Effect of cervical traction on cervicogenic headache in patients with cervical radiculopathy: a preliminary randomized controlled trial.

Background: Cervical radiculopathy (CR) is a common condition, often associated with cervicogenic headache (CGH), a secondary headache arising from cervical spine disorders. Mechanical intermittent cervical traction (MICT) is frequently prescribed to treat CR symptoms. The purpose of the study was to make a preliminary estimate of efficacy of adding MICT to conventional rehabilitation on CGH in patients with cervical radiculopathy.

Efficient Generalized Electroencephalography-Based Drowsiness Detection Approach with Minimal Electrodes.

Drowsiness is a main factor for various costly defects, even fatal accidents in areas such as construction, transportation, industry and medicine, due to the lack of monitoring vigilance in the mentioned areas. The implementation of a drowsiness detection system can greatly help to reduce the defects and accident rates by alerting individuals when they enter a drowsy state. This research proposes an electroencephalography (EEG)-based approach for detecting drowsiness.

Anatomy and anatomical variations of adrenal veins and its application to adrenal venous sampling.

Purpose: Our aim was to study the anatomy of the left and right main adrenal veins (LAV and RAV) and to identify their anatomical variations in order to see the practical application of these findings to adrenal venous sampling (AVS).

Methods: Our work is based on dissection of 80 adrenal glands from fresh corpses in the forensic medicine department. We studied the number, the drainage, the direction and the level of termination of the main adrenal veins.

The effect of cervical traction on stabilometric parameters in cervical radiculopathy patients: A randomized crossover study.

Background: Cervical traction is effective on pain and function in patients with cervical radiculopathy but its effectiveness on balance disorders has not yet been studied.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of mechanical intermittent cervical traction (MICT) on stabilometric parameters in patients with cervical radiculopathy.

Methods: This randomized crossover study assigned 20 patients with cervical radiculopathy to one of the two groups: Group effective traction (ET)/sham traction (ST) (n= 10) treated firstly with ET (traction force of 12 Kg) then with ST (traction force of 2 Kg) with one-week interval and group ST/ET (n= 10) treated invertedly with a ST then ET.

Risk factors for sepsis and mortality in patients with emphysematous pyelonephritis : a series of 68 cases (case series).

Background: Emphysematous pyelonephritis (EPN) is a rare and severe necrotizing infection of the kidney with a high rate of complications and mortality. Our aim was to investigate risk factors of urosepsis and mortality in case of EPN.

Materials And Methods: Between January 2010 and December 2022 the charts of patients diagnosed with EPN were retrospectively reviewed.

A cadaveric anatomical study of the adrenals: vascular relationship.

The adrenal gland is a retroperitoneal organ with intimate relationships with neighboring organs but also with the large retroperitoneal vessels. Our aim was to study the vascular relationships of the adrenal gland with the large abdominal vessels. Our work is an anatomical dissection of 80 fresh cadaveric adrenals.

Validation of the Aldosteronoma Resolution Score as a Predictive Resolution Score of Hypertension After Unilateral Adrenalectomy for Primary Aldosteronism in a North-African Population.

Background: Unilateral primary aldosteronism (UPA) is the most frequent surgically curable form of endocrine hypertension. Adrenalectomy is the cornerstone of treatment for UPA, but outcomes after surgery are variable. Aldosteronoma Resolution Score (ARS) is a four-item predictive score for the cure of hypertension after adrenalectomy for UPA and has been demonstrated to be valid in different populations.

Leiomyosarcoma of the bladder: A review and a report of four further cases.

Introduction And Importance: Our study aims to expose the experience of our department in dealing with bladder leiomyosarcomas and illustrate the management tools of this rare pathology.

Case Presentation: We present a retrospective study of 4 cases of bladder leiomyosarcoma, gathered in the Department of Urology during the period of 1996-2022. All our patients were exclusively male and aged between 35 and 73 years.

Predictors of successful outcome after adrenalectomy for unilateral primary aldosteronism.

Introduction: Unilateral primary aldosteronism (UPA) is the most frequent surgically curable form of endocrine hypertension. Adrenalectomy is the cornerstone of treatment for UPA, but outcomes after surgery are variable. The cause of resistant hypertension after surgery is still a matter of debate.

Can radiological scores predict difficulties in removal of encrusted ureteral stents?

In the present study, we aimed to report our single-center experience in encrusted ureteral stent management and to compare the utility of two different scoring systems in patient management. This is a retrospective study of patients who underwent various surgical procedures to remove encrusted ureteral stent. Encrusted stent grading was performed using KUB and FECal grading sytems.

Bilateral renal hydatid disease associated with complex urolithiasis: A case report.

Introduction And Importance: The association of bilateral renal hydatid cysts and complex urolithiasis is unprecedented. We herein report the case of a patient presenting with both diseases.

Case Presentation: A 56-year-old female patient with a history of chronic kidney disease presented with right flank pain.

