Correlation of the Initial Bone Height to the Middle Facial Height and the Maxillary Sinus Volume: A Retrospective Study

This study aims to measure and establish a correlation between the initial bone height (IBH) at the dentate posterior maxillary sextants to the middle facial height (MFH) and the maxillary sinus volume (SV). Thirty CBCTs split evenly between males and females were retrospectively selected and processed to measure the SV and the IBH from the first premolar to the second molar. A clinical measurement was performed on each patient to evaluate the MFH. A significant positive correlation was found between MFH and SV. No significant correlation was found between the IBH of the first premolar and the SV or MFH on both sides. The results showed a significant negative correlation between the IBH of the other teeth examined and the SV on both sides. A significant negative correlation was found between the MFH and the IBH of the second premolar, first molar, and second molar of each side. It can be concluded that the maxillary SV increases with the MFH, and the IBH decreases when the SV and the MFH increase except for the first premolar. The clinical relevance of this study lies in the capability of the general practitioner to estimate the IBH in the posterior dentate maxilla by measuring the MFH. Patients with a risk of having a low IBH can be advised, in the case of an extracted tooth, to consider ridge preservation techniques or implant therapy as soon as possible to avoid future complex surgical interventions

Comparing clinical and radiographic periodontal parameters to software generated CBCT measurements

The aim of this study was to compare direct surgical measurements to data extracted from periapical radiographs and CBCT by means of software (coPeriodontix™ and Blue Sky Plan®) in order to assess the accuracy delivered by these 2 software. Ten patients were included in the study, and the number of teeth selected for measurements ranged from one to 10 per patient. All CBCT scans and X-rays were acquired within a maximum period of 1 month prior to surgery. Clinical linear measurements were performed at 6 sites for each tooth. Furcation defects were recorded according to the Hamp classification.Differences between data acquired from these 3 modalities were analyzed. Linear measurements showed statistically significant difference, where CBCT showed the least bone loss, periapical radiographs showed more bone loss, while direct surgical measurements showed the most bone loss. The Blue Sky Plan® that measured the furcation involvement accurately depicted the true furcation defect

Adaptation et validation transculturelle d’un questionnaire de qualité de vie liée à la santé orale des sujets complètement édentés au Liban

The objectives of the present study were to adapt and validate transculturally the Arabic version of the OHIP-EDENT in a group of completely edentulous Lebanese individuals aged 60 or over. A sample of edentulous subjects aged 60 and over was recruited from the Department of Removable Prosthodontics, at the Saint-Joseph Unoversity of Beirut, and from a private medical clinic in Beirut. The Arabic version of OHIP-EDENT was applied. It comprised 19 items grouped into seven dimensions:functional limitation, pain, psychological discomfort, physical incapacity, psychological incapacity, social incapacity and handicap. Reproducibility, internal consistency, concurrent validity and discriminant validity were assessed. Two hundred and two participants were included in the study. The average age was 72.94 ± 7.378 years and 51% were women. The OHIP-EDENT presented good reproducibility (Intra-class correlation coefficient equal to 0.922), good internal consistency (Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient equal to 0.929) and good concurrent validity. OHIP-EDENT was significantly associated with using functional prostheses, prosthetic status, stability of the prostheses and the number of years the prostheses were worn (p \u3c0.05).The Lebanese version of OHIP-EDENT has shown good psychometric properties. The properties of OHIP-EDENT should be compared with other OHRQoL tools according to cross-sectional and prospective studies to confirm the results obtained

ORAL HEALTH OF COMPLETELY EDENTULOUS PATIENTS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND ITS IMPACT ON THEIR NUTRITIONAL STATUS: A PILOT STUDY

The COVID-19 pandemic, declared by the WHO on May 2020, has forced governments around the world to adapt several restrictive measures causing difficulties of access to oral healthcare. In Lebanon, a lack of data on these difficulties and their consequences for completely edentulous people prompted the realization of a pilot study evaluating the impact of this pandemic on access to oral healthcare and on the oral health status, oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL), and nutritional status of these individuals. The study was conducted at the Removable Prosthodontics Department of the Faculty of Dentistry at Saint-Joseph University of Beirut through a personal interview including the use of the Lebanese version of the Oral Health Impact Profile for Edentulous Patients (OHIP-EDENT) and the Arabic versions of the Activity of Daily Living index (ADL), and the Mini Nutritional Assessment index (MNA) questionnaires, followed by a clinical examination. Data collection from 17 completely edentulous subjects showed high difficulty in accessing oral healthcare and negative repercussions on their oral health, OHRQoL and nutrition

Computer-assisted analysis of bone volume for sinus augmentation procedure

The objectives of this study were to determine the volume of bone required prior to a sinus graft using two different methods, to compare it to the actual volume used during surgery and to evaluate a segmentation technique in quantifying the volume of a xenograft on the post-operative cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) slices. CBCT data from 11 CBCT scans for 11 patients (6 males, 5 females) requiring 13 lateral augmentation procedures were imported to Simplant Pro 15® (Materialise, Leuven, Belgium) in DICOM format. Residual ridge height (RRH) was measured for each implant site as well as mucosal thickness (MT). MT was classified by grades (1 to 4). Simulation of implant placement for each site was realized and the graft volume was pre-operatively calculated by a semi-automatic segmentation (SAS) technique and another automatic Simplant sinus graft (SSG) technique. All patients underwent a lateral sinus augmentation surgery 3 to 12 weeks after the initial CBCT scan. The volume of the bovine bone grafting material (BBM) particles was quantified during the surgery (Vr) for all patients and on immediate post-operative CBCT scans (CBCT-V) for 7 patients. With a mean augmentation of 9.45 ± 1.72 mm, the calculated volumes were 2.243 ± 0.962 mm3 and 2032 ± 0.843 mm3 for the SAS and SSG methods, respectively. Percent variation between Vr and SAS volume was significant (22.4%) and non-significant (4.5%) between Vr and SSG volume. In cases with MT grade 1 & 2, no difference was found between Vr and SAS volume. No difference was found between Vr (1.918 ± 1.118 mm3) and CBCT-V (1.979 ± 1.108). In conclusion, the results showed that the use of the Simplant® software was effective in determining the required graft volume for the surgery, the volume measurements with the SSG were more accurate than the SAS and the quantification of BBM particles on CBCT data sets was reliable and accurate with the segmentation technique used

Collecting population-based perinatal data efficiently: the example of the Lebanese National Perinatal Survey.

