Managing Cameroon’s kidney disease patients
Victorine Bandolo Nzana, from Yaoundé University Teaching Hospital in Cameroon, was awarded an ISN-Salmasi Family Fellowship. Learning from staff at Chennai’s Madras Medical Mission Hospital in India, she broadened her knowledge of interventional nephrology, bridging the gaps in care for patients at the center and across the region.
As a recognized ISN Training Center, the Madras Medical Mission Hospital was ideal in offering Victorine the hands-on training and learning experience she needed in various aspects of nephrology. It was a unique opportunity to learn directly from nephrology staff, under the mentorship of Georgi Abraham.
According to Victorine, there is a growing burden of nephrotic syndrome, acute and chronic kidney disease in Cameroon. For doctors in the region, there are limited opportunities to acquire skills in interventional nephrology, which is vital for patient management. She especially believes there is an increasing need for acute peritoneal dialysis to cater for the number of patients with acute kidney injury ‘who cannot access hemodialysis for several reasons.’
Resources are available at Yaoundé’s University Teaching Hospital to carry out renal biopsies. An ultrasonographic machine, biopsy needles, and tunneled cuffed catheters are available. She explains: ‘It is the expertise to perform these procedures that is lacking.’
Spanning almost a year, her training plan focused on interventional nephrology, acute and chronic tunneled peritoneal dialysis catheter insertion and performing kidney biopsies, including guidance to follow up on patients and manage complications.
Her fellowship training also enabled her ‘to hone her skills, not only in General Nephrology and kidney transplantation, but also in clinical research.’ Victorine co-authored a book chapter entitled ‘Metabolic and Electrolyte Abnormalities in Kidney Transplantation’ and published in the Handbook of Kidney Transplantation in Developing Countries by the Oxford Press.
Victorine Nzana was selected as the 2017 ISN-Salmasi Family Fellow. The Salmasi Family are an Honorary Program Supporter and lend valuable support to the development of the ISN Fellowship Program.
The next deadline for the ISN Fellowship Program is May 1st, 2019. Find out more here.
