Short-term mortality prediction using a combination of clinical and CT features: Refining the prognosis of critically ill patients in shock.

Purpose: To assess the predictive value of combining CT and clinical findings for predicting 10-day mortality in critically ill patients in shock.

Materials And Methods: From January 1, 2018, to December 31, 2021, 289 consecutives critically ill patients in shock who underwent a contrast enhanced CT were included. Variables at the time of the CT were retrospectively extracted from medical charts.

Abdominal atherosclerosis is not a risk factor of nonocclusive mesenteric ischemia among critically ill patients: a propensity matching study.

Background: Although risk factors of occlusive acute mesenteric ischemia are well known, triggering factors of nonocclusive mesenteric ischemia (NOMI) remain unclear. Alongside to the known risk factors for NOMI, the role of atherosclerosis is not fully elucidated. The purpose of our study was to evaluate whether abdominal atherosclerosis is a risk factor for NOMI.

Establishing the First Neurosurgical Skill Laboratory in West Africa: An Initiative for an Affordable Regional Education Center.

Background: The benefits of a neurosurgical skill laboratory (NSL) are unquestionable. Despite the increasing number of sub-Saharan African neurosurgeons, few cadaveric laboratories are available for neurosurgical education. The first of its kind in West Africa, a NSL opened in 2019 in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire to promote neurosurgeons' education and technical skills.

Seroprevalence of Cysticercosis among Epileptic Patients Attending Neurological Units in the Urban Area of Abidjan.

Cysticercosis is one of the main causes of secondary epilepsy in sub-Saharan Africa. To estimate the seroprevalence of cysticercosis among epileptic patients, we conducted a cross-sectional study of patients attending neurology consultation in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. : Patients' socio-demographic and lifestyle data were collected as well as blood samples for serological testing using ELISA and Western blot based on IgG antibodies detection.

Varicocele complicating an anterior lumbar interbody fusion: a case report.

Anterior lumbar interbody fusion (ALIF) is performed for the surgical management of lumbar degenerative disc disease with excellent results, particularly for discogenic low back pain. Commonly reported complications associated with this approach include vessel injury, retrograde ejaculation, and ureteral and viscus organ injury. The development of a varicocele after ALIF has not been previously described in the literature.

Impact of systematic early tuberculosis detection using Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra in children with severe pneumonia in high tuberculosis burden countries (TB-Speed pneumonia): a stepped wedge cluster randomized trial.

Background: In high tuberculosis (TB) burden settings, there is growing evidence that TB is common in children with pneumonia, the leading cause of death in children under 5 years worldwide. The current WHO standard of care (SOC) for young children with pneumonia considers a diagnosis of TB only if the child has a history of prolonged symptoms or fails to respond to antibiotic treatments. As a result, many children with TB-associated severe pneumonia are currently missed or diagnosed too late.

Discovery of Type 3 von Willebrand Disease in a Cohort of Patients with Suspected Hemophilia A in Côte d'Ivoire.

Background: Type 3 von Willebrand disease (VWD) is the most severe form of VWD, characterized by a near-total absence of von Willebrand factor (vWF), leading to a massive deficiency in plasmatic factor VIII (FVIII). VWD may be confused with hemophilia A, sometimes leading to misdiagnosis. The purpose of this work was to finalize the biological diagnosis of patients with FVIII activity deficiency in Abidjan in order to guide the best type of management.

A Case of Progressive Ossifying Fibrodysplasia of Tracheobronchial Respiratory Muscles.

The authors report a case of progressive ossifying myositis (POM) in a 13-year-old boy, revealed by dry cough and dyspnea. Conventional chest x-rays and whole-body CT showed extraskeletal ossification that seems to affect the left bronchial strain and trachea. This lesional topography, if established, not yet described to our knowledge, contrasts with the observations of all the authors, including Munchmeyer, for whom smooth muscles and muscles attached to the skeleton by a single end are spared by the heterotopic ossifications characteristic of the disease.

Twenty-Year Evolution of Hepatitis B Virus and Human Immunodeficiency Virus Prevalence and Incidence in Voluntary Blood Donors in Côte d'Ivoire.

Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) share common risk factors. The parallel description of their frequency over time may help capture their similarities and differences.

