[Diabetes mellitus at the National Hospital Center of Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso)].

The study, conducted over 4 years among 400 diabetic patients, reports the epidemiological and clinical aspects of diabetes mellitus at the National Hospital of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Epidemiologically, diabetes mellitus affects men by 64% and women by 36%. 76% are over 40 y. o., whereas only 2.2% are under 20. Clinically, the classification of diabetic patients shows that 10.7% are insulin-dependent and 76.5% non insulin-dependent. No usual tropical diabetes has been found. The calcifications observed in 2.5% of cases were combined with chronic alcoholic pancreatitis. The classic triad (polyuria, polyphagia, polydipsia) led to diagnostic by 41% of the patients, whereas 27.5% have been identified when having complications, and 23% by a systematic check-up. Cardio-vascular risk factors combined with diabetes have been found: obesity (28%), high blood pressure (20%), hyperuricaemia (14%), addiction to smoking (20%). The epidemiological characteristics, as well as the various clinical aspects, mostly complies with the observations of the african authors.