peritonitis (28.1%), strangulated hernia (22.2%), abdominal contusion (7.6%), intussusception (6.4%), other causes of intestinal obstruction (2.7%), and abdominal wounds (2.7%). Peritonitis was due to ruptured appendix in 76.9% of cases. Strangulated hernias were inguinal in 70.7% of cases and wnbilical in 29.3%. Intussusception was idiopathic in all cases and usually observed in infants under 6 months of age (58.3%). Postoperative recovery was uneventful in 79.5% of cases and complicated in 16.2%. EIght deaths (4.3%) were recorded. For the patient that died, the delay between initial symptoms and admission was longer than 3 days in 87.5% of cases and the interval for surgical treatment was longer than 6 hours in all cases. Early diagnosis and prompt surgical treatment are favorable prognostic factors for the outcome of emergency visceral surgery.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed2006

[Radiological specifities of pulmonary tuberculosis in Congolese children: effect of HIV infection].

The purpose of this retrospective study was to identify special features of radiological lesions associated with pulmonary tuberculosis in HIV-infected children. A retrospective review was carried out on the files of children between the ages of 18 months and 15 years admitted to the University Hospital Centre in Brazzaville, Congo for pulmonary tuberculosis between January 1995 and December 2004. A total of 486 patients were analyzed including 174 (35.8%) HIV-infected patients (group 1) and 312 (64.2%) non-HIV-infected patients (group 2). Radiological findings in the two groups were compared. Parenchymal lesions were observed in a total of 474 patients including 172 (99.0%) in group 1 and 302 (96.8%) in group 2 (p> 0.05). The incidence of bilateral lesions (overall, 260 patients, i.e., 54.9%) was higher (p< 0.01) in HIV-infected patients than in non-HIV-infected patients: 66.1% (n=115) versus 46.5% (n=145) respectively. Most unilateral lesions (overall, 214 patients) involved the right lung but the difference between the two groups was not significant. The distribution of parenchymal lesions in function of radiological aspect was similar (p> 0.05) in two groups. The prevalence of mediastinal adenopathy (46.1% overall, i.e. 244 patients) was higher in HIV-infected children than in non-HIV-infected children: 75.9% (n=132) versus 46.4% (n=92) respectively. Pleural involvement (overall, 67 patients) was always associated with parenchymal lesions, and was found with similar frequency in the two groups. Our findings indicate that the presence of diffuse parenchymal lesions in both lungs is a characteristic radiological finding of pulmonary tuberculosis in HIV-infected children. Another specific feature of HIV/tuberculosis co-infection was high frequency of miliary and mediastinal adenopathy.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

[Radiological profile in 92 children suffering from Pott's disease].

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to analyse the radiological profile in 92 patients with Pott's disease and to identify severity factors. Among these subjects, aged from 11 months to 15 years old (average: 7.5 years), 37% of children had neurological signs; the HIV test was positive in 11 % of cases. Localisations were mainly dorsal (61%) and thoracic (49%). They were often associated. Almost all patients had lesions on one vertebra (31.5%) or 2 vertebrae (38%). Most of lesions were spondylitis (61%), paravertebra abscess (35%) and compressing vertebra (34%). The severity of vertebra localisations was correlated with late diagnosis and presence of neurological complication, while a high sedimentation rate didn't appear to be a factor of severity. Therefore radiology remains essential in Pott's disease evaluation providing precious information for the diagnosis and prognosis of spine tuberculosis.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

[Sickle-cell crisis in the child and teenager in Brazzaville, Congo. A retrospective study of 587 cases].

Using files related to children admitted at the Brazzaville teaching hospital (Congo) between May 1995 and May 2002, the authors have studied the part of sickle cell crisis (SCC) in the sickle cell disease, have assessed the epidemiological particularities, the relation between some clinical, biological factors as well as the severity of the disease. On the whole, 587 SCC have been observed in homozygous SS children aged 6 to 17. The distribution was as follows: painful osteo-articular crisis (58.6%), abdominal crisis (23.5%), acute chest syndrome (14%), neurological strokes (3.2%) and priapism (0.7%). The neurological strokes (75%) and the hand-foot syndrome (77.8%) were predominant in male. As regards the interaction age-localization of the crisis, the hand-foot syndrome mainly concerned children under five, long bones and rachis impairment those aged 11 to 15; abdominal and neurological crisis were observed especially before the age of 10, the acute chest syndrome after 10 (68.3%). Malaria (48.9%) and bacterial or viral infections (24.5%) proved to be the triggering factors when these are identified (188 cases). SCC occurred in 67.5% of the cases during the hot and rainy seasons. Moreover the haemoglobin F rate above 10% was correlated with a low prevalence of SCC, in particular the potentially severe crisis, revealing at the same time its protective value. These results show that SCC, by their frequency and/or their severity constitute a major handicap when the vital prognosis is not involved. Rigorous health habits, appropriate vaccination programme, adequate malarial prophylaxis, optimal transfusional strategy and especially the use of hydroxyurea, prove to be urgent preventive measures to put into practice. Their efficient implementation will provide a better quality of life to the sickle cell patient and will decrease the risks of severe crisis.

Abdominal Pain↗
PubMed2005

[Effects of age on causes of hospitalization in children suffering from sickle cell disease].

