Hypertension Study in Non-Pregnant Women in the Cardiology Department of the University Hospital Gabriel Toure (UH-GT), Bamako (Mali)

Introduction: Little data are available on female hypertension in our context, motivating the realization of this study to determine its prevalence and the associated electro- and echocardiographic abnormalities. Methodology: We conducted a cross-sectional study Results over 6 months in the cardiology department of the CHUGT by including patients aged 18 years and over seen in consultation and in whom the diagnosis of hypertension was made. All patients consented to participate in the study after information on the study and the absence of prejudice in the event of refusal. Data collection was carried out by observing the rules of confidentiality on a form then the data were inserted into an Access database and their analysis carried out by IBM SPSS version 20. The quantitative data are presented as means with standard deviation and the qualitative data as proportions. The level of significance of the tests was set at 5%. Results: The prevalence of female hypertension was 61.8% of consultations. The means for age and body mass index were 52 ± 14.461 years and 27.35 ± 06.585 kg/m2, respectively. The main electrocardiographic abnormalities were dominated by left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and sinus tachycardia in 93.6 and 46.4% of cases, respectively. On the echocardiographic level, LVH, reduced ejection fraction and relative wall thickness were found in 41.05, 37.35 and 21.91%, respectively. Left ventricular mass and ventricular geometry were abnormal in 44.4 and 37.3% of cases. Remodeling was the most common geometric abnormality with 18.2% and type II mitral flow with 90.2% the most common relaxation abnormality. Conclusion: Female hypertension is common with electrical and echocardiographic changes including LVH and new younger patients, hence the need for an intensification of preventive measures, particularly life style and dietary measures, which do not require large financial resources.