Recurrent symptomatic ischemic stroke in a 46-year-old African male revealing Angio-Behçet with severe cardiovascular involvement

AbstractBehçet’sdisease (BD) is a chronic, multisystem vasculitis. It is categorized under variable vessel vasculitis in the new Chapel Hill nomenclature as it involves blood vessels of any type and size. It is characterized by relapsing aphthous ulcers commonly occurring in the oral mucosa and genitalia with ocular involvement. Other organ systems may be involved any time throughout the course of the disease. The exact cause is unknown. However, combination of genetic and environmental factors is likely to play a role.Cardiac involvement may occur in the form of intracardiac thrombus, endocarditis, myocarditis, pericarditis, endomyocardial fibrosis, coronary arteritis, myocardial infarction, and valvular disease.We present a case of Angio-Behçet in a 46-year-old African male with severe cardiovascular involvement including pulmonary artery hypertension (PAH), right ventricular failure and left ventricular diastolic dysfunction diagnosed after 2 episodes of symptomatic ischemic stroke resulting from complete occlusion of the right internal carotid artery (ICA) up to its intracranial portion.Immunosuppressive and anticoagulant therapies have induced improvement in cardiac manifestations. Nevertheless, prompt recognition of the primarily vascular manifestation of BD without mucocutaneous manifestations was responsible for considerable delay that did not afford surgical therapy for the carotid occlusion

Impact of Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy on Chronic Hepatitis B Serological Markers among Senegalese HIV Co-infected Children

International audienceBackground: Coinfection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) causes complex interactions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the seroprevalence and HBV evolution among HIV coinfected children receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART).Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out among 252 HIV infected children enrolled in the Hôpital d'enfants Albert Royer, Dakar, Senegal, from April 2013 to March 2015. Clinical characteristics, immuno-virological status, alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels, and HBV serological marker were taken from the patients' medical records.Results: Overall, 7 children were HBsAg positive with a determinate prevalence rate of 2.8%. Median age at HIV diagnosis was 3.5 years (1.3-14.4 years). According to World Health Organization (WHO) staging, 40.1% of children were stage 4 and 25.8% were stage 3. Of the 7 HIV/HBV-co-infected children, 6 (86%) received lamivudine alone at initiation of treatment, and only one child received tenofovir associated with emtricitabine. Overall median HAART duration treatment including lamivudine alone or tenofovir+lamivudine (or emtricitabine) was 7.7 years (3.3-11.3). Only the two children (29%) receiving lamivudine during follow-up had high HBV DNA load despite having good immuno-virological status. Suppression of HBV DNA replication was achieved in 5 (71.4%) of 7 children.Conclusion and Global Health Implication: HIV/HBV coinfection prevalence was low in our study. HBsAg and HBeAg loss were low while suppression of HBV DNA replication was still higher on tenofovir. Screening and monitoring HBV infection among all HIV infected children are required to direct treatment in order to improve children HBV/HIV coinfected outcome

Impact of Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy on Chronic Hepatitis B Serological Markers among Senegalese HIV Co-infected Children

Background: Coinfection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) causes complex interactions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the seroprevalence and HBV evolution among HIV coinfected children receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART).&#x0D; Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out among 252 HIV infected children enrolled in the H</jats:p

Cardiovascular disease and ABO blood-groups in Africans. Are blood-group A individuals at higher risk of ischemic disease?: A pilot study

Background: Since the discovery of the ABO blood group system by Karl Landsteiner in 1901, several reports have suggested an important involvement of the ABO blood group system in the susceptibility to thrombosis. Assessing that non-O blood groups in particular A blood group confer a higher risk of venous and arterial thrombosis than group O. Epidemiologic data are typically not available for all racial and ethnics groups. The purpose of this pilot study was to identify a link between ABO blood group and ischemic disease (ID) in Africans, and to analyze whether A blood group individuals were at higher risk of ischemic disease or not. Methods: A total of 299 medical records of patients over a three-year period admitted to the cardiology and internal medicine department of military hospital of Ouakam in Senegal were reviewed. We studied data on age, gender, past history of hypertension, diabetes, smoking, sedentarism, obesity, hyperlipidemia, use of estrogen-progestin contraceptives and blood group distribution. In each blood group type, we evaluated the prevalence of ischemic and non-ischemic cardiovascular disease. The medical records were then stratified into two categories to evaluate incidence of ischemic disease: Group 1: Patients carrying blood-group A and Group 2: Patients carrying blood group non-A (O, AB and B). Results: Of the 299 patients whose medical records were reviewed, 92 (30.8%) were carrying blood group A, 175 (58.5%) had blood group O, 13 (4.3%) had blood group B, and 19 (6.4%) had blood group AB. The diagnosis of ischemic disease (ID) was higher in patients with blood group A (61.2%) than in other blood groups, and the diagnosis of non-ischemic disease (NID) was higher in patients with blood group O (73.6%) compared to other groups. In patients with blood group B or AB compared to non-B or non-AB, respectively there was no statistically significant difference in ID incidence. Main risk factor for ID was smoking (56.5%), hypertension (18.4%) and diabetes (14.3%). In our study, there was no statistical difference between blood group A and non-A in myocardial infarction (MI) incidence (p = 0.09, 95% CI = 0.99–2.83) but a statistically significant difference between blood group A and non-A in stroke and coronary artery disease (CAD) incidence (p < 0.0001, 95% CI = 1.80–3.37 and p < 0.0001 95% CI = 1.82–3.41 respectively) was found. The incidence of ID in men was significantly higher in blood group A (95% CI = 2.26–4.57, p < 0.0001) compared with non-A group, while there was no statistically significant difference in women (p = 0.35). However, an overall effect was detected to be statistically significant regardless of gender (p < 0.0001). Conclusion: Our study suggests an association between blood group A and ID in sub-Sahara Africans. In African countries, where most of health facilities are understaffed, more rigorous studies with a larger population are needed to give a high level of evidence to confirm this association in order to establish the need to be more aggressive in risk factor control in these individuals

Improving the informed consent process among HIV‐infected undisclosed minors participating in a biomedical research: insights from the multicentre nutritional SNACS study in Senegal

International audienceObjectives: Providing research information in a manner accessible to minors participating in biomedical research is a major challenge. Guidance is dramatically lacking regarding best practices for seeking informed consent among undisclosed minors enrolled in HIV‐related research. We implemented an improved informed consent process (IICP) and identified factors associated with understanding of the information presented to HIV‐infected minors prior to their enrolment in a study.Methods: We enrolled study participants attending 12 paediatric HIV clinics in Senegal. Children ≥7 years were provided with standardised research information using the IICP, which involves viewing a video and taking part in extended group discussions. Understanding was assessed by seven basic questions scored 1 or 2 points, with a maximum score of 11 points. A score of 9 or more points was defined as satisfactory understanding. Factors associated with understanding were identified using a stepwise logistic regression model.Results: Overall, 112 children, with a median age of 12.9 years (IQR: 10.2–15.0), participated in the IICP, of whom 37% were HIV disclosed. 71% achieved a satisfactory understanding score and all gave consent to participate in the research. HIV‐disclosed children were more likely to demonstrate satisfactory understanding than undisclosed children (aOR = 3.2, 95% CI: 1.1–9.6). Age, study setting and education level were not associated with satisfactory understanding.Conclusion: These findings provide practical guidance for the development of improved and friendly informed consent processes in research involving minors. The implementation of the paediatric HIV research agenda will require a standardised and operational definition of informed consent, integrating the issue of HIV disclosure