Thirty-three Down syndrome patients aged 0 to 15 years were identified
in Cameroon over a nine-year period. Eight were recruited in an obste
trical unit, out of 5.578 live births, for an overall incidence of 1 i
n 697 live births. Mean maternal age in this group was 38.25 years. Th
e incidence increased with maternal age, from 1/2021 (0.49/1000) in th
e 25-29 year group to one in 21 (46.87/1.000) in the 40 years and olde
r group. Of the 19 patients who had a karyotype, 18 had full trisomy (
94.7 %) and one had mosaic trisomy (5.26 %). No translocations were id
entified; Birth order was fifth or greater in 11 of the 19 cases. Cong
enital malformations were those described in the literature.