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Biomedical subjects

A el Meziane

Publications and source records attributed to A el Meziane.

11 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2000

[Smoking knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of patients in Morocco].

Smoking is a serious public health problem. In Morocco, the number of smokers varies from 24% to 52% depending on different social categories (school children, university students, public health workers, industrial workers, civil servants). The aim of our descriptive study was to analyze knowledge about smoking and smoking habits in patients hospitalized or followed by two units in the Ibn Rochd Hospital, cardiology and respiratory diseases. A questionnaire was given to a consecutive series of 200 patients between January and March 1997 (100 patients in each unit). Twenty percent of the patients were smokers and 23% were former smokers. The most well known health risks of smoking in the two groups of patients were respiratory and cardiovascular risks (88% and 71% respectively). Smokers and former smokers were more aware of these health risks. 86% of the smokers and former smokers had attempted to stop smoking at least once, mainly for a "health" reasons. 60% of smokers and former smokers decided to never smoke or never take a cigarette again. 66% of the patients said they had not been advised at the hospital about the risk of smoking. Our study provides a basis for further studies. It points out the importance of the smoking phenomena and the minimal role played by health personnel in advising patients. Health care workers should participate in antismoking activities during their consultation activities at the hospital in order to help patients stop smoking and also help implement rigorous antismoking laws in Morocco.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

[Phantom thoracic opacity].

The etiology of the respiratory distress syndrome is dominated by pulmonary edema and the septic shock. We report a rare etiology of a respiratory distress secondary to a rupture of a well treated tuberculous latero-tracheal adenopathy. A 24-year-old woman was treated a year ago for a peripheral and mediastinal lymph node tuberculosis confirmed by the biopsy of a left supra clavicular adenopathy, by two months of isoniazid-rifampicin-pyrazinamide-ethambutol and seven months of isoniazid-rifampicin. The patient completed 9 month treatment with a good clinical and radiology course. Two months after stopping the antibacillary treatment, the patient was admitted to an intensive care unit with a respiratory distress syndrome requiring both intubation and artificial ventilation. The bronchial aspiration brought back plain pus. The telethorax from admission was normal and the retrospective history suggested the diagnostic of a ganglio-bronchial fistula which was confirmed by bronchial fibroscopy demonstrating right latero-tracheal fistula. The course was good with recovery of consciousness on the seventh day. Direct bacilloscopies and culture were negative. The digestive fibroscopy was normal. Finally, fistulization of a tuberculous adenopathy must be considered among the etiologies of respiratory distress even in a patient appropriately treated for mediastinal lymph node tuberculosis.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1997

[Aneurysms of the pulmonary artery in Behçet disease. Apropos of 5 new cases].

Behçet's disease is a systemic vascularitis generally involving the venous system. Many organs may be involved, but pulmonary localizations are uncommon. We report 5 cases of pulmonary artery aneurysms observed in a series of Behçet's disease collected over a 10-year period. All patients were males, age range 18-41 years. Hempotysia was the inaugural event in all cases. Behçet's disease was recognized in only 2 of the patients initially. The diagnosis was made after recognition of the pulmonary artery aneurysms in the others. Chest x-ray showed round perihilar opacities varying in number from 2 to 4. Computed tomography with vascular opacification was performed in 4 patients and confirmed the aneurysmal nature of the opacities. Angiography was performed in 3 cases. Medical treatment with corticosteroids and/or colchicine was prescribed in all cases. One patient had left inferior lobectomy. In one case regression of the aneurysms precluded embolization. Two patients refused surgery and in one, surgery was not retained due to the large number of aneurysms. Outcome was fatal in one patient who died after cataclysmic hemoptysia. These findings underline the uncommon nature of pulmonary aneurysms in Behçet's disease and the diagnostic difficulties encountered in absence of specific signs as well as the poor prognosis of such localizations.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

[Pneumocystis infection in a non-immunocompromised patient].

