Anoxo-Ischemic Encephalopathies at the “Marie Curie” Medical Clinic in Bamako, Mali

Introduction: Anoxic-ischemic encephalopathy is an impairment of brain functions occurring before, during, or immediately after birth in the context of perinatal asphyxia during childbirth. The aim of this work was to study the contribution of transfontanellar ultrasound and computed tomography in the diagnosis of anoxic-ischemic lesions. Methodology: This was a prospective, cross-sectional study conducted in the radiology department of the Marie Curie Medical Clinic over a period of 8 months. The equipment used was Voluson E8 ultrasound scanners and the Optima 16-bar scanner. The parameters studied were socio-epidemiological data and the appearance of lesions in imaging. Results: Our study involved 30 patients, or 4.83% of cases, in 621 examinations carried out during the study period. The male sex dominated with 53.33% of cases. The age group from 0 to 05 months was the most frequent, with an average age of 1.2 months. The delay in psychomotor acquisition was the most frequent clinical information, with 26.6% of cases and 36.6% of cases presenting perilesional cerebral atrophy. Cerebral CT and transfontannellar ultrasound were the two imaging methods used, with 56.66% of cases for ETF and 43.34% of cases seen on CT. The most common lesion found on ETF was hyperechoic thickening of the choroid plexus related to intraventricular hemorrhage in 25.2% of cases. And the most frequent cerebral ischemic lesions were presented as cortico-subcortical hypodensity well systematized in 28.2% of cases. Brain MRI was not performed for financial reasons and the unavailability of this examination. Conclusion: Computed tomography and transfontanellar ultrasound play an essential role in the diagnosis of cerebral anoxic-ischemic lesions. However, MRI remains the examination of choice for a detailed and precise assessment of the lesions.