[Pathological and clinical correlations in renal AA amyloidosis: A Moroccan series of 30 cases]. / Amyloses rénales AA : corrélations anatomocliniques dans une série marocaine de 30 cas.

OBJECTIVE: Study of histological and clinical correlations of 30 cases of renal amyloidosis AA diagnosed between November 2010 and December 2012. RESULTS: The main causes associated with amyloidosis AA were represented by chronic infectious diseases (60%). Nephrotic syndrome and renal failure were observed in 94% and 73% respectively. The distribution of amyloid deposits: 90% of patients had a glomerular form and 10% had a vascular form. Inflammatory reaction associated with AA renal amyloidosis was present in 50% of cases. This inflammation was observed near amyloid deposits associated with a deposition of immunoglobulin chains and/or complement factors. CONCLUSION: Our study confirms the predominance of AA amyloidosis complicating chronic infectious diseases, especially tuberculosis. Our data point out a relationship between the morphology of renal AA amyloidosis, its clinical presentation and prognosis.

Relationship between dimensions of muscles of mastication (masseter and lateral pterygoid) and skeletal dimensions: study of 40 cases.

INTRODUCTION: The masticatory muscles play an important part in determining the morphology of the facial skeleton. Skeletal typology and the characteristics of the masticatory muscles are closely linked. Several authors have studied muscle characteristics as related to facial typology. The aim of this work is to study the relationship between vertical and transverse skeletal dimensions and the dimensions (length, width and thickness) of two muscles of mastication, the masseter and the lateral pterygoid. MATERIALS AND METHOD: Our study was based on CT-scan examinations of a sample composed of patients consulting the X-ray department of the Rabat-Salé Teaching Hospital, and for whom a CT-scan had been requested. Forty CT examinations of the skull, performed in the context of sinus explorations or pre-surgical work-ups in the radiology department of the Rabat-Salé Teaching Hospital, were selected for this study. The sample comprised 19 women and 21 men aged between 20 and 45, with a mean of 40.9 ± 12.8. A Siemens 32-row 64-slice spiral CT-scan device was used for spiral acquisition of data around the facial bones, with the mouth closed. The study was carried out in the parenchymal window for the muscle measurements, in the axial and coronal planes. Bone measurements were performed after 3D reconstruction in VRT mode. RESULTS: Our study showed that, for the masseter muscle, thickness is the dimension that correlates significantly with skeletal dimensions in the vertical, transverse and sagittal directions. For the lateral pterygoid muscle, length and width both present significant correlations with transverse skeletal dimensions. Analysis of these results shows that the dimensional characteristics of the masticatory muscles vary according to the vertical and transverse skeletal typology of the subjects concerned.

Psychometric properties evaluation of the childhood health assessment questionnaire (CHAQ) in Moroccan juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

The objective of this study is to develop and validate a Moroccan version of the childhood health assessment questionnaire (CHAQ), a disability measure for children suffering from juvenile idiopathic arthritis. The CHAQ has been validated in a cross-sectional study in 60 JIA, classified into systemic (33%), polyarticular (38%), extended oligoarticular (6.4%), and persistent oligoarticular (21.6%) subtypes. The CHAQ was tested for reliability and construct validity by correlating the yield of the questionnaire with other disease activity parameters. Disability index was significantly different among the four JIA subtypes. CHAQ proved to be valid in clinically discriminating between healthy subjects and patients with different patterns of JIA. The convergent validity was demonstrated by strong correlations of the disability score with the JIA score set of variables. In conclusion, the Moroccan version of the CHAQ has good psychometric properties. This validated version of the Moroccan CHAQ should help to individual follow-up of children suffering from JIA.

[Impact of the vertical dimension on the occlusal plane inclination in a Moroccan population]. / Répercussions du sens vertical sur l'inclinaison du plan d'occlusion dans une population marocaine.

This study was performed in order to investigate the influence of the vertical dimension on the occlusal plane angle. Cephalometric tracing were made from sideview headfilms from a sample of 150 patients consulting at the consultation and treatment center in Rabat, Morocco. This sample group included 60 males and 90 females. The aims of our research were to study statistically the impact of the vertical dimension on the occlusal plane angle and to check the validity of the Wits (Ao-Bo) by evaluating the impact of the vertical dimension on the Wits and by comparing it with the AF-BF value (Ao-Bo/Frankfurt) proposed by Chang.

Translation, adaptation, and validation of the Moroccan version of the Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire.

STUDY DESIGN: Cross-cultural adaptation and cross-sectional psychometric testing. OBJECTIVES: To translate and culturally adapt the Moroccan version of the Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire and to validate its use for assessing disability in Moroccan patients with low back pain (LBP). SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: The RMDQ is a reliable evaluation instrument for LBP disability, but no validated Moroccan version is available. METHODS: The RMDQ was translated and back-translated to dialectal Arabic, pretested, and reviewed by a committee following the Guillemin criteria. It was then validated on 76 Moroccan patients with chronic LBP. Reliability for the 1-week test-retest was assessed using internal consistency by Cronbach's alpha coefficient, the intraclass correlation coefficient, and the constructed Bland Altman plot. Structure validity was evaluated by multiple correspondence analysis. External construct validity was assessed by association with pain, spinal mobility, and other key variables (weight, height, duration of LBP). RESULTS: The reproducibility of the 24 items was satisfactory with a kappa statistic of agreement superior to 0.6 except item 10 and ranging from 0.47 to 0.9. The intraclass correlation coefficient for global score reproducibility was good and reached 0.93 (95% confidence interval, 0.89-0.95). The constructed Bland and Altman plot for test-retest agreement showed a good reliability. The internal consistency was very good with a Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.96. The multiple correspondence analysis for internal structure validity showed a preponderant factor explaining 22% of the variance in the score. The construct validity showed a positive correlation between RMDQ and the visual analog scale (r = 0.32; P = 0.005). There was no statistic correlation between RMDQ and the other variables. CONCLUSION: The Moroccan version of the RMDQ has good comprehensibility internal consistency, reliability, and validity for the evaluation of Moroccan-speaking patients with LBP.