Les tumeurs myofibroblastiques inflammatoires cervico-faciales

Objectifs : Confronter les signes cliniques et paracliniques de cette entité à celle des cancers et étudier ses modalités thérapeutiques.Matériel et méthodes : Etude rétrospective portant sur huit cas de tumeurs myofibroblastiques inflammatoires cervico-faciales.Résultats : L’âge moyen était de 37 ans sans prédominance de sexe. Le siège de la pseudotumeur était thyroïdien dans un cas, ganglionnaire dans deux cas, les parties molles cervicales dans un cas, laryngé dans un cas, nasosinusien dans un cas, orbito-sinusienne dans 1 cas et du cavum dans un cas. Le traitement était chirurgical dans 6 cas. Une corticothérapie a été instaurée dans 4 cas dont 2 en post opératoire. L’évolution, après un recul moyen de 21 mois, était marquée par la survenue de récidive dans 2 cas, une poursuite évolutive dans 1 cas et l’apparition d’autres localisations rénales et rétro péritonéale chez une patiente.Discussion : Les tumeurs myofibroblastiques inflammatoires sont rares. De caractère bénin, ces tumeurs présentent généralement des caractéristiques cliniques d’agressivité avec un pouvoir lytique mimant une tumeur maligne. L’atteinte des voies aérodigestives supérieures se voit dans 11 % des tumeurs extrapulmonaires. Le diagnostic préopératoire est difficile. L’exérèse aussi large que possible de la tumeur est généralement préconisée. L’association d’une corticothérapie est indiquée chez des patients demeurant symptomatiques.Mots clés : tumeur myofibroblastique inflammatoire, cervico-facial, chirurgie, corticoïdesObjectives: Compare clinical, radiological and histological features of inflammatory myofibroblastic tumours with cancers and describe this entity therapeutic management.Material and methods: Retrospective study on eight cases of head and neck inflammatory myofibroblastic tumours.Results: The median age was 37 years without sex predominance. The tumor location was the thyroid (1 case), cervical lymph nodes (2 cases), neck (1 case), larynx (1 case), sinonasal tract (1case), orbit and sinosal tract (1 case) and nasopharynx (1 case). Surgical procedure was performed in 7 case. Corticosteroid therapy was established in 4 cases. The median follow-up was 21 months. Local recurrence was noted in 2 cases. A disease evolution was noted in 1 case. Occurrence of renal and retroperitoneal locations was noted in 1 case.Discussion : Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumours are uncommon. Although they are histological benign, they often show aggressive clinical behavior, with locally destructive features that mimic a neoplastic process. Head and neck involvement is seen in 11% of extrapulmonary locations. Preoperative diagnosis is difficult. A wide surgical excision of the tumor is recommended. The combination of a corticosteroid is indicated in patients who remain symptomatic.Key words: Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumour, Head and neck, surgery, corticosteroid

