Streptococcus bovis endocarditis: Clinical, Echocardiographic and prognostic features.

The aim of this study was to determine clinic and echocardiographic characteristics of Streptococcus bovis endocarditis [El] and its prognosis. We studied the clinic and echocardiographic characteristics of 54 patients with a Streptococcus bovis El among 350 cases of El. We included 44 men and 10 women, 64 +/- 15 years of age, with a native valvular disease in 31.5% of cases and a valvular prosthesis in 13%. 74% had a worsened general state; 48% presented with signs of cardiac insufficiency. 12 patients [22%] were followed for cancer including 7 digestive colic localizations [confirmed by coloscopy and histology]. Vegetation was identified in all patients. It was a left localization in 98.1%. Vegetation diameter was>10 mm in 37 patient s [68.5%] and>20 mm in 9 patients [16%]. During the follow-up, 59.3% developed an embolic accident, 17 cases of CVA and 7 cases of spondylodiscitis [7 out of 11 cases of spondylodiscitis described in the 350 cases of El]. Mortality reached 7%. The statistical analysis showed that Streptococcus Bouis was the major predictive factor for embolic complications, especially for spondylodiscitis. Streptococcus bovis El is more frequent in patients with digestive colic neoplasia. It is characterized by large vegetation which has a high embolic potential worsening the prognosis

[Overlap syndrome autoimmune hepatitis=primary biliary cirrhosis. Comparative study with isolated autoimmune hepatitis results of a multicentric Tunisian]

Autoimmune hepatitis [AIR] and primary biliary cirrhosis [PBC] are two autoimmune diseases affecting the liver. Suggestive signs of the two diseases can however occur simultaneously or consecutively in the same patient leading to an overlap syndrome. The aim of our multicentric retrospective study was to study clinical, biological, immunological and histological features of 17 patients with overlap syndrome and to compare them with those of 62 patients with isolated autoimmune hepatitis. Overlap syndrome "AIH-PBC" accounts for 20,5%of patients with autoimmune hepatitis in our series. Our two groups were similar in age and gender. Clinically, in overlap syndrome group, a significantly higher prevalence of pruritus arid significantly lower prevalence of ascites were observed as compared to isolated AIH group. No significant differences were observed between the two groups of patients with regard to frequency of concurrent immune diseases. Biologically, serum alkaline phosphatase and garnma-glutamyl-transpeptidase were significantly higher in overlap syndrome than in patients with isolated AIH. Significantly more overlap syndrome patients were positive for anti-mitochondrial antibodies than isolated AIR patients. The patients with isolated AIR had a higher frequency of cirrhosis at presentation that the patients with overlap syndrome. The histologic profile was not different between isolated AIR and Overlap syndrome. Overlap syndrome "AIR-PBC" is not rare. Compared with isolated AIH, it is characterised by a higher frequency of clinical and biological signs of cholestasis, a higher frequency of antimitochondrial antibodies and the rarity of cirrhosis at the diagnosis of the disease