Pneumocystis is typically described in the immunodepressed. We report a case of pneumocystis occurring in a patient without known depression of the immune system. The patient, aged 50, was hospitalised for a diffused infiltration pneumonia which developed sub-acutely, and presented with increasing dyspnoea of effort, thoracic pain and a disturbances of general health. The initial assessment did not reveal any risk factors for HIV infection nor any past history of note. The diagnosis of pneumocystis was confirmed by the presence of Pneumocystis carinii in the bronchoalveolar lavage from two samples. There was a favourable outcome following the prescription of Cotrimoxazole for three months and steroid therapy. HIV serology was negative and the sub-population of lymphocytes was normal. A search for neoplasia or systematic disease remained negative.

Adrenal Cortex Hormones↗
PubMed1995

[Pancoast-Tobias syndrome of hydatid etiology].

The authors report a case of right-sided complete Pancoast and Tobias syndrome related to a multivesicular extrapleural hydatid cyst developing at the cervico-thoracic area with involvement of the first rib. This occurred in a 27 year old country dweller who was a non-smoker who presented with a progressive history of right sided cervico-brachial neuralgia some four months before hospitalisation, there was a subclavicular tumour swelling (8-10 cm), solid, non-inflammatory and a right sided Claude-Bernard-Horner syndrome. Screening of the thorax showed an opacity at the right apex, dense and homogeneous, with a pseudo-fracture of the first right rib. A cervical echo showed a multiloculated liquid filled mass without connection to the thyroid. Computer tomographic scanning showed a multiloculated voluminous liquid filled mass in the right cervico-thoracic area with a regular polycyclic outline, the lungs were normal. The serology was positive for hydatid disease (haemagglutination and ELISA). The patient was operated on by an exclusively supraclavicular approach with excision of the hydatid membranes and vesicles as well as the right first rib. The immediate outcome resulted in the disappearance of the neuralgia and the persistence of the Claude-Bernard-Horner syndrome.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

[Purulent pleurisy due to Salmonella typhi associated with a splenic abscess].

We report a case of 25 year old man who presented with a febrile illness and bilateral lower chest pain a pain in the left hypochondrium with fever and weight loss; investigations revealed a left sided empyema. The cause of the empyema was confirmed following the isolation in the pleural pus of Salmonella typhi. There was also a mass in the left hypochondrium which was shown on ultrasound to be a splenic abscess. After antibiotic therapy with Cotrimoxazole, repeated pleural aspirates and physiotherapy, there was a satisfactory outcome and the pleural effusion dried up and there was a significant reduction in the volume of the splenic abscess. In the light of their observations, the authors report the rare presentation of empyemas due to Salmonella typhi, the late presentation during the course of the third septenaire and the often favourable outcome under general antibiotic therapy associated with pleural aspirates to evacuate the pus and respiratory physiotherapy.

Abscess↗
PubMed1992

[Clinical characteristics and etiology in hemoptysis in a pneumology service. 291 cases].

The aim of this work is to determine the clinical characteristics of haemoptysis and their principal aetiologies in a retrospective study of 291 cases collected over 5 years and occurring in adults who were hospitalised in a pneumology service. The annual incidence of haemoptysis was 8.8% of the in-patient population. The mean age of the patients was 46 and 47% were less than 50. The males were most frequent (69.4%) and haemoptysis was the presenting feature in 35.4%; it was minimal in 71.1% of average quantity in 26.8% and severe in 2.1%. The thoracic radiograph was judged abnormal in all cases and the abnormalities noted were suggestive of a particular aetiology in 70.8% of cases. The aetiological cause was dominated by bronchial cancer and of active pulmonary tuberculosis or its sequalae with levels of 34.4% and 18.9% respectively. For the other causes bronchial dilatation was important with 15.1% and hydatic cysts another 9.3%. Other aetiologies were represented by bacterial pneumonias with or without abscesses 7.2%, pulmonary aspergilloma 6.9%, chronic bronchitis with or without emphysema 3.5% and by rare causes in 4 cases. The cause for the haemoptysis was not found in 3.1%. This study brings out the preponderant place of bronchial cancer as a cause of haemoptysis in a country which still has a high prevalence of tuberculosis. Nevertheless the existence of tuberculosis services where the greater part of tuberculosis patients are hospitalised explains in part the predominance of bronchial cancer increasing very rapidly in our service.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

[Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma disclosed by an intrabronchial tumor. Apropos of a case].

