[Elephantiasis of the lower limb: Treatment of seven cases using the modified Charles technique]. / L'éléphantiasis du membre pelvien : traitement de sept cas selon la technique de Charles modifiée.

INTRODUCTION: Lymphedema is an obstructive dysfunction of the lymphatic system characterised by an inability of the lymphatic system to eliminate excess lymphatic load. It can be congenital or secondary. Untreated, it progresses in three stages, the final stage being elephantiasis. We report a short series of 7 cases of elephantiasis of the lower limb treated with the Charles technique. Our aim was to describe the results of the surgical treatment. METHOD: This was a retrospective descriptive and analytical study from January 2010 to December 2020. Patients with at least one lower limb elephantiasis of any aetiology of any age and gender who underwent excisional surgery with a complete medical record containing clinical and therapeutic data were included. RESULTS: During the study period, we received 710 patients with a prevalence of elephantiasis of 1.69%. The mean age was 43.3±14.5years with a male predominance. No etiology or co-morbidity factors (diabetes, hypertension, VRS) were found. In our mini-series, the average time between the two procedures was 34.3±9.6days. The mean time to healing was 82.3±15.1days. All patients healed with two excellent results. CONCLUSION: excisional surgery with two-stage repair combined with compression therapy gave satisfactory results.

Diabetes and impaired fasting glucose in rural and urban populations in Futa Jallon (Guinea): prevalence and associated risk factors.

AIM: The authors present the results of the first survey conducted among the population of the Futa Jallon province in Guinea on the prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) and impaired fasting glucose (IFG) and associated risk factors for diabetes. METHOD: A random sample of the study population selected by cluster house sampling method included 1537 Guineans (807 women and 730 men) aged 35 years and above in urban (Labé) and rural (Fellö Koundoua-Tougué) areas. Participants were examined and administered a capillary whole blood glycemia test. RESULTS: The mean age of subjects was 49.4 years. Participation rate was 77%. Overall crude diabetes and IFG prevalence were 6.1% and 13.4%, respectively. The age-adjusted prevalence of diabetes using the standardized age distribution of Segi was 6.7% (95% CI: 5.5-7.9%). Subjects in the urban area had twice as much DM as in the rural area (OR 2.0, 95% CI: 1.3-3.2). Out of the 94 subjects with DM, 66 had no prior history of disease. Urban location, age, waist to hip ratio, excess waist circumference, hypertension, raised systolic and diastolic blood pressures were significantly positively associated with DM. In multivariate analysis, only age (P=0.002) and waist circumference (P<0.05) remained independently associated with DM. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of DM was higher than expected in urban and rural areas. The data support the conclusion that prevalence of DM is expected to increase with the aging of the population. The factors associated with diabetes are potentially modifiable. Therefore, primary prevention through lifestyle modifications may play a critical role in the control of DM.

[Role of quality control for improvement of blood components in the Regional Blood Centre of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso, 2014]. / Apports du contrôle qualité produits finis dans l'amélioration de la qualité des produits sanguins labiles au Centre régional de transfusion sanguine de Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso), 2014.

OBJECTIVES: In Burkina Faso, blood components must comply with national standards. Then, all Transfusion services must implement a quality control process to ensure compliance. Our study aims to establish the main characteristics of blood components of the regional transfusion center of Ouagadougou, and evaluate the capability of this center to improve its manufacturing process. METHODS: We conducted from marsh to December 2014 a pre-post study, assessing blood components' characteristics before and after the implementation of a six months' improvement plan. The assessed parameters were: volume, hematocrit (Ht) and hemoglobin (Hb) levels in RBCs; volume and the number of platelets in PPCs; and volume and concentration of clotting factor VIII in fresh frozen plasma (FFP), respectively. Three hundred and twelve RBCs and 280 PCs were randomly selected for the first series of controls, and 215 RBCs, 54 PCs and 60 FFP were selected for the second series of controls. We compared the mean values of the components parameters and the overall non-compliance rates for each series. RESULTS: The average Hb level of RBCs was respectively 47.8±8.9g and 54.7±7.2g in the first and second series compare to a standard of≥40g. Non-compliance rates of Hb level decreased significantly from 17.6% to 1.4%. For PCs units, the mean number of platelets was 0.14±0.10×1011 and 0.30±0.15×1011 in the first and second period compare to a standard of 0.5×1011. Non-compliance rates for platelets number were high 97.1% and 72.2%. CONCLUSION: The study demonstrates that only RBCs complied with national standards. The study also demonstrates the capability of CRTSO to improve blood components' processing even if for PCs and FFP, NC rates remain high. QC must be maintained and expanded to the others regional blood centers of the country.

