Jaundice in tropical Africa: Epidemiological, clinical and diagnostic features

Jaundice is a frequent sign in clinical practice, which results in a yellow coloration of the skin, conjunctiva and mucous membranes, caused by hyperbilirubinemia. Jaundice is a sign frequently encountered in hepatology. This study aimed to determine the epidemiological, clinical and diagnostic features of jaundice in a tertiary hospital in tropical africa. Hospital-based cross sectional study conducted between 1st January, 2016 to 31st December, 2017. Patients hospitalised for jaundice, or having presented jaundice during hospitalisation, were included. The hospital frequency of jaundice was 15.92%. The mean age of the patients was 45.07+/-14.29 years [15-95 years], with a male predominance (sex ratio=2.46). Abdominal pain was the main accompanying sign (40.07%) and mean total bilirubin was 124.94+/-123.6 mg/L [7-512 mg/L]. Liver function tests showed cytolysis in 90.9% of patients and cholestasis in 86.06% of patients. Imaging showed biliary tract obstruction in 6.01% of patients. The main etiologies were cirrhosis (51.36%), hepatocarcinoma (29.09%), biliary lithiasis (05.45%), malaria (03.64%), acute hepatonephritis (03.18%), liver metastases (02.73%), cholangiocarcinoma (1.82%), HIV infection (1.82%) and pancreatic cancer (0.91%).