[Pregnancy in dermatomyositis and polymyositis].

Aim: To determine the incidence of pregnancies during the inflammatory myopathy (IM), its influence on this disease and the influence of IM on the pregnancy's outcome.

Methods: From 1979 to 2007 we have collected retrospectively 67cases of IM (53 women and 14 men) in the department of internal medicine CHU Hedi Chaker of Sfax (Tunisia). Diagnosis criteria were those and Peter.

Intima-media thickness of carotid artery in patients with Behçet's disease.

Background And Aims: In this study we investigated the carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) in Tunisian patients with Behçet's disease (BD), and we evaluated the relationship between traditional and nontraditional cardiovascular risk factors, disease manifestations, disease severity, use of immunosuppressive agents and cIMT in patients with BD.

Methods: Fifty patients with BD were individually matched to 50 control subjects on the basis of age, gender and traditional cardiovascular risk factors. Subjects with diabetes mellitus, evidence of myocardial infarction or cerebrovascular disease were excluded from the study.

Atherogenic lipid profile in Behçet's disease: evidence of alteration of HDL subclasses.

Background And Aims: Behçet's disease (BD) is an inflammatory vasculitis, most common in the Mediterranean area and Asia. Evidence for accelerated atherosclerosis in BD has been observed. The relationship between cardiovascular risk factors and accelerated atherosclerosis in patients with BD is still controversial.

Coexistence of Behçet's disease with ankylosing spondylitis and familial Mediterranean fever: a rare occurrence.

Behçet's disease (BD) and familial Mediterranean fever (FMF), which are two separate diseases sharing some clinical features, may also coexist in the same patient. Further investigations are needed to understand whether this coexistence is due to either chance or geographical distribution patterns of these diseases or to common etiopathogenetic characteristics. Spondylarthritis as part of the clinical picture in these two diseases has been questioned and probably it is not a prominent characteristic of any of them.

Acute pancreatitis as initial manifestation of adult Henoch-Schönlein purpura: report of a case and review of literature.

Abdominal pain observed in Henoch-Schönlein purpura (HSP) is usually attributed to edema and hemorrhage in the small bowel wall, secondary to a small-vessel vasculitis. Pancreatitis secondary to HSP is extremely rare. Here we report a 53-year-old man presented with acute pancreatitis that developed into characteristic rashes seen during HSP at the second day of the clinical onset, together with arthritis and glomerulonephritis.

Membranous glomerulopathy associated with idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome.

Renal involvement is rarely reported and little is known about the renal morphologic changes in the idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndromes. We reported a case of a 52-year-old man with idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome associated with membranous glomerulopathy. The eosinophilia and the proteinuria greatly improved with corticosteroid treatment.

Systemic sclerosis in a patient with pityriasis rubra pilaris.

Pityriasis rubra pilaris (PRP) is a rare, chronic erythematous squamous disorder of unknown etiology. It has been found in association with several autoimmune diseases, including thyroiditis, myositis, myasthenia gravis and vitiligo. Herein we report a case of systemic sclerosis in a patient with classic adult pityriasis rubra pilaris.

[Takayasu arteritis in southern Tunisia: a study of 29 patients].

Objectives: This study aimed to assess the clinical, laboratory, and radiological features and course of Takayasu arteritis in Tunisia.

Methods: This retrospective study analyzed 29 patients with Takayasu arteritis between 1996 and 2006 who met the criteria for inclusion proposed by the American College of Rheumatology (ACR).

Results: The file review identified 25 women and 4 men, with a mean age at diagnosis of 35.

Clinical and diagnostic value of ribosomal P autoantibodies in systemic lupus erythematosus.

Objective: To analyse prospectively the diagnostic sensitivity and specificity as well as the clinical relevance of ribosomal P (anti-P) autoantibodies in a large cohort of SLE patients.

Methods: The anti-P autoantibodies were evaluated in the serum of 200 Tunisian SLE patients at disease onset and 130 various control subjects by a sensitive immunodot assay. A complete laboratory evaluation and clinical examination were performed in each SLE patient.

[Adult Schönlein-Henoch purpura associated with epidermoid carcinoma of the lung].

Introduction: Association between Schönlein-Henoch purpura and neoplasm can suggest the responsibility of tumour antigens in the genesis of the vasculitis. We report a new case of squamous cell carcinoma associated with Schönlein-Henoch purpura and we discuss the reality of this association.

Case Report: We report the case of a 50-year-old man who presents Schönlein-Henoch purpura with a purpura of lower limbs, joint involvement, gastrointestinal lesions and IgA renal mesangial deposits.

Clinical and immunological manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus: study on 146 south Tunisian patients.

The objective of this study was to determine the main clinical and laboratory features as well as the morbidity and mortality of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in a population of patients predominantly from the south of Tunisia. A retrospective review of a well documented population of 146 patients with SLE was undertaken. All patients fulfilled four or more criteria defined by the American College of Rheumatology.

Wegener's granulomatosis presenting as multiple bilateral renal masses: case report and literature review.

Wegener's granulomatosis (WG) is a disease of unknown etiology characterized by necrotizing granulomatous vascularitis. The upper and lower respiratory tract and kidney involvements are very common; however, its presentation as bilateral renal masses is unusual. We report a case of a 59-year-old female patient who presented with multiple bilateral renal masses.

[Mortality and prognostic factors in 146 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus in southern Tunisia].

Objectives: The objective of this study was to analyze the survival rate, causes of death, and prognostic factors in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), mainly from southern Tunisia.

Methods: This retrospective study examined the records of 146 Tunisian patients with SLE, all meeting at least 4 of the American College of Rheumatology criteria for this diagnosis.

Results: The mean age at presentation of these patients (126 women and 20 men) was 29.