[Neurological manifestations of Behcet's disease: 22 cases among 170 patients].

Objectives: To present neurological involvement in Behçet's disease, its prognosis and treatment.

Methods: Our study was retrospective and was done at Hotel-Dieu Hospital of Beirut between 1980 and 2005. All these patients fulfilled the International Study Group criteria for diagnosis of Behçet's disease.

[Giant mediastinal cystic lymphangioma: clinical case and review of the literature].

Benign cystic lymphangioma is a relatively rare tumor of the human body. It's more frequent in young patients. It is usually localized in the neck but may have mediastinal or intra-abdominal localization.

[Clinico-pathological correlation--Lebanese experience].

This is a retrospective and descriptive study done at an academic hospital center. It collects data about 143 patients admitted during 10 years at the hospital, between January 1989 and December 2000, to have renal biopsy for suspicion of glomerulopathy. The glomerulonephritides most frequently present were: mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis (15%), membrano-proliferative glomerulonephritis (13%), chronic glomerulonephritis (13%), membranous glomerulonephritis (8%), proliferative focal and segmental glomerulonephritis (8%) and scleronodular focal glomerulonephritis (8%).

[Multisystemic amyloidosis. Clinical study of 39 patients in Lebanon].

Objective: Clinical analysis of multisystem amyloidosis in Lebanon, by histological type.

Method: Retrospective study of 39 cases of multisystem amyloidosis diagnosed histologically in a university hospital center between 1991 and 2002. It analyzed the following clinical data: age, gender, type of presentation, time from symptom onset to diagnosis, clinical features, concomitant diseases, family history of amyloidosis, biopsy sites, presence of urinary or serum monoclonal gammopathy, immunohistochemical type, prognosis and treatment.

[Peritoneal pseudomyxoma: two case reports and review of the literature].

In this article, we present two cases of peritoneal pseudomyxoma suspected on abdominal CT Scan and then confirmed on pathologic examination. A mucinus carcinoma was the primary lesion in the two cases, appendicular in the first case and with an undeterminate origin in the second. The prognosis was bad in these cases despite the debulking surgery and the systemic and intraperitoneal chemotherapy.

[Neurobrucellosis: clinical features and therapeutic responses in 15 patients].

We report a retrospective analysis of 15 cases of neurobrucellosis. Initial clinical manifestations consisted of meningoencephalitis in 5 patients, acute and subacute meningitis in 4, intracranial hypertension in 2, polyradiculoneuritis with albumin-cell dissociation in 2 (one with cerebral and subarachnoid hemorrhage), and transverse myelitis and lumbar epidural abcess with root involvement in 1 each. Cranial nerve involvement was noted in 5 patients.

Vascular manifestations of Behçet's disease. Eighteen cases among 140 patients.

Objectives: To describe the features, prognosis, and treatment of vascular involvement in Behçet's disease (BD).

Patients: Among 140 patients with BD seen at the Hôtel-Dieu Hospital in Beirut between 1980 and 2000, 18 (13%) had vascular involvement and were included in this retrospective study. All these patients fulfilled International Study Group criteria for BD.

[Vertebral actinomycosis: case report and review of the literature].

In this article, the case of a 32-year-old man with a paravertebral actinomycosis is discussed. Initially, the diagnosis was not obvious but it was confirmed later with the repetitive radiologic procedures, the elimination of other etiologies (purulent, mycobacterial or mycotic infections and neoplasia) and the biopsy. Treatment with penicillin initially and then with tetracycline for a long term led to a very good outcome at a 3-year follow-up with a radiologic remission.

[Typhoid fever. Retrospective study of 52 cases in Lebanon].

Objective: Present the epidemiology and clinical characteristics of typhoid fever in the Lebanon.

Methods: Retrospective study of 52 patients admitted to a university hospital center between 1995 and 1999. The criteria for inclusion were a positive Salmonella typhi or paratyphi hemoculture and/or Widal serodiagnosis > 1/160 for O agglutinin, in the presence of evocative symptoms.

[Acute deafness after carbon monoxide poisoning. Case report and review of the literature].

A 61-year-old man developed an extrapyramidal syndrome 15 days after an episode of carbon monoxide poisoning. Two months later he developed severe deafness. Brain imaging revealed ischemic lesions in the region of the basal ganglia.

[Distal glue embolization in a patient with gastrointestinal hemorrhage].

