[Quality of Life of Adolescents with Homozygous Sickle-Cell Disease Managed at the Brazzaville Teaching Hospital (Congo)].

Adolescence is a particular age group in terms of psychological and somatic changes. Thus, the experience of a chronic disease such as sickle-cell disease is different compared to the younger child who depends entirely on his parents. The purpose of this study is to assess the quality of life and to identify the determinants of good quality of life of such teenagers.

[Sickle-cell crisis in the child and teenager in Brazzaville, Congo. A retrospective study of 587 cases].

Using files related to children admitted at the Brazzaville teaching hospital (Congo) between May 1995 and May 2002, the authors have studied the part of sickle cell crisis (SCC) in the sickle cell disease, have assessed the epidemiological particularities, the relation between some clinical, biological factors as well as the severity of the disease. On the whole, 587 SCC have been observed in homozygous SS children aged 6 to 17. The distribution was as follows: painful osteo-articular crisis (58.

[Radiological profile in 92 children suffering from Pott's disease].

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to analyse the radiological profile in 92 patients with Pott's disease and to identify severity factors. Among these subjects, aged from 11 months to 15 years old (average: 7.5 years), 37% of children had neurological signs; the HIV test was positive in 11 % of cases.

[The effects of smoking and the degree of nicotine dependence on aerobic capacity in sportsmen].

Aim: To assess the effects of smoking and the degree of nicotine dependence on aerobic capacity in smokers undergoing endurance training.

Methods: 126 smokers aged between 18 and 31 years playing in the football teams of the Congolese first (n = 64) and second divisions (n = 64) co-operated voluntarily in the study. Aerobic capacity was determined by Cooper's running test.