Evaluation de la surdite professionnelle dans un departement du sud tunisien

Objectif: La surdité professionnelle (SP) est une atteinte auditive acquise due à une exposition excessive au bruit au travail. Elle représente une cause fréquente des surdités de l’adulte. Le but de notre travail est de rapporter les caractéristiques épidémiologiques, cliniques et audiométriques des patients présentant une SP.Méthode : Il s’agit d’une étude rétrospective concernant 200 patients présentant une SP déclarée dans le gouvernorat de Sfax durant la période (1990-2007). Un interrogatoire, un examen ORL complet ainsi qu’une audiométrie tonale ont été réalisés pour tous les malades. Nous avons étudié l’incidence annuelle, l’âge, le sexe, le secteur d’activité ainsi que les données audiométriques de ces patients. Une étude analytique univariée a recherché une corrélation entre la perte auditive moyenne (PAM), l’âge, la durée d’exposition au bruit et le secteur d’activité.Résultats : Une prédominance masculine a été notée (99%). La moyenne d’âge était de 46 ans. Les secteurs d’activité les plus incriminés étaient la métallurgie (27,5%), la menuiserie (10%) et le secteur automobile (6%). 26,5% des patients rapportaient des acouphènes et 3,5% se plaignaient de troubles de l’équilibre. La surdité professionnelle était perceptionnelle, bilatérale et symétrique dans 93% des cas. L’analyse statistique univariée n’a pas objectivé de corrélation entre la PAM, l’âge, la durée d’exposition au bruit et le secteur d’activité.Conclusion : A notre connaissance, il s’agit de la première étude publiée rapportant les caractéristiques de la SP chez des travailleurs dans le sud Tunisien. Cette étude montre le manque de sensibilisation du public vis-à-vis de l’importance de la préservation de l’audition du bruit. Elle met en évidence aussi le manque d’outils de prévention, leur inefficacité voire les deux.Mots clés : surdité professionnelle ; épidémiologie ; bruit ; audiométrieObjective: Occupational noise-induced hearing loss (ONIHL) describes an acquired hearing impairment attributable to excessive workplace noise exposure. ONIHL is likely to contribute to a very high proportion of the cases of hearing loss in adults. The aim of this study was to provide epidemiological profile, clinical and audiometric characteristics of patients presenting ONIHL in our department.Method : This study examined workers’ data claims accepted for hearing-related conditions in Sfax department in South Tunisia during 1990-2007. Two hundred workers were underwent audiometry and answered a clinical questionnaire. Our data were analysed to describe annual trends in ONIHL claims, claimants’ age, gender, occupational group and audiometric features. In the univariate analysis, the ONIHL was correlated with age, duration of occupational exposure to noise and occupational group.Results : The majority of patients presenting with ONIHL was male (99%). The average age was 46 years. The most affected professional sectors were primary metal industries (27.5%), lumber and wood products manufacturing (10%) and the automobile industry (6%). Of all ONIHL patients, 26,5% had tinnitus and 3,5% had complaints related to balance disorders. ONIHL was sensorineural, bilateral and symmetrical in 93% of cases. Univariate analysis showed no significant association between hearing loss, age, occupational exposure to noise and occupational group.Conclusion : To our knowledge, it is the first published report on epidemiological profile, clinical and audiometric characteristics of ONIHL workers in south Tunisia. This work suggests the low level of public awareness regarding the importance of hearing preservation and that current strategies addressing this problem are either not effective or inadequately implemented, or both.Keywords : occupational noise-induced hearing loss; epidemiology; noise; audiometr

Les perforations par traumatisme interne de l’oesophage

Introduction: Esophagus traumatic perforations still carries high morbidity and mortality rates. There is no consensus regarding the appropriate management of this life-threatening condition. The aim of this study is to analyse treatment of traumatic esophageal perforations.Patients and methods: This retrospective study was made with seven patients treated for traumatic perforation of the esoephagus at the ENT department of the Habib Bourguiba Hospital. All patients were men. The mean age was 24 years. One patient has a history of an idiopathic megaesophagus and another have a history of a caustic stenosis.The traumatism was by foreign body in 2 cases, at the time of an  extraction of foreign body in 3 cases and at the time ofa traumatic endoscopy in 2 cases.Results: The treatment consisted on an isolated medical treatment in 1 case and associated to the surgery for the 6 other patients. The surgical treatment was conservative in 2 cases. Esophagus exclusion with replacement was made in 4 cases. After treatment, evolution was good for all patients.Conclusion: Esophageal perforations can cause death by some serious complications. The treatment is a medico-surgical urgency. The medical treatment must be founded in all the cases as of the suspicion of the diagnosis. The surgery is indicated for complications or during the monitoring in the absence of improvement under medical treatment. The majority of the authors choose conservative treatment especially if the diagnosis is made in the 48 first hours. The radical surgery is kept for the failures of the conservative treatment.Key words: Perforation, esophagus, foreign body, endoscopy, surgery, prognosis