Non-invasive continuous positive airway pressure in acute hypoxaemic respiratory failure--experience of an emergency department.

Non-invasive continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) seems to decrease the need for intubation in patients with severe cardiogenic pulmonary oedema (CPO) in the intensive care unit. The goals of our study were to delineate indications for CPAP in the emergency department, and to confirm its usefulness in such a setting. We retrospectively assess the evolution of all patients ventilated under CPAP for an acute hypoxaemic respiratory failure over a 1-year period (n = 64 patients). Hypercarbia and respiratory acidosis were present in most patients with CPO (PaCO2 = 54.4+/-22.3 mmHg; pH = 7.27+/-0.13), according to respiratory exhaustion, although initial PaCO2 was low in the pneumonia group. There was a significant improvement of arterial blood gases after 1 hour of ventilation in the CPO group (PaO2 = 254.1+/-121.0 mmHg; PaCO2 = 44.0+/-12.6 mmHg; pH = 7.34+/-0.08; p < 0.0001 for both parameters). In the pneumonia group, oxygenation was also improved but with the persistence of a significant shunt (PaO2 = 157.6+/-84.4 mmHg). Fifty-four patients (84%) were considered as successfully ventilated under CPAP, with no need for intubation and a favourable evolution, mainly in the CPO group. No side effects were reported. In conclusion, CPAP is a useful and easy-to-use ventilatory device in the emergency department. It is now one of our first line treatments during prehospital and emergency care of patients with CPO.

Immediate skin grafting of sub-acute and chronic wounds debrided by hydrosurgery.

A wound bed may be prepared by various non-surgical debridements using autolytic, biological or enzymatic techniques. These are all effective in selective wounds but tend to be time consuming. Surgical debridement is not selective since healthy collateral tissue is also removed. Physical debridement uses whirlpool therapy to slough off necrotic tissues - the saline which comes out of the hand piece if vapourized over the wound - and therefore disseminates contaminated droplets. Hydrosurgery combines physical and surgical debridement but does not have their drawbacks. Water dissection works by using a high-pressure jet of sterile saline that travels parallel to the wound and creates a Venturi effect, thus enabling the selective removal of necrotic tissues without dissemination of contaminants. In this study, the authors report on 167 sub-acute and chronic wounds from 155 patients treated under general anaesthesia by hydrosurgery (Versajet). Of these, 95% of the debrided wounds were immediately covered with an autologous meshed graft. Compared to other debridement techniques, hydrosurgery has two main advantages: namely its tissue selectivity and its high percentage of successful engraftment after immediate skin grafting.

[Plastic surgery treatment of Buruli ulcer sequelaes. A retrospective study of 16 patients]. / Les procédés de couverture cutanée dans le traitement des séquelles de l'ulcère de Buruli. A propos de 16 observations.

INTRODUCTION: Thirteen percents of the patients suffering from Buruli ulcer in Ivory Coast show sequels at a result of their spontaneous healing. The purpose of our study is to report and estimate the first series of the sequel treatment of Buruli ulcer, with standard reconstructive procedures used in plastic surgery. METHOD: Sixteen patients totalizing 18 sequels were classified into 2 groups:13 patients showed functional sequels in connection with cicaticial retractions about level with joints;3 patients showed aesthetic sequels with no repercussion on the functional aspect. The surgical treatment included for the functional sequels, the excision of the retractile scar, the restoration of the underlying structures followed by the coverage of the defect with skin grafts or muscle or musculo cutaneous flaps and for aesthetic sequels, the excision of the scar tissues and the coverage with full-thickness skin grafts. RESULTS: The results were considered good because the patients found an acceptable physical activity again that enable some of them to resume a professional activity and others a school activity. Motherless, a certain number of complications are to be deplored:1 case of distal necrosis of a skin flap autonomized which required excision and conducted healing but without repercussions on the functional result;1 residual edema about level with the fingers at the time of the covering of a hand with a groin flap;1 haematoma at the donar site of a full-thickness skin graft. CONCLUSION: Distance flaps are more advisable for hand sequels in Buruli ulcer considering the regional character of the disease and the necessity to preserve the main vascular axes about level with the hand. On the lower limb, autonomized skin flaps enable provide important tissue and preserve the major vascular axes of the lower limb.

