Publications by authors named "Fatma Boussema"

Objective: Cognitive impairment (CI) in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is quite common and is an important prognostic factor due to its severity. The aim of our study was to determine the proportion and type of CI in SLE and to identify associated risk factors.

Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study (January - March 2022).

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Introduction: Medical ethics teaching is one of the pillars of medical education. Ethical reasoning learning (ERL) is one of the means of teaching medical ethics.

Objective: The aim of our study was to evaluate the pedagogical interest and the students' perceptions of ERL in directed teaching in internal medicine among fifth-year students.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to evaluate the renal response to three different immunosuppressive treatment protocols for patients with proliferative lupus nephritis in Tunisia over a 23-year period.
  • The findings revealed that 94.1% of patients on the High CYP regimen achieved a renal response, significantly outperforming both the Low CYP (67.5%) and MMF (61.9%) regimens.
  • The High CYP treatment was linked to better outcomes in terms of renal response, although it also had a higher incidence of severe adverse events compared to the other two protocols.
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Background: The assessment of nail changes in connective tissue diseases (CTD) has been rarely explored in previous studies. The use of dermoscopy to study vascular changes in nailfolds is an interesting diagnostic technique. The aim of the study was to describe the epidemiological, clinical, and dermoscopic features of nail lesions in CTD.

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Background: Amyloidosis is an uncommon disorder characterized by the extracellular deposition of amorphous and insoluble proteins in an abnormal fibrillary configuration. Mammary amyloidosis is an unusual and easily overlooked diagnosis with an ambivalent presentation that could mimic breast cancer.

Case Report: We here report the case of 60-year-old Caucasian woman who presented to our surgical oncology department for clinically and radiologically suspicious breast mass.

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Introduction: Infectious uveitis (IU), one of the main causes of ocular inflammation in Tunisia, has various etiologies and clinical presentations.

Aim: To report the causes and clinical features of IU in a Tunisian population.

Methods: Patients with IU referred to our department from February 2019 to January 2022 were included in a retrospective observational study.

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Rapid and early detection of pathologies for screening purposes is not always easy with traditional methods. New low-cost optical techniques that are suitable for preventive detection and, more specifically, for developing countries must be developed. The objective of this work is to propose UV-VIS fluorescence of hair as a promising technique for a simple and rapid preliminary diagnosis of type II diabetes.

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Introduction: to describe the epidemiological, clinical, therapeutic and evolving characteristics of Behçet´s disease and identify prognostic factors.

Methods: we have realized a retrospective, single-center study, conducted over a period of 26 years and including 130 patients presenting Behçet´s disease and hospitalized in an Internal Medicine Department.

Results: the mean age of the Behçet´s disease at onset was 30.

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Osteonecrosis in antiphospholipid syndrome is a diagnostic challenge for clinicians. Early diagnosis and intervention are important for better prognosis.

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We should keep in mind slowly growing malignancies when the lesion is located close to the synovial regions of the extremities. The diagnosis of certainty of myxofibrosarcoma is histological and is based on the demonstration of the myxoid matrix, fibroblastic cells with a curvilinear arrangement of the vessels.

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The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and the etiologic profile of hypertension (HTN) in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). A retrospective analysis was performed on 153 patients with SLE who attended our center for 16 years from January 2000 to December 2016. The diagnosis of SLE was established according to the classification criteria of the American College of Rheumatology in 1990.

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Introduction: Renal involvement is a common and serious manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and it is life-threatening.

Aim: To identify the predictive factors of the lupus nephritis (LN).

Methods: A descriptive, analytical, single-centre, retrospective study of 115 patients with SLE (ACR 1997) was carried out in an internal medicine department for a period of 20 years from 1997 until 2017.

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Introduction: Primary and secondary heart involvement in systemic sclerosis are important mortality predictors. Aim of this study was to investigate by standard echocardiography associated to pulsed-tissue Doppler imaging, six-minute walk test (6MWT) and BNP level cardiac manifestation in 30 patients with ScS and to establish a strategy to detect and to evaluate this complication.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted over a period of 16 months: a total of 30 consecutive patients with ScS diagnosed as proposed by the American college of Rheumatology and the European League Against Rheumatism 2013 and who were hospitalized in Internal Medicine department of Habib Thameur hospital underwent cardiac assessment.

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Introduction: Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) is an angioproliferative disorder first described in 1872 by Moritz Kaposi. Four main clinical presentations of KS have been described: classic, endemic, iatrogenic and epidemic. KS involvement of the lymph nodes is extremely uncommon in the classical variant form, especially if it precedes the skin manifestations.

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Background: Digital necrosis is a frequent event in vascular pathology. They are multiple etiologies and are the translation of a general or locoregional pathology. The aim of our study was to clarify the various causes of digital necrosis in an internal medicine department.

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