Non Hodgkin's lymphoma (LNH) presenting as a localised tumour is exceptional and nearly always appears during the course of disseminated disease. We report a case where the primary disease was an endobronchial tumour and the entire clinical picture related to pulmonary symptoms. A 70 year old lady was found to have a left sided pulmonary opacity following a cough with minimal expectoration and accompanied by chest pains and dyspnoea. The chest abnormality progressed for 3 years 9 months before an endobronchial tumour was discovered at bronchoscopy in the left upper lobe and from which a biopsy revealed an LNH with small cells of low degree of malignancy. In addition there was splenomegaly and an infiltration of bone marrow by the lymphomatous process which was evidence of a disseminated form of LNH. To our knowledge our observation is an extremely rare case where an endobronchial tumour revealed a non Hodgkins lymphoma.

Aged↗
PubMed1989

Mitochondrial gene expression during Xenopus laevis development: a molecular study.

Mitochondrial gene expression has been analysed during embryonic development of Xenopus laevis; the relative amounts of 12S and 16S ribosomal RNAs and of most mitochondrial messenger RNAs were determined by slot-blot and Northern-blot hybridization experiments with specific mitochondrial DNA probes. The rRNA content per embryo remained constant during early development, confirming earlier results of Chase and Dawid (1972, Dev. Biol., 27, 504-518.); on the contrary, all mRNAs decreased abruptly after fertilization within a few hours (by a factor of 5-10), remained at a very low level up to the late neurula stages and increased again during organogenesis. Since the mitochondrial DNA content does not vary during this period molecular analyses as well as biological observations suggest that the mitochondrial genome is completely inactivated at the beginning of embryonic development. The amounts of rRNAs and mRNAs evolve therefore as a function of time only according to their half-lives. Mitochondrial RNA accumulation resumes subsequently with a high rate when the general transcription in the embryo is starting again, and this occurs before the resumption of DNA replication in the organelle. It appears that the Xenopus embryonic development represents a quite clear example of regulation of the mitochondrial expression at the level of transcription.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

[Smoking in Morocco: an outline of the anti-smoking campaign].

In Morocco, as in many developing countries, tobacco use has become a plague which aggravates the many already existing problems. A coordinated prevention programme which included research and a variety of educational efforts, has been underway for the past five years. The preliminary stage of the non-smoking campaign consisted of research through use of a variety of standardized questionnaires. The research results showed tobacco use in Morocco to be the following: 23.8% of secondary students are smokers with variation according to family, culture, environment and sex (33% male vs. 8.6% female); 33.8% of university students smoke, including those in Medical Schools; 52.1% of adults in the work environment smoke, including doctors. The rate declines drastically among practicing muslims (between the ages of 14 and 65) to 9.8%. The use of other drugs is significantly higher in students who use tobacco (25%) than those who do not (1.5%). A common factor appeared regardless of age, sex, or occupation: there was insufficient information available concerning the harmful effects of smoking. An educational campaign was therefore launched. As the youth were considered to be the most vulnerable target group, a major part of the educational efforts was concentrated on them. A variety of activities was implemented including conference-debates using audiovisual supports; radio and T.V. broadcasts; contests run with the assistance of the CIPADED (International Committee for the Prevention of Alcohol/Drug Dependence). Information of the harmful effects of tobacco use was diffused in workplaces, government offices, and at public assemblies. Efforts were also implemented to promote adoption of legislation which would limit tobacco consumption.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adolescent↗