The objective of this work was to assess the frequency the nature of complications and prognosis of the disease in children suffering from sickle cell disease. This retrospective study was conducted from January 2002 to December 2003 among 251 children suffering from sickle cell disease, hospitalized at the Brazzaville Teaching Hospital, Congo. The main hospitalization causes were dominated by the vaso-occlusive crisis (26.7%), anaemic crisis (20.3%) and infections (36.6%). The vaso-occlusive crisis were observed particularly in the 5 year-old children (p < 0.05); the hand-foot syndrome concerned in particular children under 5 years old. Anaemic crisis were found almost exclusively in patients under 5 (p < 0.05). The infections in children under 5 (35.8%) were almost as frequent as in older children (37.4%). Some non infectious complications were only observed in children above 5: cholithiasis, 4 cases; heart failure, 4 cases; hip osteonecrosis, 1 case. Global mortality was 4.8% and higher in children under five (p > 0.05). In addition, the death causes were dominated by anaemic crisis. In conclusion, this study stresses on the need to implement a primary prevention as well as a secondary prevention adapted to age.

Age Factors↗
PubMed2005

[Body composition in Negro African children suffering from sickle cell disease. A mixed cross-sectional longitudinal study in Brazzaville, Congo].

This study evaluates the changes of body composition in homozygous children suffering from sickle cell disease and appreciates the interaction between some factors of severity of the disease. A mixed cross-sectional longitudinal study with control cases cohort was conducted in Brazzaville (Congo) among 91 children with sickle cell disease (45 boys and 46 girls) and 95 healthy children (48 boys and 47 girls), aged of 8-17 years old. Each group was initially divided into three subgroups of age: 8, 11, 14. These children were subsequently followed for 3 years. Each year, at the same period, body mass, percentage of body fat, lean body mass and body mass index were evaluated in the two groups and then compared. The effects of frequency of painful episodes, the number of severe anaemia crisis and haemoglobin F on different variables were also appreciated. The children with sickle cell disease had stunting, lower values of body mass (p < 0.001), percentage of fat (p < 0.01), lean body mass (p < 0.01), and body mass index (p <0.001) between 8 and 17 years of age. In addition, we observed a non linear association between body mass index and fat percentage, but this interaction was stronger in girls. Finally the yearly frequency of painful episodes, the number of severe anaemia crisis and haemoglobin F had most of the time an influence on body composition. Children with sickle cell disease had a decreased body composition influenced by the complications associated with the disease . These limitations are modulated by haemoglobin F but the body composition is affected by painful episodes and severe anaemic crisis. Therefore more care and attention are recommended for the children suffering from sickle cell disease in order to control this severe disease.

Adipose Tissue↗
PubMed2004

[Enuresis in children with sickle cell disease].

POPULATIONS AND METHODS: In order to analyze epidemiological and clinical characteristics of enuresis in children with sickle cell disease, and identify risk and aetiological factors, 987 subjects (aged 5-20 years) took part in a cross-sectional study. These children were divided into two groups: group 1 consisted of 456 homozygous children with sickle cell disease (haemoglobin SS), while group 2 consisted of 531 normal children. These groups were paired according to age and sex. RESULTS: The prevalence of enuresis was 50.9% in group 1 and 16.4% in group 2, and was significantly higher (P < 0.05) in the girls. The frequency decreased significantly between the ages of 5-20. At age 16, frequency of enuretic children with sickle cell disease remained statistically greater (15.9% vs. 8.0%). The frequency of wet nights was higher (P < 0.05) in group 1. In addition, anaemia crisis and painful crisis were related to prevalence of enuresis. There was a significant (P < 0.01) negative correlation between haemoglobin F percentage and prevalence of enuresis. CONCLUSION: Enuresis is frequent in children with sickle cell disease and its intensity is linked to severity of disease.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

[The effects of smoking and the degree of nicotine dependence on aerobic capacity in sportsmen].

AIM: To assess the effects of smoking and the degree of nicotine dependence on aerobic capacity in smokers undergoing endurance training. METHODS: 126 smokers aged between 18 and 31 years playing in the football teams of the Congolese first (n = 64) and second divisions (n = 64) co-operated voluntarily in the study. Aerobic capacity was determined by Cooper's running test. Absolute VO2max and that related to body weight were subsequently calculated. The degree of nicotine dependence of each subject was assessed by the Fagerstrom questionnaire. A control group consisted of 125 non-smokers playing at the same level. RESULTS: The values of VO2max achieved by the smokers were significantly less (p < 0.05) than those achieved by the non-smokers. The first division players had a higher aerobic capacity than the second division players. Moreover the analysis of variance showed an influence of nicotine dependence on aerobic capacity. The subjects who were heavily dependent on nicotine had lower VO2max values than those less dependent. Moreover for the same level of dependence there were differences between the first and second division players. CONCLUSION: The inhalation of tobacco smoke leads to an alteration in aerobic capacity. This is directly influenced bythe degree of nicotine dependence whatever the level of training of the subject.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

[Early diagnosis of leukaemia in the trisomic child. Congolese experience based on two cases].

We are reporting here two cases of acute leukemia in Congolese children with Down syndrome. They were aged 27 and 30 months. The two cases were revealed by anemia, hyperthermia with enlargement of the liver and the spleen. Clinical course was unfavorable. Therefore, the early diagnosis of leukemia remains very important in patient with Down syndrome presenting hyperthermia with hepatosplenomegaly.

Anemia↗