A case series of venous thromboembolic disease in a semi-urban setting in Cameroon

OBJECTIVE: Our goal was to study the clinical characteristics, risk factors and outcome of patients admitted for venous thromboembolism (VTE) in the medical unit of the Buea Regional Hospital, Cameroon between 1st July 2016 and 30th November 2017. RESULTS: Twenty-two patients were admitted for VTE. There were 12 (54.4%) men. The mean age was 54.9 ± 13.9 years (range: 31–77 years). The main risk factors were immobilization (40.9%), HIV infection (22.7%), tuberculosis (18.2%), obesity (13.6%) and cancer (13.6%). Nineteen (86.4%) patients had deep venous thrombosis (DVT), 3(13.6%) had pulmonary embolism (PE). One patient had a concomitant DVT and PE. All patients received low molecular weight heparin and 76.2% were discharged on oral vitamin K antagonist while 23.8% were discharged on direct oral anticoagulants. The median length of hospital stay was 9.5 days (range: 4–34). Three deaths (13.6%) were recorded. This study describes VTE in a semi-urban setting in Cameroon and shows that immobility, HIV infection and tuberculosis are common risk factors for VTE in this semi-urban setting.