[Fracture of the penis at teaching university hospital Luxemburg in Mali : two cases report]

The fracture of the penis is a rare andrological emergency. We report 2 cases of fracture of the penis including one by false-no coitus. These were young adults aged 34 and 40 respectively. The painful swelling with deviation of the penis was the dominant symptomatology of the clinical picture of the 2 patients. Surgical management was performed with favorable functional results in both cases. The long-term functional prognosis of the fracture of the penis depends on the speed of its management.

[Neurological complications of chronic alcoholism: study of 42 observations in Guinea]

Neurologic disorders related to chronic alcoholism in traditional areas of Guinea are frequent, but reports about them are rare. We conducted the first study in Guinea on this subject and retrospectively collected 42 cases of neurologic manifestations related to alcoholism over a 7-year period. The standard findings of the literature were confirmed in our population: peak frequency after the age of 40 years (82.8%) and clear male overrepresentation (M/F sex ratio: 13/1). All the standard signs and symptoms are reported, with a clear predominance of alcoholic polyneuropathy and hepatic encephalopathy. The study of nutritional status by both body mass index (BMI) and the Detsky criteria showed that these patients were severely malnourished. The brain MRI was a crucial contribution for diagnosing the standard central nervous system complications of alcoholism: Gayet Wernicke encephalopathy, Marchiafava-Bignami disease, Korsakoff syndrome, central pontine myelinolysis, and cerebellar degeneration.

[Treatment of sickle cell pain]

OBJECTIVES

Evaluate the efficiency of the treatment of pain by analgesic according to World Health Organization (WHO).

PATIENTS AND METHODS

We made a descriptive and analytic study in majors sickellers in pain crisis admitted in the service of paediatric of the hospital Gabriel Touré Bamako from January 2005 to January 2006. The efficiency of the treatment by painkiller was evaluated at second hour and at the 24 hour.

RESULTS

Our study concerned 70 children with major of sickle cell of both sexes and aged from 6 to 15 years in pain crisis. In 87.1% pain disappeared with painkillers palier I (paracetamol) and 12.9% had necessitated to pass to palier II (buprenorphine) an 64.3% our patients the pain disappeared in a period less than 12 hours with an average of 3 hours against only 35.7% soothed in a period more than 12 hours with average of 64 hours 3 minutes. Pain from the head and limbal region were the most sensible to the treatment.

CONCLUSION

The treatment of pain by palier according to who is efficient in children sickeller.

[Persistent neurological sequelae due to cerebral malaria in a cohort of children from Mali]

INTRODUCTION

Several neurological complications are associated with cerebral malaria (CM). However, few long-term data from childhood survivors have been published.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was carried out in Mali among children followed from 1999 to 2002 after serious and complicated malaria. Our aim was to evaluate the persistent neurological sequelae associated with CM.

RESULTS

This study concerned 101 subjects who had had CM. Mean age was 5.6+/-3.6 years. Twenty-eight children presented persistent neurological sequelae (27.7p.cent). Among them eight (7.9p.cent) children had developed these sequelae just after CM and 20 (19.8p.cent) a few months later: headaches, mental retardation, speech delay, bucco-facial dyspraxia, diplegia and frontal syndrome (one case each), dystonia (two cases), epilepsy (five cases) and behavior and attention disorders (15 cases).

CONCLUSIONS

In this study, we show that neurological signs due to CM can persist in the long run. Long-term follow-up and proper management after CM are essential.

[Blackwater fever in children during cerebral malaria: 3 case reports in Bamako]

BACKGROUND

Blackwater fever is a rare but serious form of malaria in children. Diagnosis relies on clinical symptoms and on the color of the urines.

OBJECTIVES

To describe blackwater fever in children, a disease whose prevalence seems to be increasing.

METHOD

We report 3 cases of blackwater fever observed in our institution.

RESULTS

In 2 cases, acute renal insufficiency with oligoanuria was observed. In all the 3 cases, treatment with quinine was stopped and replaced by injectable artemether. Evolution was dependent on renal function, and included in 1 patient neurological sequels consisting in aphasia.

CONCLUSION

Blackwater fever is a severe affection whose diagnosis should be evoked using the color of urine. Evolution is usually favorable in the pediatric population, when adequate care can be provided.

