[Clinical and environmental aspects of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in moroccan population: a study of 60 cases]. / Aspects cliniques et environnementaux de la sclérose latérale amyotrophique chez une population morocaine: etude de 60 cas.

BACKGROUND: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is the most common disease of the motor neuron disease. Its etiology remains unknown but several studies incriminate the environmental factors in its genesis. THE AIM: of this study was to describe the epidemiological, clinical and environmental aspects of ALS in Moroccan population. METHODS: 60 ALS patients were recruited over a period of 5 years from January 2008 to September 2012. Patients were evaluated by detailed record of exploitation. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 13.0. RESULTS: The average age of the population was 52.1 ± 11.2 years with a sex ratio of M/F = 1.5. The average age of onset was 50 ± 11.7 years. In the group of patients exposed to toxic a significantly higher proportion of solvent exposure was found (p = 0.02). However there was no significant association with exposure to heavy metals, pesticides, or with toxic and eating habits. ALS is more frequent in the west region of Morocco (p = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: The positive association between exposure to solvents and ALS found in our population has been reported in the literature. The frequency of the ALS early west region suggests may be environmental or genetic origin. These results are preliminary and require a multicenter study to have more data and better highlight the environmental characteristics of ALS in the Moroccan population.

[Sneddon's syndrome]. / Le syndrome de Sneddon.

Sneddon's syndrome is still raising some nosological and etiopathogenic questions. The occurrence of ischemic stroke in young adults especially in the presence of livedo racemosa should suggest the diagnosis and encourage to perform a skin biopsy, which could strengthen the diagnosis. Management begins with prevention of vascular risk factors and treatments based primarily on anti-thrombotic. Large series of studies over several years could provide clarification of the etiopathogenesis of this syndrome and pave the way for the development of diagnostic criteria and new effective therapies in order to prevent progression to irreversible cognitive impairment.

[Juvenile tabes arthropathy: a report of three cases]. / Arthropathie tabétique juvénile: à propos de trois observations.

The authors report three cases revealed by tabes arthropathy in patients younger than 45 years. The age of patients was respectively 42, 40, 42. The clinical symptoms consisted of a painless knee strain, isolated in one case, associated with radiculocordonal posterior syndrome in two cases. The radiological lesions showed bone destruction. The biological assessment was for a venereal disease. The outcome was disappointing, despite a well conducted treatment. The observation of such cases should suggest a syphilitic origin ahead any advanced painless arthropathy even in young patients.

Polyradiculoneuritis revealing an acute monoblastic leukemia 5.

Acute polyradiculoneuritis has been frequently reported in association with malignant disorders, especially those of the lymphoid system. To date, there have been no reported cases of acute monoblastic leukemia associated with this polyradiculopathy. The authors tell us about a very rare case of leukemia presenting as acute monoblastic leukemia 5 (AML5) in a 28 years old patient from Morocco.