BackgroundStroke is reported as the most frequent cause of in-hospital death in Madagascar. However, no descriptive data on hospitalized stroke patients in the country have been published. In the present study, we sought to investigate the feasibility of collecting data on stroke patients in a resource-constrained hospital in Madagascar. We also aimed to characterize patients hospitalized with stroke.MethodsWe registered socio-demographics, clinical characteristics, and early outcomes of patients admitted for stroke between 23 September 2014 and 3 December 2014. We used several validated scales for the evaluation. Stroke severity was measured by the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), disability by the modified Rankin Scale (mRS), and function by the Barthel Index (BI).ResultsWe studied 30 patients. Sixteen were males. The median age was 62.5 years (IQR 58–67). The NIHSS and mRS were completed for all of the patients, and BI was used for the survivors. Three patients received a computed tomography (CT) brain scan. The access to laboratory investigations was limited. Electrocardiographs (ECGs) were not performed. The median NIHSS score was 16.5 (IQR 10–35). The in-hospital stroke mortality was 30%. At discharge, the median mRS score was 5 (IQR 4–6), and the median BI score was 45 (IQR 0–72.5).ConclusionsAlthough the access to brain imaging and supporting investigations was deficient, this small-scale study suggests that it is feasible to collect essential data on stroke patients in a resource-constrained hospital in Madagascar. Such data should be useful for improving stroke services and planning further research. The hospitalized stroke patients had severe symptoms. The in-hospital stroke mortality was high. At discharge, the disability category was high, and functional status low.

Mandibulectomy is a surgery that leads to heavy aesthetic and functional sequelae. Surgical complications have been noted but have not yet been evaluated. The aim of this study was to evaluate the surgical complications of mandibulectomy. This is a retrospective descriptive and analytical study of patients who underwent mandibulectomy in the Department of Maxillofacial Surgery of the CHU JDR Befelatanana between January 2017 and December 2020. A correlation between the occurrence of complications, parameters related to the patients and those related to the surgery was sought. Patientrelated parameters were: age and sex, comorbidities, toxic habits and body mass index. The parameters related to the surgery which were studied were the duration of the intervention, the size and the seat of the bone defect, the interruption or not of the mandibular continuity. Forty-six cases were selected. The average age was 36.98 years and the sex ratio was 0.7. Fifty percent of patients developed surgical complications. The total number of complications was 38. Salivary fistula was the most frequent complication (26.32%). No correlation was found between the occurrence of complications and patient-related parameters. There were 69.57% of complications when the procedure lasted more than 180 minutes (p = 0.003). A correlation was found between the occurrence of complications and the size of the resected bone (p = 0.009). Among the complications, 56.52% occurred when the size exceeded 130 mm (p = 0.03). The complication rate is high. The size of the resected bone and the duration of the operation influence the occurrence of complications.