Publications by authors named "Chouchene I"

Introduction: intensive care unit (ICU) beds are a scarce resource, and admissions may require prioritization when demand exceeds supply. However, there are few data regarding both outcomes of admitted patients to intensive care unit (ICU) in comparison with outcomes of not admitted patients. The aim of this study was to assess reasons and factors associated to refusal of admission to ICU as well as the impact on mortality at 28 days and patients' outcomes.

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Introduction: To describe all patients admitted to Tunisian intensive care unit with a diagnosis of influenza A/H1N1 virus infection after the 2009 influenza pandemic and to analyse their characteristics, predictors of complications and outcome.

Methods: All patients with influenza > 18-years-old hospitalized to the ICU department of Tunisian University hospital of Sousse, between December 1, 2009 and March 31, 2016, with a positive influenza A/H1N1/09 reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) from a nasopharyngeal specimen were included, were included.

Results: 40 cases were admitted to intensive care units.

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Fulminant meningococcemia is a relatively rare life-threatening disease caused by Neisseria meningitidis. The clinical presentation is varied, but, when associated with myocarditis, it carries a particularly poor prognosis. We report a case of a patient with fulminant meningococcemia who subsequently developed severe myocardial dysfunction and successfully recovered within a period of 7 days of hospitalization.

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Background: It is established that the standard treatment for lithiasic acute cholecystitis is the laparoscopic cholecystectomie. However, the question of the timing of cholecystectomy remains controversial.

Aim: To compare early laparoscopic cholecystectomies (within 72 hours of symptom onset) and delayed laparoscopic cholecystectomies (beyond 72 hours) for lithiasic acute cholecystitis in terms of intra-operative difficulties and post-operative complications.

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Article Synopsis
  • Intensive care unit (ICU) infections are a significant global health issue, and this study focused on their incidence and mortality factors in a Tunisian ICU.
  • The study surveyed 105 patients over six months, finding that 15.2% developed device-associated infections, with the highest rates linked to central and peripheral venous catheters.
  • Key risk factors for infections included the use of central venous catheters and longer ICU stays, while factors influencing mortality were immunosuppression and device-associated infections, indicating a need for improved infection control measures.
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Background: Inherited retinal dystrophies are the major causes of blindness and visual impairment. Visual loss is due to neurosensory retinal and pigment epithelium cells degeneration. The most severe were Leber Congenital amaurosis (LCA), juvenile retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and early onset RP.

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Objectives: Consanguinity is common in Tunisia. However, little information exists on its impact on recessive disorders. In this study, we evaluate the impact of consanguineous marriages on the occurrence of some specific autosomal recessive disorders and consider how other factors, such as population substructure and mutation frequency, may be of equal importance in disease prevalence.

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Introduction: Healthcare-associated infections represent a real public health problem. They are particularly frequent and severe in intensive care units due to the serious diseases presented by patients and the almost systematic use ofvarious medical devices. A study of the incidence of device-associated infections was conducted in the ICU of CHU Farhat Hached Sousse (Tunisia) to estimate the incidence and to identify risk factorsfor DAI METHODS: This prospective incidence study was conducted during the first quarter of 2012, with anonymous and standardized data collection for all patients hospitalized for at least 48 hours.

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This study is the first one that describes the situation of Legionnaires' disease (LD) in Tunisia, with its clinical and epidemiological characteristics and investigates the risk factors associated with Legionella infections in our country. We conducted a retrospective multicentric study during 5 years (2008-2012) concerning all confirmed LD cases in Tunisia and we investigated risk factors for infection. The total of confirmed LD cases was 14.

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Purpose: To assess vision loss, identify affected anatomical sites, determine etiologies and potentially avoidable causes in students attending two institutions for the visually disabled in Tunis city.

Methods: A visit for a complete ophthalmological examination was performed. All students attending these schools were recruited in our study.

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In order to charaterize the Stargardt disease, the molecular exploration of the c.2041C>T mutation (ABCA4 gene) and genotype phenotype correlation in Tunisian patients, seven unrelated propositi underwent a complete ophthalmological examination. The search for the mutation was performed by a direct sequencing after a specific amplification of exon 14 of the ABCA4 gene.

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To evaluate a possible association between the complement factor H (CFH) Y402H polymorphism and susceptibility to age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in the Tunisian population, as well as the impact of the genotype distribution among different phenotypes and the response to treatment with intravitreal bevacizumab, exon 9 of CFH was analyzed for the Y402H polymorphism by direct sequencing in 135 healthy controls and 127 sporadic unrelated AMD patients classified into the following groups: 12 atrophic AMD (group G1), 115 exudative AMD (G2) and 10 AMD patients who had fibrovascular scarring (G3) that did not allow a precise grading of the phenotype. Seventy patients in G2 were treated with 1.25 mg intravitreal bevacizumab at 6-week intervals until choroidal neovascularization (CNV) was no longer active.

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Introduction: Mal de Meleda is a rare form of palmoplantar keratoderma, with autosomal recessive transmission. It is characterized by diffuse erythema and hyperkeratosis of the palms and soles. Recently, mutations in the ARS (component B) gene (ARS, MIM: 606119) on chromosome 8q24.

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Mutations in FOXL2 gene are responsible for blepharophimosis ptosis epicanthus inversus and telecanthus syndrome (BPES). The BPES syndrome is a rare autosomal dominant genetic disease characterized by eyelid malformations associated with premature ovarian failure (BPES type I) or not (BPES type II). The human FOXL2 protein (376 aa) contains a 100 amino-acid DNA-binding forkhead domain (residues 52-152) and a polyalanine tract (residues 221-234).

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Central areolar choroidal dystrophy (CACD) is a rare inherited disease, which causes progressive profound loss of vision in patients during their fourth decade. It is characterized by atrophy of retinal pigment epithelium, photoreceptors and choriocapillaris. The disease showed a genetic heterogeneity.

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Objective: Study the diabetes prevalence on children because, in Tunisia there are not any available data concerning the epidemiological profile of diabetes in the population aged less than 19 years.

Material And Methods: We undertook an epidemiological survey on a representative sample of 1,569 pupils from Sousse in Tunisia aged between 13 and 19 years with a global answer rate of 95.4%.

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