Ear, Nose, and Throat sarcoidosis: An etiology that should raise a flag? About two case reports.

Introduction: Sarcoidosis is a chronic inflammatory disease characterized by non-caseous necrotizing epithelial cell granulomas that can affect any organ. Ear, nose, and throat (ENT) involvement is rare. We report two cases of systemic sarcoidosis with ENT onset.

[Not Available].

Aim: To describe characteristics of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients with infectious complications and to determine frequency, clinical and microbiological features and outcomes of reported infections.

Methods: This is a descriptive, retrospective study conducted over an 11-year period at the Internal Medicine Department La Rabta Hospital Tunis, collecting medical records of SLE patients who had experienced infectious complications.

Results: Fifty-six patients were included, consisting of 52 females and 4 males (gender ratio M/F= 0.

Erdheim-Chester disease: A multisystem disease case illustration with rare manifestations and treatment challenges.

Erdheim-Chester disease is a rare multisystemic disease. A 50-year-old woman, presented with a recurrent pain and swelling of the left knee. Bone scintigraphy showed increased tracer uptake of peripheral skeleton.

Esophageal motor abnormalities on high-resolution manometry in patients with scleroderma.

Background: Systemic sclerosis (SS) is an autoimmune disorder that may result in diverse esophageal motor disorders. Typical manometric disorders include decreased lower esophageal sphincter (LES) pressure, absent contractility and ineffective peristalsis.

Aims: The aims of the study were to assess esophageal motor abnormalities in SS patients using high resolution manometry and to evaluate clinical and endoscopic features that are associated with manometric findings.

Pulmonary manifestations in antisynthetase syndrome.

Introduction: Pulmonary manifestations are frequent in patients with antisynthetase syndrome which is a particular form of inflammatory myopathies.

Aim: The aim of this study is to describe clinical features and long term outcome of interstitial lung disease in these patients.

Methods: This is a retrospective descriptive study in an internal medicine department.

Central Retinal Vein Occlusion Revealing Coeliac Disease.

Introduction: Thrombosis has been widely reported in coeliac disease (CD) but central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) is rarely described.

Case Presentation: A 27-year-old woman presented with acute visual loss and was diagnosed with CRVO. Her protein S and protein C levels were low and CD was diagnosed on the basis of endoscopic, immunological and histological results.

Pellagra in a patient with primary Sjögren's syndrome.

A 27-year-old woman presented with persistent dryness of the mouth and eyes. She presented with permanent photodistributed rash involving the face and distal extremities. Laboratory tests showed positive Sjögren's syndrome (SS)-A and SS-B antibodies.

TULUP (TUnisian LUPus): a multicentric study of systemic lupus erythematosus in Tunisia.

Aim: Clinical features of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) have been described from different geographical regions around the world. However, data from North African countries, including Tunisia, are scarce.

Methods: The aim of this retrospective multicenter study was to analyze demographic, clinical, laboratory features and outcome of SLE in Tunisia throughout 14 Departments of Internal Medicine and to compare them with those of other ethnic and geographic groups.

Characteristics of neurological manifestations of Behçet's disease: a retrospective monocentric study in Tunisia.

Objective: The aim of the present study was to analyze demographic, clinical and genetic features of Behçet's disease patients with neurological involvement through a monocentric study of a homogenous group of hospitalized patients observed in the same department and to compare them with those of other ethnic and geographic groups.

Methods: Four hundred and thirty Behçet's disease (BD) patients were retrospectively studied. Diagnosis of BD was made according to the international study group for Behçet's disease criteria.

Contribution of Hla-B51 in the susceptibility and specific clinical features of Behcet's disease in Tunisian patients.

Background: Many researchers have tried to investigate the association of HLA-B51 with the severity and the clinical features of BD with conflicting results.

Methods: We aimed at investigating the association of HLA-B51 with demographical and clinical manifestations as well as the severity of BD, by studying 178 native Tunisian BD patients, fulfilling the International Study group criteria for the BD classification recruited from the Department of Internal Medicine, Rabta Hospital in Tunis and compared with 125 native Tunisian healthy age and sex matching volunteers.

Results: According to our findings, the frequency of HLAB 51 was significantly higher in BD patients than in controls (p<0.

A Rare Cause of Lobular Panniculitis: Munchausen's Syndrome.

We describe a case of a 40-year-old woman who presented with ecchymoses of the right leg and who was found to have lobular panniculitis in biopsy due to Munchausen's Syndrome.

Associations of vitamin D receptor gene polymorphisms FokI and BsmI with susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis and Behçet's disease in Tunisians.

Objectives: Reports of immunomodulating effects of vitamin D suggest a need for examining allele and genotype frequencies of the vitamin D nuclear receptor gene (VDR) in patients with autoimmune diseases. T-helper-1 (Th1) counts in peripheral blood are increased in both rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and Behçet's disease (BD). We studied VDR polymorphisms in patients with these two diseases in Tunisia.

[Esophageal motility abnormalities in systemic sclerosis: frequency and predictive factors].

Background: Esophageal involvement is frequent during systemic sclerosis. It consists on esophageal motor abnormalities. Esophageal manometry is the gold standard for the diagnosis.

Efficacy of low-dose oral sulodexide in the management of diabetic nephropathy.

Background: Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is the single greatest cause of end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Without specific interventions, microalbuminuria (incipient nephropathy) gradually progresses to macroalbuminuria (overt nephropathy) within 10-15 years in about 80% of type 1 and 30% of type 2 diabetic patients, and to ESRD within further 20 years in about 75% and 20%, respectively. A primary alteration in DN consists of decreased concentration of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) in the glomerular extracellular matrix.