Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2012 Apr;23(3):165-7.
doi: 10.5830/CVJA-2012-013.

The challenges of cardiac surgery for African children

Ana O H Mocumbi  1
Affiliations
Review

The challenges of cardiac surgery for African children

Ana O H Mocumbi. Cardiovasc J Afr. 2012 Apr.

Abstract

In Africa the specific pattern of cardiovascular diseases and lack of adequate measures for disease prevention and control result in the frequent need for open-heart surgery for the management of complications of cardiomyopathies in children. Several strategies and innovative ways of providing cardiovascular surgical care in African countries have been used, from agreements to send patients overseas, to programmes for the creation of local services to provide comprehensive care locally. This article attempts to outline the challenges faced by underdeveloped countries in Africa wanting to embark on programmes of cardiac surgery and the need for several sectors of society to play a role in the process. It discusses issues related to the establishment of centres performing cardiac surgery in Africa, describes the treatment of congenital heart disease, and reviews the aspects of management of conditions highly prevalent in or mostly confined to this continent, such as rheumatic heart valve disease and endomyocardial fibrosis.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. McLaren MJ, Markowitz M, Gerber MA. Rheumatic heart disease in developing countries: the consequence of inadequate prevention. Ann Int Med. 1994;120(3):243–245. - PubMed
    1. Moraes CR. Some aspects of cardiac surgery in the tropics. Eur J Cardiothorac Surg. 1990;4:235–237. - PubMed
    1. Marcus RH. et al. The spectrum of severe rheumatic mitral valve disease in a developing country: correlations among clinical presentation, surgical pathologic findings and hemodynamic sequelae. Ann Int Med. 1994;120(3):177–183. - PubMed
    1. Essop MR, Nkomo VT. Rheumatic and non-rheumatic valvular heart disease: Epidemiology, management and prevention in Africa. Circulation. 2005;112:3584–3591. - PubMed
    1. Duran CM, Gometza B, Saad E. Valve repair in rheumatic heart disease: an unsolved problem. J Card Surg. 1994;9(2 suppl):282–285. - PubMed