Rosai-Dorfman Disease Involving Multiple Organs: An Unusual Case with Poor Prognosis

Rosai-Dorfman disease is a rare, benign histiocytic proliferative disorder that usually affects the lymph nodes. Although extranodal involvement has been reported in diverse sites, manifestation in the cardiovascular system is extremely rare. Specifically, cardiac involvement in Rosai-Dorfman disease is an extraordinarily infrequent event. We describe a case of a 36-year-old female who presented Rosai-Dorfman disease of multiple organs including the heart, with poor prognosis

Notifying partners of patients with early syphilis in Madagascar: case-finding effectiveness and public health implications

To evaluate the case-finding effectiveness of a clinic-based partner notification effort for early syphilis in Madagascar

Promoting Research Integrity in Africa: An African Voice of Concern on Research Misconduct and the Way Forward: Promoting Research Integrity in Africa

African researchers and their collaborators have been making significant contributions to useful research findings and discoveries in Africa. Despite evidence of scientific misconduct even in heavily regulated research environments, there is little documented information that supports prevalence of research misconduct in Africa. Available literature on research misconduct has focused on the developed world, where credible research integrity systems are already in place

Quality of Life in Patients with Psoriasis Seen in the Department of Dermatology, Antananarivo, Madagascar

Background. Psoriasis is a chronic, inflammatory, and multifactorial dermatosis that impairs quality of life (QoL). Health-related QoL has become an important element in medical decision-making along with the effectiveness and the harmlessness of the treatments. Objective. To assess the impact of psoriasis in the QoL of patients with psoriasis by using the DLQI scales. Methods. A cross-sectional study from January to June 2018 was conducted in the Department of Dermatology of the University Hospital Joseph Raseta Befelatanana, Antananarivo, Madagascar, including patients more than 18 years old with mild to severe psoriasis. The severity of psoriasis was assessed using the “Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI)”. QoL of patients with psoriasis was evaluated by using the DLQI scales. Results. 80 patients were included, their mean age was 36.5 years, and the male to female was 1.5 : 1. The mean DLQI score was 13.8. Symptoms, feelings, and psychic were the most altered dimensions. QoL was impaired in young patients, single, having medium level education. Even though patients with disease duration more than 5 years had higher DLQI score than other patients, the difference was not statistically significant (p=0.36). Furthermore, the clinical presentation of psoriasis did not influence the patient’s QoL (p=0.73). Patients with nail involvement had QoL impaired but the difference with another localization was not statistically significant (p=0.2). The quality of life was influenced by body area involved. The higher the body surface area involved, the more QoL is impaired (p=0.002). Furthermore, the higher the PASI, the more QoL is altered (p=0.002). Conclusion. Psoriasis has a negative impact in the quality of life in Malagasy patients with psoriasis, especially in younger and single patients. Worse quality of life is correlated to severity of psoriasis

Clinical aspects of previously treated chromoblastomycosis: A case series from Madagascar

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Atopic dermatitis in adults: A cross-sectional study in the department of dermatology, Antananarivo, MadagascarCapsule Summary

Background: Although atopic dermatitis (AD) is becoming a pressing public health concern in the world, Madagascar is underrepresented in the AD literature. Objective: We aimed to study the demographic and clinical pattern of AD in adult dermatology outpatients. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Dermatology, University Hospital, Antananarivo, Madagascar. Patients >15 years old with a registered diagnosis of AD, from January 2010 to February 2019, were included. AD was diagnosed by a dermatologist according to Hanifin and Rajka criteria. The severity of AD was assessed using scoring atopic dermatitis (SCORAD). Results: Forty-two cases of AD were included. The prevalence was 0.5%. The median patient age was 37 years. The age of onset of AD was before the age of 15 years in 38% of the patients and after the age of 15 years in 61.9% of the patients. There was a female preponderance (female to male ratio, 2:1), but no correlation was found between sex and the severity of AD. People living in urban areas were the most affected. According to SCORAD, 37 cases presented moderate AD and 2 cases presented severe AD. Conclusion: The prevalence of AD in adult dermatology outpatients is still low, and moderate AD is the most frequent form, according to SCORAD