Author(s)

Ndiaga Matar Gaye^1*, Alassane Mamadou Diop¹, Adjaratou Dieynabou Sow¹, Abdoul Salam Soumaré¹, Didier Smadja², Moustapha Ndiaye¹, Sokhna Ba³, Amadou Gallo Diop¹

¹Neurology Department, Fann Teaching Hospital, Dakar, Senegal.
²Stroke Unit, Centre Hospitalier Sud-Francilien, Corbeil-Essones, France.
³Radiology Department, Fann Teaching Hospital, Dakar, Senegal.

Introduction: Carotid web (CW), a rare and probably unknown arterial cause of ischemic stroke (IS), is commonly reported in young black patients, although most of the published cases resided in a non-African country. We describe the features of the first six Senegalese cases diagnosed at the Neurology Department of the Fann Teaching Hospital in Dakar. Patients and Method: It was a preliminary retrospective and prospective study conducted at the Neurology department of Fann teaching hospital (Dakar-Senegal). The symptomatic CW diagnosis was based on angioCT-scan of the neck arteries. The National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) and the modified-Rankin Scale (mRS) were used to assess the severity of the IS and the functional disability after the event, respectively. Results: CW was causing a left sylvian infarction in 4 patients. The mean age of the patients at the IS diagnosis was 41 ± 6 years with a sex ratio of 1. The mean time to diagnosis of CW was 13 months. Smoking (1/6), hypertension (1/6), and obesity (1/6) were the main vascular risk factors. The mean LDL cholesterol level was 1.52 g/L ± 0.49. The mean initial NIHSS was 15 ± 6 (8-22). Half of the patients had a severe infarction (NIHSS ≥ 15). For secondary prevention, half of the patients were treated with aspirin and the other half with acenocoumarol. After 18 months ± 17 of follow-up, the mean mRS score was 2 ± 1 (1-3). Conclusion: CW is an unknown cause of IS in young black patients. An early and appropriate multidisciplinary management could help to reduce the risk of recurrences.

Carotid Web, Sub-Saharan Africa, Senegal, AngioCT-Scan, Acenocoumarol

Gaye, N. , Diop, A. , Sow, A. , Soumaré, A. , Smadja, D. , Ndiaye, M. , Ba, S. and Diop, A. (2022) Carotid Web as a Cause of Ischemic Stroke in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Preliminary Monocentric Descriptive Study of 6 Cases Collected at the Fann Teaching Hospital (Senegal). World Journal of Cardiovascular Diseases, 12, 133-139. doi: 10.4236/wjcd.2022.123014.