Hydatid disease of the ribs: An exceptional location.

Background: Hydatid disease is a zoonosis caused by larval stages of cestodes belonging to the genus Echinococcus. The rib location is exceptional. It presents a real diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. Objectives: To describe the clinical, serological and radiological features and surgical management of rib hydatidosis. Methods: This is a retrospective study conducted over 4 years, on five cases of rib hydatidosis. We analysed the clinical and radiological presentations and the adopted therapeutic procedure. Results: The average age of our patients was 44 years, without gender predominance. The clinical signs were dominated by the presence of an immobile swelling of fluid consistency without inflammatory sign, accompanied by moderate and intermittent localised pain. The laboratory assessment was nonspecific. The radiological assessment, including chest X-ray and thoracic computed tomography, with and without contrast, was essential in order to assess the extent of the lesion. Thoracic magnetic resonance imaging was requested in one case because of suspicions of a spinal extension. All of our patients underwent a rib excision accompanied by medical treatment of albendazole 24 hours after the surgery. The follow-up ranged from 1 year to 4 years and did not show any recurrence. Conclusion: Hydatidosis of the ribs is an exceptional location of hydatid disease. The diagnosis was based on radiology and intraoperative exploration. The treatment remained essentially surgical by rib excision with anthelmintic drugs to prevent recurrence.

Impact des maladies mentales préexistantes sur l'évolution et la survie chez les brûlés : étude cas-témoins.

Psychiatric disorders in burn victims are well known and studied, but few articles treat the impact of pre-existing psychiatric pathologies on the evolution of burns. The aim of our study is to compare the evolution in terms of complications, length of stay and survival between patients with and without pre-existing mental disorders. This is a bi-centric case-control study (N = 92), conducted at the Plastic Surgery Department of Rabat University Hospital, and the Plastic Surgery Department of the Tangier-Morocco Regional Hospital, between January 2012 and February 2018. Characteristics of the patients were collected and two groups of patients were identified and compared (n = 67): a preexisting mental disorder group (n = 22) and a control group (n = 45). TBSA (total body surface area) burned and 2nd and 3rd degree burned TBSA were significantly greater in the group with a history of mental disorders compared to the control group (p = 0.012, p <0.001, p = 0.014). Mean length of stay before discharge was greater (p = 0.005). Finally, mortality in the group with pre-existing mental illness was 31.8% versus 6.7% in the control group (p = 0.011). Patients with pre-existing mental disorders seem to present worse burns and need more time to recover from them, resulting in higher morbidity and mortality and a higher cost of care. The systematic screening of burned patients in search of a psychiatric diagnosis and early management of these disorders could improve the prognosis and quality of life of these patients.

Aspects cliniques et thérapeutiques des brûlures par brasero traditionnel.

The traditional brazier remains a means of cooking and warming for thousands of families in isolated rural areas in Morocco. From simple burns due to accidental contact to limb carbonizations, these burns are all the more serious when they are secondary to epileptic seizures or carbon monoxide poisoning. The sequelae are important in the associated forms, mainly because of delay in management and non-adherence to therapeutic protocols by patients of low socioeconomic status.