Localisation rare du melanome muqueux

Purpose: Mucosal melanoma of the upper respiratory tract is rare. Nasopharyngeal involvement is extremely rare. The diagnosis and management of this tumour still remain difficult. We present a new case of mucosal nasopharyngeal melanoma, to discuss diagnosis and therapeutic modalities.Observation: A 15-year-old girl was referred to the department of otolaryngology because of bilateral cervical mass with bilateral nasal obstruction, right otalgia and chronic headache. Nasopharyngeal tumour was observed endoscopically. The histologic examination showed mucosal melanoma. No distant metastatic localisations were identified. The patientunderwent cervical lymph node dissection followed by 6 courses of chemotherapy, but she died 9 months later because of loco-regional failures.Conclusion: The primary malignant melanoma of nasopharyngeal is extremely rare disease particularly among child. Its histologic diagnosis is challenging. The treatment still remains controversial. The prognosis is poor because of anatomic localisation and high frequency of distant metastasis.Key words: Melanoma, nasopharynx, immuno-histochemistry

Genetic Association of rs1021188 and DNA Methylation Signatures of TNFSF11 in the Risk of Conductive Hearing Loss

Otosclerosis (OTSC) is a complex bone disorder of the otic capsule, which causes conductive hearing impairment in human adults. The dysregulation of the signaling axis mediated by the receptor activator of nuclear factor-kappa-B (RANK), RANK ligand (RANKL), and osteoprotegerin has been widely attributed to the context of metabolic bone disorders. While genetic associations and epigenetic alterations in the TNFSF11 gene (RANKL) have been well-linked to metabolic bone diseases of the skeleton, particularly osteoporosis, they have never been addressed in OTSC. This study aimed to assess whether the genetic association of rs1021188 polymorphism in the upstream of TNFSF11 and the DNA methylation changes in its promoter CpG-region reveal the susceptibility of OTSC. Peripheral blood DNA samples were collected from unrelated Tunisian-North African subjects for genotyping (109 cases and 120 controls) and for DNA methylation analysis (40 cases and 40 controls). The gender-stratified analysis showed that the TNFSF11 rs1021188 C/T was associated with OTSC in men (p = 0.023), but not in women (p = 0.458). Individuals with CC genotype were more susceptible to OTSC, suggesting an increased risk to disease development. Using publicly available data, the rs1021188 was within a cluster grouping the subpopulations with African ethnicity. Moreover, 26 loci in the TNFSF11 gene were in linkage disequilibrium with rs1021188, revealing relative similarities between different populations. Significant differences in both DNA methylation and unmethylation status were detected with 4.53- and 4.83-fold decreases in the global DNA methylation levels in female and male OTSC groups, respectively. These changes could contribute to an increased risk of OTSC development. Bioinformatic analyses indicated that each of the rs1021188 variations and the DNA methylation changes in the promoter CpG-sites within TNFSF11 may play an important role in its transcription regulation. To our knowledge, this is the first study that investigates an independent effect of the rs1021188 polymorphism and DNA hypomethylation of TNFSF11 promoter in OTSC. Genetic and epigenetic changes in the regulatory regions of TNFSF11 could offer new molecular insights into the understanding of the complexity of OTSC

Influence of Gravity on noncommutative Dirac equation

In this paper, we investigate the influence of gravity and noncommutativity on Dirac equation. By adopting the tetrad formalism, we show that the modified Dirac equation keeps the same form. The only modification is in the expression of the covariant derivative. The new form of this derivative is the product of its counterpart given in curved space-time with an operator which depends on the noncommutative $\theta$-parameter. As an application, we have computed the density number of the created particles in presence of constant strong electric field in an anisotropic Bianchi universe.Comment: 9 pages, correct some miprints, Accepted for publication in journal of Mod. Phys. Letters

Removal Efficiency of Textile Dyes from Aqueous Solutions Using Calcined Waste of Eggshells as Eco-friendly Adsorbent: Kinetic and Thermodynamic Studies

