Hématome duodénal intramural suite à un surdosage aux AVK. Apport de la tomodensitomérie. A propos d’un cas

Spontaneous intramural duodenal hematoma is considered as a rare complication of anticoagulant therapy. We report the clinical case of a spontaneous duodenal hematoma at a patient 83 years old after VKA overdose diagnosed at CT scan.     

Sickle-cell disease and malaria: evaluation of seasonal intermittent preventive treatment with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine in Senegalese patients—a randomized placebo-controlled trial

Sickle-cell disease (SCD) patients are at high risk of developing malaria which is a major contributor to morbidity and mortality in this disease. In Senegal, malaria transmission is high during rainy season, between July and October, and it was noted that sickle-cell crisis are frequent during this period. Then we carried out a double-blind randomized controlled trial to compare the impact of monthly sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) during the high-transmission season versus placebo on malaria incidence and morbidity of sickle-cell anemia. Sixty (60) SCD patients were randomized either to receive three intermittent preventive treatment (ITP) with SP or placebo using the random permutation table with nine elements. The drug was administrated as follows: sulfadoxine 25 mg/kg and pyrimethamine 1.25 mg/kg and this treatment was given once during the following months: September, October, and November. Overall four episodes of malaria disease were diagnosed, all these cases in the placebo arm. Thus, overall prevalence was 6.6% and there was no other case of malaria in the SP arm during the study period. Parasitological diagnosis confirmed the presence of Plasmodium falciparum in all four cases. No patient death was encountered during the study. SP treatment was well tolerated as only one patient (1.6%) in the SP arm reported pruritis. A significant reduction of patients' complaints (p = 002) and blood requirements (p = 0.001) was noted in the SP group; whereas, no impact was observed on vaso-occlusive crisis and hospitalization occurrence. Malaria prophylaxis by monthly intake of SP during the transmission period of the parasite reduced the prevalence of malaria and was safe in SCD patients leaving in malaria endemic area.     

Intercontinental Spread of Eurasian Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5N1) to Senegal

In January 2021, Senegal reported the emergence of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus A(H5N1), which was detected on a poultry farm in Thies, Senegal, and in great white pelicans in the Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary. We report evidence of new transcontinental spread of H5N1 from Europe toward Africa.     

Rupture of an aneurysm of the gastroduodenal artery mimicking a tumor of the head of the pancreas in a case report.

Gastroduodenal artery aneurysms have a low incidence of less than 1.5% of all splanchnic aneurysms. Rupture is frequent and life-threatening. The diagnosis is made by CT scan and by coeliac angiography, which also plays a therapeutic role in stable or stabilized patients. Surgery remains the treatment of choice in case of hemodynamic instability. We reviewed the case of a ruptured aneurysm of the gastroduodenal artery mimicking a tumor of the pancreas’ head in a patient who died following a hemorrhagic shock.     

Melting temperatures and enthalpies of polyethers: Poly(hexamethylene oxide)

An experimental study is reported of the dependence of the melting temperature T_m on the crystallization temperature T_c for molecular weight fractions of poly(hexamethylene oxide) in the range from M_n=2260 to M_n=35 500, with attention to the level of crystallinity. It has been found that for the highest molecular weight fraction, at low levels of crystallinity, the extrapolated linear relation T_m vs. T_c yields an equilibrium melting temperature of 346,5K in very good accord with theoretical expectations. Moreover, the behaviour and theory for low-molecular-weight fractions is analyzed. The enthalpy of fusion for poly(hexamethylene oxide) has been determined from two kinds of experiments: by measuring calorimetrically the apparent heat of fusion at different levels of crystallinity, and by using the polymer-diluent method in decahydronaphthalene and 1,2,3,4-tetrahydronaphthalene. The enthalpy of fusion was found to be 54–57 cal/g (=226–238J/g).