This is a case report, concerning the endovascular use of N-butyl-2-cyanoacrylate, for treatment of a digestive hemorrhage from a distal branch of the superior mesenteric artery, leading to a successful outcome. This material, usually used in brain angiomas, constitutes an alternative for digestive embolization, which is quick, precise and definitive, without additional risk in experienced hands.

[Human brucellosis. Retrospective studies of 63 cases in Lebanon].

Objectives: We performed an epidemiological survey to ascertain the clinical features of brucellosis in Lebanon.

Patients And Methods: Between 1994 and 1998, 63 patients were seen at the Hôtel-Dieu de France Hospital in Beirut Lebanon. Diagnostic criteria were brucellar agglutinins at a titer > or = 1/160 with symptoms suggestive of brucellosis in the absence of another diagnosis.

[Agents and consequences of nosocomial infections in a Lebanese university hospital. Retrospective study over a two-year period].

Objectives: Study the common sites of nosocomial infection, pathogens and antibiotic resistance in a university hospital.

Method: Retrospective study during 1997 and 1998.

Results: One hundred eighty nosocomial infections were recorded in 154 patients.

[Pseudo-Takayasu in Behcet's disease].

Behcet's disease is a chronic multisystem vasculitis that is frequent in Lebanon. The great arteries involvement is rare. We report here an unusual case of subclavian artery occlusion (pseudo-Takayasu) with a literature review.

[Unusual presentation of typhoid fever. Apropos of 3 cases].

Typhoid fever is still an endemic disease in Lebanon with a risk of mortality especially in the immunosuppressed patients. We report 3 atypical observations and discuss cardiopulmonary, neurological, hematologic and urinary manifestations of this disease.

Acute cocaine intoxication in a smuggler. One case report and a review of the literature.

The smuggling of cocaine into many countries by ingestion of wrapped cocaine packets and gastro-intestinal concealment is a common and well-recognized practice. This is a report of the case of a smuggler carrying 14 ingested packets of cocaine and who presented an acute intoxication with a rare complication, rhabdomyolysis, which were managed medically and the packets removed surgically. A discussion and a review of the literature are undertaken.

[Behçet disease. Genetic factors, immunologic aspects and new therapeutic methods].

Pathogenesis: The pathogenesis of Behcetp3disease is still unknown, although a genetic predisposition appears to play an important role with a strong association with the MICA gene located between the HLA-B and TNF genes rather than HLA B51. Abnormal immune responses affect especially cellular immunity and significant T-cell proliferative responses by the gamma ô subset of T cells are shown after stimulation with heat shock protein peptides. Systemic levels of the soluble TNF R-75 and IL 12 could be the best biological markers of disease activity.

[Neonatal lupus erythematosis and atrial-ventricular block. A case report and review of the literature].

Neonatal lupus erythematosus is a rare syndrome. It is characterized by a transient lupus dermatitis and congenital heart block. The immunopathogenesis of the disease has been linked to the presence of the SSA antibody.

[Werner's syndrome].

Background: Werner's syndrome associates early aging in young adults, small height, cataract, glucose intolerance, hypogonadism, skin ulcers, vascular calcifications and osteoporosis.

Case Report: We report a new case of Werner's syndrome in a 34-year-old man with suggestive alterations of the skin and endocrine anomalies in addition to hypospadias, urethral stenosis, bilateral mega-ureter and chronic renal failure.

Discussion: The diagnosis of Werner's syndrome in our patient was unquestionable because of the clinical presentation and the familial context.

[Inflammatory intestinal diseases and their extra-intestinal manifestations observed at Liban].

101 cases classified as inflammatory bowel disease at the Hôtel-Dieu de France Hospital between 1982 and 1994 were investigated. Files containing a sure diagnosis and complete clinical and biological investigations were included. 65 files were retained for the study: 48 cases had ulcerative colitis (UC), 17 had Crohn's disease (CD).

[Scleroderma with anomalies of the thyroid function. 7 cases].

Thyroid function, studied in 36 scleroderma patients revealed 7 abnormal cases: 6 hypothyroid patients secondary to autoimmune thyroiditis and 1 hyperthyroidism secondary to Graves' disease. In the hypothyroid subgroup, 3 cases presented a localized systemic sclerosis and the 3 others presented a diffuse systemic sclerosis; Sjögren syndrome was found in 2 of these patients. The hyperthyroid patient presented a diffuse systemic sclerosis.