This research investigates the removal of textile dyes (Rhodamine B and Alizarin Red S) from aqueous solution by a low-cost adsorbent prepared from eggshell waste. Batch adsorption experiments were conducted in order to determine the effect of different parameters such as pH, dye concentration, contact time, adsorbent dosage, particle size, and temperature. The best correlation was found by Langmuir model, and the maximum adsorption capacity was 175.58 mg g–1 for Rhodamine B and 156.56 mg g–1 for Alizarin Red S. Thermodynamic studies showed that the adsorption of Rhodamine B and Alizarin Red S were feasible, spontaneous, and exothermic in nature. Regeneration study conducted to test the reusability (five cycles) and comparison of adsorption capacities of Rhodamine B and Alizarin Red S showed that calcined eggshell adsorbent could potentially be used for the removal of dyes from aqueous solutions. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Bioactive properties and functional constituents of Hypericum androsaemum L.: A focus on the phenolic profile

Hypericum androsaemum L. ethanol:water extract acted as a lipid peroxidation inhibitor and free radical scavenger. A marked inhibition of the growth of breast, lung, cervical and hepatocellular human carcinoma cell lines was also observed, whereas no toxicity was shown against non-tumor porcine liver cells (> 400 ?g/mL). The extract was also effective in inhibiting nitric oxide production, as an indicator of the anti-inflammatory potential. The anti-Candida effects varied among different strains of the same species, C. glabrata and C. tropicalis being the most sensible species with an effect directly related with the extract concentrations tested. A significant anti-biofilm formation potential was also observed, namely for C. glabrata and C. tropicalis (biofilm reduction > 90%). 5-O-Caffeoylquinic and 3-O-caffeoylquinic acids were the most abundant phenolic compounds identified in the extract, and might be related with the observed bioactive effects. Nevertheless, future studies should be carried out to obtain dose-response curves of the isolated active compounds, in order to perform further pre-clinically testing to quantify the presence of the most active compounds in the extract.The authors thank the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) and FEDER under Programme PT2020 for financial support to CIMO (UID/AGR/00690/2013), LSRE (Project UID/EQU/50020/2013), N. Martins (SFRH/BD/87658/2012), S. Silva (SFRH/BPD/109053/2015) and L. Barros (SFRH/BPD/107855/2015) grants. The authors would also like to thank Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (Cnpq), and Fundação Araucária for the financial support received. Flávia Tobaldini-Valerio, acknowledge the financial support of CAPES – Proc. 9469/14-1. The authors also thank FCT for the Strategic Project of the UID/BIO/04469/2013 unit, FCT and European Union funds (FEDER/COMPETE) for the project RECI/BBB-EBI/0179/2012 (FCOMP- 01-0124-FEDER-027462)

A cost effectiveness analysis of salt reduction policies to reduce coronary heart disease in four Eastern Mediterranean countries.

BACKGROUND: Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) is rising in middle income countries. Population based strategies to reduce specific CHD risk factors have an important role to play in reducing overall CHD mortality. Reducing dietary salt consumption is a potentially cost-effective way to reduce CHD events. This paper presents an economic evaluation of population based salt reduction policies in Tunisia, Syria, Palestine and Turkey. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Three policies to reduce dietary salt intake were evaluated: a health promotion campaign, labelling of food packaging and mandatory reformulation of salt content in processed food. These were evaluated separately and in combination. Estimates of the effectiveness of salt reduction on blood pressure were based on a literature review. The reduction in mortality was estimated using the IMPACT CHD model specific to that country. Cumulative population health effects were quantified as life years gained (LYG) over a 10 year time frame. The costs of each policy were estimated using evidence from comparable policies and expert opinion including public sector costs and costs to the food industry. Health care costs associated with CHDs were estimated using standardized unit costs. The total cost of implementing each policy was compared against the current baseline (no policy). All costs were calculated using 2010 PPP exchange rates. In all four countries most policies were cost saving compared with the baseline. The combination of all three policies (reducing salt consumption by 30%) resulted in estimated cost savings of $235,000,000 and 6455 LYG in Tunisia;$39,000,000 and 31674 LYG in Syria; $6,000,000 and 2682 LYG in Palestine and$1,3000,000,000 and 378439 LYG in Turkey. CONCLUSION: Decreasing dietary salt intake will reduce coronary heart disease deaths in the four countries. A comprehensive strategy of health education and food industry actions to label and reduce salt content would save both money and lives