Prevalence and risk factors of functional gastrointestinal disorders in early period medical students: a pilot study in Tunisia.

Functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) are highly prevalent in medical students around the world. However, there is no specific data on FGIDs in Tunisia. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the prevalence of FGIDs in medical students according to the rome III criteria and to identify risk factors associated with these disorders.

Automated method for real-time AMD screening of fundus images dedicated for mobile devices.

Aged macular degeneration (AMD) leads to a progressive decline in visual acuity until reaching blindness. It is considered as an irreversible pathology where an early diagnosis remains crucial. However, the lack of ophthalmologists, the permanent increase in elderly people, and their limited mobility involves a delay in AMD diagnosis.

Tumor Thrombus on 18F-FDG PET/CT in Stage IV Plasmablastic Lymphoma.

A 71-year-old woman with a history of back pain and recent weight loss presented to the emergency department with hematuria. A CT scan was performed and showed left retroperitoneal mass with left renal vein thrombus extended to the vena cava. Tumor biopsy revealed plasmablastic lymphoma.

SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis using medical imaging techniques and artificial intelligence: A review.

Objective: SARS-CoV-2 is a worldwide health emergency with unrecognized clinical features. This paper aims to review the most recent medical imaging techniques used for the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 and their potential contributions to attenuate the pandemic. Recent researches, including artificial intelligence tools, will be described.

A Spatiotemporal exploration and 3D modeling of blood flow in healthy carotid artery bifurcation from two modalities: Ultrasound-Doppler and phase contrast MRI.

In the present study, we investigated the velocity profile over the carotid bifurcation in ten healthy volunteers by combining velocity measurements from two imaging modalities (PC-MRI and US-Doppler) and hemodynamic modeling in order to determine the optimal combination for the most realistic velocity estimation. The workflow includes data acquisition, velocity profile extraction at three sites (CCA, ECA and ICA), the arterial geometrical model reconstruction, a mesh generation and a rheological modeling. The results showed that US-Doppler measurements yielded higher velocity values as compared to PC-MRI (about 26% shift in CCA, 52% in ECA and 53% in ICA).

A Novel Hardware Systolic Architecture of a Self-Organizing Map Neural Network.

In this article, we propose to design a new modular architecture for a self-organizing map (SOM) neural network. The proposed approach, called systolic-SOM (SSOM), is based on the use of a generic model inspired by a systolic movement. This model is formed by two levels of nested parallelism of neurons and connections.

PET/CT imaging in management of concomitant Hodgkin lymphoma and tuberculosis - a problem solver tool.

Infectious lymph nodes mimicking lymphoma is challenging for accurate staging. Although F-FDG is a nonspecific tracer accumulating not only in tumor cells but also in inflammatory tissues, the metabolic features and uptake kinetics give valuable information: F-FDG PET/CT appears as a useful problem solver tool in ambiguous situation.

Chronic myeloid leukemia patients in Tunisia: epidemiology and outcome in the imatinib era (a multicentric experience).

Data are limited in developing countries regarding the clinicopathologic features and response to therapy of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in the era of imatinib (IM). The objective of this study is to report on the clinicoepidemiologic features of CML in Tunisia, to evaluate the long-term outcome of patients in chronic (CP) or accelerated phase (AP) treated with IM 400 mg daily as frontline therapy, and to determine imatinib's efficacy and safety. From October 2002 to December 2014, 410 CML patients were treated with IM in six Tunisian departments of hematology.

Real time QRS complex detection using DFA and regular grammar.

Background: The sequence of Q, R, and S peaks (QRS) complex detection is a crucial procedure in electrocardiogram (ECG) processing and analysis. We propose a novel approach for QRS complex detection based on the deterministic finite automata with the addition of some constraints. This paper confirms that regular grammar is useful for extracting QRS complexes and interpreting normalized ECG signals.

A coronary artery segmentation method based on multiscale analysis and region growing.

Accurate coronary artery segmentation is a fundamental step in various medical imaging applications such as stenosis detection, 3D reconstruction and cardiac dynamics assessing. In this paper, a multiscale region growing (MSRG) method for coronary artery segmentation in 2D X-ray angiograms is proposed. First, a region growing rule incorporating both vesselness and direction information in a unique way is introduced.

Update of the spectrum of GJB2 gene mutations in Tunisian families with autosomal recessive nonsyndromic hearing loss.

Hearing loss is the most frequent sensory disorder. It affects 3 in 1000 newborns. It is genetically heterogeneous with 60 causally-related genes identified to date.

Clinical relevance of flow cytometric immunophenotyping of the cerebrospinal fluid in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

Background: Central nervous system (CNS) relapse is an uncommon but dramatic complication of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Several studies have demonstrated the superiority of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flow cytometry (FCM), as compared with conventional cytology (CC), in detecting occult leptomeningeal disease. The clinical relevance of a positive FCM still has to be clarified.