[Etiologies of non tuberculous empyema in adult patients infected with HIV in a service of pneumology, Abidjan (Ivory Coast)]. / Étiologies des pleurésies purulentes non tuberculeuses chez les patients adultes infectés par le VIH dans un service de pneumologie à Abidjan (Côte d'Ivoire).

OBJECTIVES: To identify the main bacteria that cause thoracic empyema of HIV-infected patients. METHODS: Retrospective study analyzing the etiology of thoracic empyema in patients admitted to the pneumology clinic of the university hospital center in Abidjan from January 1998 to December 2010. We included all patients with bacteriologically confirmed thoracic empyema and had serological test for HIV. We compared the different pathogens based on HIV status. RESULTS: There were 42 patients of thoracic empyema composed of 24 (63.3%) HIV-infected patients [15 (62.5%) males and nine (37.5%) women] and 18 (36.7%) HIV-negative patients [13 (72.22%) men and five (27.78%) women]. The average age of HIV-infected patients was 41.2 years and 44.8 years for HIV-negative patients. HIV status was known only for 4.76% patients at admission, and most of them had a severe stage of immune suppression, (the average T CD4 cell count was 96/mm(3)). Pleurisy was monomicrobial in 83.33% HIV-infected patients and 94.4% HIV-negative patients. It was polymicrobial in 16.67% immunocompromised patients and 5.56% HIV-negative patient. Gram-negative bacteria were isolated from 58.33% HIV-infected patients. Streptococcus Pneumoniae was observed in 61.11% HIV-negative patients. CONCLUSIONS: Gram-negative bacteria are the main causes of thoracic empyema in patients HIV-infected.

[Contribution of the surgical treatment of drug-resistant tuberculosis during medical follow-up (experience of the pneumology department of the CHU of Cocody, in connection with five observations)]. / Apport du traitement chirurgical de la tuberculose à bacilles résistants au cours du suivi médical (expérience du service de pneumologie du CHU de Cocody : à propos de cinq observations).

Multidrug resistance is defined as a resistance to two major antituberculosis drugs, which are isoniazid and rifampicin. The aim of the study was to specify the place of the thoracic surgery during the medical follow-up of the TB-MDR. Five files were kept over six years during this retrospective study. On the clinical and radiological level, localised lesions and a negative HIV serology were noted in the five patients. The completion date of the surgery varied between the third month and the 22nd after the beginning of the medical treatment. This delay in carrying out the surgery was encouraged by the social conditions of the patients. Three series of expectoration culture post-surgery were all negative. After surgery, the medical treatment was drawn out over six and 12 months depending on the clinical condition of the patient. No recurrence was observed. Only one patient died one year after the surgery from hemoptysis in relation to pulmonary sequelae.

[Three cases of visceral leishmaniasis in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire]. / Leishmaniose viscérale à Abidjan à propos de 3 observations.

Three cases of visceral leishmaniasis were observed in a cohort of 528 patients admitted to the Department of Pulmonary Disease of the Cocody University Hospital Center in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire from June 2001 to May 2002. All three patients including 2 women and 1 man were young Ivorians. Assessment of predisposing factors demonstrated that all three patients had diminished immune systems resulting from long-term (2-month) steroid therapy in one patient and AIDS with low rates of CD4 T cells around 100 cells/microl in 2 patients. Clinical features were variable but mainly involved constant refractory fever, anaemia, lymphadenopathy and pleurisy with clear fluid. Despite treatment with meglumine antimoniate, two patients died within the first weeks.

[Bronchial endoscopy for the diagnosis of tuberculous mediastinal adenopathies]. / L'endoscopie bronchique dans le diagnostic des adénopathies médiastinales tuberculeuses.

The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the yield of bronchial endoscopy for the diagnosis of tuberculous mediastinal adenopathies. We analyzed the results in 200 procedures in patients with tuberculous mediastinal adenopathies. Mediastinal tuberculous adenopathies were found in 6% of the patients with tuberculosis diagnosed during the same period. Mean age of the patients was 30.5 years, and the sex ratio was 1.5. Bronchial endoscopy improved the diagnostic yield of the bronchial aspiration fluid (22% versus 11% without endoscopy). This method allowed positive diagnosis of tuberculosis in 164 patients (82%) by visualizing specific lesions such as compressions, granulations, and gangliobronchial fistulae. Histological confirmation was obtained in 72 (79%) patients among 91 biopsy specimens. Bronchial endoscopy remains a crucial exploration for the diagnosis of mediastinal tuberculous adenopathy, even in HIV-infected patients, because in our series, among 101 treated patients, 99 were HIV positive (98%).