Methods: Using data from the National Transfusion Center of Abidjan, we estimated the following over a 20-year period: (1) the prevalence of HIV and hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) positivity at first contact; and (2) the incidence of HIV and HBsAg seroconversion in negative first-time blood donors.

The epidemiology of adolescents living with perinatally acquired HIV: A cross-region global cohort analysis.

Background: Globally, the population of adolescents living with perinatally acquired HIV (APHs) continues to expand. In this study, we pooled data from observational pediatric HIV cohorts and cohort networks, allowing comparisons of adolescents with perinatally acquired HIV in "real-life" settings across multiple regions. We describe the geographic and temporal characteristics and mortality outcomes of APHs across multiple regions, including South America and the Caribbean, North America, Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, and South and Southeast Asia.

Optimal timing of antiretroviral treatment initiation in HIV-positive children and adolescents: a multiregional analysis from Southern Africa, West Africa and Europe.

Background: There is limited knowledge about the optimal timing of antiretroviral treatment initiation in older children and adolescents.

Methods: A total of 20 576 antiretroviral treatment (ART)-naïve patients, aged 1-16 years at enrolment, from 19 cohorts in Europe, Southern Africa and West Africa, were included. We compared mortality and growth outcomes for different ART initiation criteria, aligned with previous and recent World Health Organization criteria, for 5 years of follow-up, adjusting for all measured baseline and time-dependent confounders using the g-formula.

Spontaneous Intracranial Extradural Hematoma in Sickle Cell Disease.

Spontaneous extradural hematoma is rare in patients with sickle cell disease. We report a clinical case of a 19-year-old young man with sickle cell anemia who presented a sickle cell crisis complicated by the development of multiple acute extradural and subgaleal hematomas that had not been treated surgically. We discuss the physiopathology of this event.

Effect of cotrimoxazole prophylaxis on the incidence of malaria in HIV-infected children in 2012, in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire: a prospective cohort study.

Background: Cotrimoxazole prophylaxis has an antimalarial effect which could have an additional protective effect against malaria in HIV-infected children on antiretroviral therapy (ART). We measured the incidence and associated factors of malaria in HIV-infected children on ART and/or cotrimoxazole in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.

Methods: All HIV-infected children <16 years, followed-up in the IeDEA West-African paediatric cohort (pWADA) in Abidjan, were prospectively included from May to August 2012, the rainy season.

Surgical vertebral body cementoplasty as spinal cancer metastasis management.

Spinal metastases of cancer are frequent and their treatment strategy remains a problem. The aim of the present paper is to present the technique of cementoplasty and its originality. Spine corporeal cementoplasty techniques were performed in 9 patients with spine metastasis treated at Neurosurgery Department between 2002 and 2005.

Craniofacial modifications in Ivorian melanoderm children with chronic retronasal obstruction.

Objective: To determine the influence of the chronic retro nasal airway obstruction on craniofacial morphology.

Methods: It was a case-control study which included fifty-eight melanoderm children aged from 3 to 6 years (31 males and 27 females), divided in 2 samples. A studied group of 29 habitual snorers presenting chronic retro nasal obstruction due to enlarged adenoid and a control group of 29 age matched children selected among patients consulting for routine evaluation.

Polyhydramnios: a warning sign in the prenatal ultrasound diagnosis of foetal malformation?

Purpose: To propose polyhydramnios seen during prenatal diagnosis as a warning sign of foetal malformation.

Patients And Methods: A retrospective multicentre study over a three-year period carried out in Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso. We reviewed 3903 obstetric ultrasound reports.

Protein energy malnutrition revealing an esophageal foreign body.

It is not unusual for a foreign body to be swallowed and be lodged in the esophagus. It is however, very unusual for such a foreign body to remain lodged for a period of 8 months. This particular case, a 15-month-old male infant, is under focus because of the time length the foreign body remained in the esophagus without local complications, what is unusual is a protein energy malnutrition complication.

Organizational and operational capabilities of specialist centres for children with psychomotor disability in Abidjan.

Objective: To describe the organizational and operational capabilities of specialized centres for children with psychomotor disability in Abidjan, Republic of Côte d'Ivoire.

Materials And Methods: This descriptive study was carried out from February to May, 2006 at the various specialized centres for children with psychomotor disability that exist in the district of Abidjan. The procedure comprised a clinical description of the disabled children admitted to these centres and an assessment of the centres' organization and operational capabilities.