Active tuberculosis infection in moroccan patients with rheumatic diseases under biologic therapy: A multicenter national study.

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of active tuberculosis (TB) infection in Moroccan patients with rheumatic diseases under biologic therapy, and to describe the demographic characteristics of these patients as well as to explore potential risk factors.

Methods: This 14-year nationally representative multicenter study enrolled Moroccan patients with rheumatic diseases who had been treated with biologic therapy. Patient medical records were reviewed retrospectively for demographic characteristics, underlying rheumatic diseases, associated comorbidities, and TB-related data.

[Ankylosing spondylitis associated with Still's disease: should it be considered a pathophysiologic link or a simple association?].

Ankylosing spondylitis is a chronic inflammatory rheumatism; it is part of the group of spondyloarthrites. General signs such as fever and weight loss are of little importance. Adult Still's disease is a rare systemic condition, a diagnosis of exclusion commonly characterized by high hectic fever, rash, arthritis and various systemic manifestations.

Chronic tophaceous gout with unusual large tophi: case report.

Gout is a metabolic disease, which is characterized by acute or chronic arthritis, and deposition of monosodium urate crystals in joint, bones, soft tissues, and kidneys. But large tophi are unusual in chronic gout. We report the case of a 67-year-oldArabman presenting chronic tophaceous gout with unusual large tophi involving multiple joints: hands, feet, elbows, and knees.

An unusual manifestation in a patient with adult-onset Still's disease: Minimal glomerular lesion.

Adult-onset Still's disease (AOSD) is a multisystem inflammatory disease of unknown etiology. It is characterized by arthritis, hectic fever, transient rash and visceral lesions such as pleuropericarditis, lymphadenopathy and hepato splenomegaly. Although kidney involvement may appear in some cases of AOSD, minimal glomerular lesion (MGL) has not been described.

Calcification of the alar ligament of the cervical spine in a patient with rheumatoid arthritis.

Calcification of the alar ligament is rare. It usually develops as a result of traumatic injury and is especially prominent in the elderly. CT scanning is the gold standard of the diagnosis.

Relationship between spine osteoarthritis, bone mineral density and bone turn over markers in post menopausal women.

Background: Several studies have observed an inverse relationship between osteoporosis and spinal osteoarthritis, the latter being considered as possibly delaying the development of osteoporosis. The aim of this study was to determine the association between individual radiographic features of spine degeneration, bone mineral density (BMD) and bone-turn over markers.

Methods: It was a cross sectional study of 277 post menopausal women.

Relationship between historical height loss and vertebral fractures in postmenopausal women.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between historical height loss (HHL) and prevalent vertebral fractures (VF) in postmenopausal Moroccan women and to estimate its accuracy as a clinical test for detecting VF. Two hundred eighty-eight postmenopausal women were studied. All subjects had bone density measurements and spinal radiographs.