[Facial localizations of Buruli ulcers: two cases]. / Les localisations faciales de l'ulcère de Buruli: à propos de deux cas.

We report the first two published cases of a facial localization of Mycobacterium ulcerans ulcer (Buruli ulcer). M. ulcerans is the third most common mycobacteriosis, after leprosy and tuberculosis. Clinical manifestations involve large necrotic ulcerations with protruding edges, mainly localized on the limbs. Both of our patients, 9 and 45-year-old females, resided in endemic areas of Buruli ulcer in the Ivory Coast. The ulcers were located on the left zygomatic malar region in one patient and the submental region in the other. Treatment involved resection of the ulcer followed by total skin graft. Ulcer healing was observed after two months hospitalization in one patient. The other patient died.

Identification of form III conformers in tRNAPhe from Escherichia coli by intramolecular photo-cross-linking.

In the absence of divalent cations, at neutral pH, low ionic strength, and low to moderate temperature, tRNAs are known to be in a denatured form, designated form III in the tRNA phase diagram by Cole et al. [Cole, P. E., Yang, S. R., & Crothers, D. M. (1972) Biochemistry 11, 4358-4368]. Form III tRNAPhe from Escherichia coli has been studied at pH 7, 5 mM Na+, and 10 degrees C. As judged from ethidium bromide intercalation, it exhibits extensive secondary structure. 4-Thiouridine in position 8 of the tRNAPhe sequence was used as a built-in photoaffinity probe. Spectroscopic and spectrofluorometric analysis in the near-UV range of form III tRNAPhe irradiated with broad-band near-UV light to completion of the reaction before or after reduction with NaBH4 revealed that the Pdo(4-5)Cyt (8-C) and Pdo(4-5)Urd (8-U) adducts form in equimolar yield. In different experiments, the overall yield of s4U conversion to these adducts varies between 20 and 40%. The remaining s4U is photolyzed to weakly absorbing product(s) in the near-UV range. The disappearance of s4U follows biexponential kinetics while the 8-C adduct formation follows monoexponential kinetics, indicating the presence of at least two tRNA classes of conformers, not in equilibrium on the time scale of the reaction. Migration on a denaturing polyacrylamide gel of irradiated form III tRNAPhe revealed three main bands, D1, D2, and D3, and no slowly migrating tRNA dimers. D1 migrates at the control position and presumably contains the photolysis product(s) P. The fast-migrating D2 and D3 bands contain 8-Pyr cross-links which were identified by sequence analysis as 8-(66-68) in D2 and 8-(40-43) and 8-(59-62) in D3. On the basis of these data, it is proposed that the minor poorly photoreactive class II conformers are the cloverleaf and close variants, whereas the major class I cross-linkable conformers are essentially long-extended secondary structures. Clearly, our data demonstrate the polymorphism of form III tRNAPhe.

[Treatment of Buruli ulcer desease by excision and skin graft]. / Traitement de l'ulcère de Buruli par excision-greffe: à propos de 118 observations.

INTRODUCTION: Buruli ulcer is the most common mycobacteria disease after leprosy and tuberculosis. The purpose of our study is to make our contribution to the surgical treatment of Buruli ulcer and to asses our results. METHOD: One hundred eighteen patients presenting progressive Buruli ulcers were operated on. The surgical procedure included excisions for necrotic lesions and grafts for clean wounds. The results were estimated on the time of hospitalization and appearance of complications. RESULTS: Seventy-three patients (62%) were subjected to excision followed by thin skin grafts and 35 patients (30%) were subjected to grafts only. The number of excision times varies from 1 to 7 per patient and from 1 to 4 for the skin grafts. All our patients heal within a period of 120 days with extremes going from 14 to 265 days. We deplored 26 complications (22%): eight new focus, seven infectious complications, six recurrences, five stiffnesses and ankyloses. CONCLUSION: The treatment of Buruli ulcer by excision and grafts is efficient but does not prevent recurrences and new focus from happening and for their prevention, it is necessary to discover pharmaceutical molecules that are efficient on Mycobacterium ulcerans.