Publications by authors named "Maher Balkis"

An infectious aortic aneurysm is a rare disease entity. We report a challenging case of a 29-year-old male presenting with chest pain and constitutional symptoms. The patient was found to have three pseudoaneurysms of the aorta on imaging, significant pathological findings of necrotizing granulomatous lymphadenitis from a supraclavicular lymph node biopsy, and a highly suggestive clinical picture of tuberculous aortitis.

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There are conflicting data regarding the use of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) in COVID-19 hospitalized patients. The objective of this study was to assess the efficacy of HCQ in increasing SARS-CoV-2 viral clearance.Hospitalized adult patients with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection were retrospectively included in the study.

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Novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a highly infectious, rapidly spreading viral disease. As of writing this article, there are over 4.4 million people affected by COVID-19, and unfortunately, 300,000 have succumbed to the infection.

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Background: There is a lack of official national antimicrobial resistance (AMR) data in Lebanon. Individual hospitals generate their own antibiotic susceptibility data in the form of yearly pamphlets.

Methods: In this study, antibiotic susceptibility data from 13 hospitals distributed across different governorates of Lebanon were collected to conduct a compilation-based surveillance of AMR in Lebanon for the years 2015-2016.

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We describe a case of a young male with disseminated tuberculosis and severe secondary hemophagocytic syndrome. He presented with symptoms of tuberculosis and Mycobacterium tuberculosis was diagnosed. Later, while on anti-tuberculous treatment, he developed pancytopenia and bone marrow aspirate showed large macrophages with increased phagocytosis of mature and immature blood elements typical of hemophagocytic syndrome.

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We report a fatal case of disseminated Mycobacteriumsimiae infection in an immunocompetent elderly man with fever of unknown origin. The diagnosis was based on culture isolation of non-tuberculous mycobacteria from cerebrospinal fluid and bronchoalveolar lavage. Both culture isolates were identified as M.

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We report a patient presenting with severe epigastric pain and diffuse abdominal tenderness, with negative imaging and endoscopic evaluation. During hospitalization, the patient developed confusion, seizures, pneumonia, anemia and thrombocytopenia. A hemorrhagic rash appeared on day nine of admission, with serology and skin biopsy confirming a diagnosis of hemorrhagic varicella.

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The increased use of antifungal agents in recent years has resulted in the development of resistance to these drugs. The significant clinical implication of resistance has led to heightened interest in the study of antifungal resistance from different angles. In this article we discuss antifungal susceptibility testing, the mode of action of antifungals and mechanisms of resistance.

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