Introduction: The general objective was to determine the epidemiological, clinical, paraclinical, therapeutic and evolutionary aspects of connectivitis in the dermatology department of the CHU Aristide Le Dantec.

Patients and methods: This was a retrospective and descriptive study conducted in the Dermatology Department of the University Hospital Center (UHC) Aristide Le Dantec of Dakar between January 2009 and December 2019.

Results: We identified 290 cases of connectivitis. Systemic scleroderma was the most frequent in 34.42% (n=94), followed by systemic lupus in 25.86% (n=75), mixed connectivitis 22,06% (n=64) and dermatomyositis in 19,32% (n=56). Cancer was associated with dermatomyositis in 11 cases and with systemic scleroderma in 3 cases. The mean age of our patients was 38.23 years. The sex ratio was 4.2 and the mean duration of evolution was 25 months. Dermatological manifestations were constant, found in all patients. In systemic lupus, they were dominated by discoid lupus lesions found in 40% and hypochromic spots (86%) in systemic scleroderma. In dermatomyositis, skin lesions were dominated by periorbital erythroedema (66.07%). 

Joint manifestations were found in 56.89% of cases (n= 165), muscular manifestations in 41.37% of cases (n= 120) and pleuropulmonary manifestations in 31.3% of cases (n=91). All our patients were treated with corticosteroid therapy and 12.06% of them had received immunosuppressive treatment, the most commonly used molecules being methotrexate (3.44%) and cyclophosphamide (8.27%). Hydroxychloroquine was prescribed in 59.31% of patients, while D-penicillamine was prescribed in 42.06% of patients, 100% of whom were treated for systemic scleroderma. The main complications encountered were infectious complications in 83 cases (28.6%). Visceral complications, a type of visceral insufficiency, were noted in 4.13% of cases.

Conclusion: Our study demonstrates the frequency of connectivitis in the dermatology department. Its particularity was the predominance of systemic scleroderma over lupus.

Key words: Connectivitis; Dermatology, Dakar; Epidemiology; Treatment

Doctor Niare ndour is a dermatologist. He was born in the Fatick region, about 150 km from Dakar. After passing his baccalaureat in 2010, he enrolled the faculty of Medicine of Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar.

In 2017, he passed the prestigious Dakar hospital internship exam and enrolled in the specialized Dermatology diploma. After specialization, he works As a hospital practitioner in the dermatology  department of Aristide Le Dantec Hospital in Dakar. He is the author of a dozen of scientific publications.