International audienceWe describe the methodology and the main results of the Lebanese perinatal health survey. The survey was carried out during two consecutive weeks in autumn 1999 and spring 2000, with the aim of obtaining a minimum data set on all births occurring during a short period of time. All live births and stillbirths occurring during these periods in medical settings were recorded. The sample included 5231 women and 5333 newborns. Data were obtained from medical records and by interviewing the women in hospital after delivery. All maternity units and birth centres agreed to participate. Maternal characteristics, medical care during pregnancy and delivery, and pregnancy outcome were similar for the two study periods. However, gestational age distribution differed between the two periods. In total, 9.0% of infants were born < 37 weeks of gestation and 7.0% weighed < 2500 g at birth. Wide regional variations were observed for many indicators of health, care and risk factors. For instance, the caesarean section rate varied from 16.2% in the North Region to 28.0% in Beirut. The survey protocol was successfully applied in Lebanon and may be useful in other countries that have a relatively well-developed healthcare system, but few sources of reliable population-based statistics on health and medical care. This type of survey may also be an appropriate instrument for collecting additional data for health policy evaluations

Resistance of

Considering the marked importance of Brucella organisms as food-borne pathogens and the lack of published literature on the evaluation of the microbiological quality of dairy-based food products in the Middle East, this study was performed to address this gap. The main aim of the present study was to assess the antimicrobial resistance patterns of Brucella isolates recovered from a total of 164 cultured samples of Lebanese dairy-based food products (Baladi cheese, Shankleesh and Kishk). Standard polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to stereotype colonies previously confirmed by biochemical tests to be Brucella strains and to distinguish between the RB51 vaccine and field Brucella strains. Real-time PCR was applied to differentiate among the various Brucella species. Confirmed PCR field Brucella abortus isolates were evaluated for their susceptibility to eight commonly used antimicrobials. The highest number of resistant B. abortus isolates (n = 4 out of 6) was shown against Streptomycin and Ciprofloxacin, whereas 3 out of 6 isolates tested were resistant to Gentamicin. A lower number of resistant isolates were noted against Rifampicin, Tetracycline and Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (n = 2 out of 6) and the lowest number for Doxycycline and Ceftriaxone (n = 1 out of 6). Such results are alarming and reflect the significance and importance of implementing more strict hygiene standards and regulations to reduce food-borne illnesses and control the excessive use of antimicrobials in this region

Genomic characterization and phylogenetic analysis of the first SARS-CoV-2 variants introduced in Lebanon

International audienceBackgroundIn December 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic initially erupted from a cluster of pneumonia cases of unknown origin in the city of Wuhan, China. Presently, it has almost reached 94 million cases worldwide. Lebanon on the brink of economic collapse and its healthcare system thrown into turmoil, has previously managed to cope with the initial SARS-CoV-2 wave. In this study, we sequenced 11 viral genomes from positive cases isolated between 2 February 2020 and 15 March 2020.MethodsSequencing data was quality controlled, consensus sequences generated, and a maximum-likelihood tree was generated with IQTREE v2. Genetic lineages were assigned with Pangolin v1.1.14 and single nucleotide variants (SNVs) were called from read files and manually curated from consensus sequence alignment through JalView v2.11 and the genomic mutational interference with molecular diagnostic tools was assessed with the CoV-GLUE pipeline. Phylogenetic analysis of whole genome sequences confirmed a multiple introduction scenario due to international travel.ResultsThree major lineages were identified to be circulating in Lebanon in the studied period. The B.1 (20A clade) was the most prominent, followed by the B.4 lineage (19A clade) and the B.1.1 lineage (20B clade). SNV analysis showed 15 novel mutations from which only one was observed in the spike region

Revisiting leishmaniasis in the time of war: the Syrian conflict and the Lebanese outbreak

Background: Leishmaniasis is a neglected tropical disease, endemic in many worldwide foci including the Middle East. Several outbreaks have occurred in the Middle East over the past decades, mostly related to war-associated population migration. With the start of the Syrian war, the frequency and magnitude of these outbreaks increased alarmingly. We describe the epidemiology of Leishmania infection in Lebanon and the most recent outbreak relevant to the Syrian war. Methods: We reviewed all leishmaniasis cases reported to the Epidemiologic Surveillance Department at the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health between 2001 and the first quarter of 2014. The demographics and distribution of Syrian refugees in Lebanon were linked to reports of new Leishmania cases. Results: In total, 1033 new cases of leishmaniasis were reported in 2013 compared to a previous annual number in the range of 0–6 cases. The majority of cases reported in 2013 involved Syrian refugees and their relevant areas of concentration. Conclusions: This new outbreak of leishmaniasis in Lebanon is the first of its kind for more than a decade. The sudden increase in Leishmania cases in Lebanon in 2013 is attributed to the increasing numbers and wide distribution of Syrian refugees in Lebanon. This serves as an example of the risks associated with military conflicts and the ability of communicable diseases to cross borders