[Acute accidental poisoning in children at the pediatrics service of the Gabriel Touré hospital]

The accidental intoxications constitute more and more a serious problem among young children in the developing countries because of their frequency and difficulties for taking care of those victims. The objective of our work was to study acute intoxications among children in order to determine the frequency, to identify the products in question and to determine the impact of those accidents in the future life of the victims. The study was carried out in the Paediatric Service of the CHU Gabriel Touré from January 2001 to June 2002. We enrolled 89 children from 0 to 15 years of age. Information on our patients was recorded on investigational questionnaire and completed with data from their entry and hospitalization records. Among 8237 children hospitalized during the study period, 89 of them had acute intoxication i.e. 1.08%. Children less than five years of age were more frequent with 85.4% with a male prevalence of 61.8%. Antimalarial drugs and petroleum were the most accused products. Administration of milk and provoked vomiting were the attitudes and practices of the entourage of the victims when intoxication occurs. The evolution was favourable in 67.2% of the cases with a hospital lethality of 13.7%.

Thrombospondin related adhesive protein (TRAP), a potential malaria vaccine candidate

We have investigated whether naturally induced immunity to Plasmodium falciparum thrombospondin related adhesive protein contributes to protection against malaria in humans. We have carried out a case control study in children living in an endemic region of West Africa to reveal associations between PfTRAP seroprevalence and the risk of cerebral malaria. Sera collected from the case and control groups were analysed by ELISA to compare their serum reactivity against PfTRAP, the circumsporozoite protein and the merozoite surface protein 1. Children with uncomplicated malaria had a significantly higher PfTRAP seroprevalence when compared to children with cerebral malaria. The risk of developing cerebral malaria appeared to depend on the reciprocal relationship between sporozoite inoculation rates and humoral immunity against PfTRAP. Our results suggest that naturally induced humoral immunity against PfTRAP contributes to the development of protection against severe malaria. Experimentally induced immunity against TRAP in different rodent models has consistently proven to elicit a high degree of protection against malaria. This together with the functional properties of TRAP and data describing CD4 and CD8 epitopes for PfTRAP indicate that this molecule could increase the protective efficiency of available sporozoite malaria vaccines.

Natural polymorphism in the thrombospondin-related adhesive protein of Plasmodium falciparum

We have developed a typing system using natural sequence variation in the thrombospondin-related adhesive protein (TRAP) gene of Plasmodium falciparum. This method permits a haplotype to be assigned to any particular TRAP gene. We have applied this method to a hospital-based, case control-study in Mali. Previous sequence variation and conservation in TRAP has been confirmed. Particular TRAP haplotypes can be used as geographic hallmarks. Because of the high level of conflict between characters, we have examined the phylogenetic relationships between parasites using a network approach. Having received patient samples from urban and periurban areas of Bamako, the majority of haplotypes were closely related and distinct from TRAP sequences present in other continents. This suggests that the structure of TRAP can only tolerate a limited number of sequence variations to preserve its function but that this is sufficient to allow the parasite to evade the host's immune system until a long-lived immune response can be maintained. It may also reflect host genetics in that certain variants may escape the host immune response more efficiently than others. For vaccine design, sequences from the major regional variants may need to be considered in the production of effective subunit vaccines.

A comparison of the incidence of severe malaria in Malian children with normal and C-trait hemoglobin profiles

Although a protective effect against malaria has been demonstrated for several hemoglobin variants, no selective factor is established for the high incidence of HbC in regions of West Africa. Here we report a survey of hemoglobin profiles among children admitted with symptomatic and severe malaria to the Gabriel Touré Hospital in Bamako, Mali, where the frequency of the HbC gene is 8-10%. Children with AC and AA profiles presented with severe malaria at comparable rates, indicating lack of protection by the heterozygous state. Two admitted children, one of whom presented with cerebral malaria, were found to have SC profiles. No CC homozygotes were detected in the study cohort.

[Bacteriological aspects of purulent meningitis in Bamako district. Apropos of 1,541 bacterial strains collected from 1979 to 1991]

This study is about bacteriological aspects of purulent meningitis in Bamako area upon 1,541 strains collected from 1979 to 1991. It showed that N. meningitidis, S. pneumoniae and H. influenzae b are responsible. In general, N. meningitidis is the most frequent, but this depends on years and months. Since 1988, N. meningitidis serogroup C has supplanted serogroup A. N. meningitidis is predominant between 7 to 30 years. S. pneumoniae between 1-28 days and 31 to 68 years, H. influenzae between 1 month to 6 years. The frequency of these species is the same in male and female. The 3 species are quite sensitive to antibiotics tested except sulphonamides and cotrimoxazole. Meanwhile, the appearance of strains of S. pneumoniae to penicillin and H. influenzae to ampicillin must be followed with interest to check any time the importance of the phenomenon.