[Clinical and therapeutic aspects of trigeminal neuralgia. Apropos of 27 cases treated at the General Hospital of Grand-Yoffin Dakar]. / Aspects cliniques et thérapeutiques de la névralgie faciale essentielle du trijumeau. A propos de 27 cas colligés a l'Hôpital Général de Grand-Yoff de Dakar.

The trigeminal neuralgia or "painful tic" of the face is an invalidating affection, which affects the quality of life of the patient. The odontologist must be able to diagnose it and take part in his good therapeutic assumption of responsibility. The diagnosis is sometimes difficult, being able to involve unsuited therapeutic methods prejudicial for the patient. The objective of our study was to analyse the clinical and therapeutic aspects of the trigeminal neuralgia. It was a transverse and descriptive study which 27 files of patients suffering of trigeminal neuralgia and treated in the odontology service of the General hospital of Grand-Yoff in Dakar between July 2002 and July 2008. We exploited the following parameters: the age, the sex, the oral state, duration of the symptoms, characteristics of the pain, the type of treatment. 22 patients of the 27 cases were female. The time of consultation was often late, the patients generally preferring begin with the traditional treatments. The neuralgia of V2 dominated the clinical picture, followed that neuralgia of V3. The pain was strictly unilateral, it was started by movement, speaking, eating or touching the trigger zone. The prescription of carbamazepine (Tegretol) was systematic, and constituted a true test diagnosis, it made possible to obtain an immediate sedation of the pains. In front of the medicamentous treatment failure, the alcoholization of the trigeminal branch has given good performances, indeed it made possible to obtain, a clear lull of more than 12 months for 9 patients out of the 10 who profited from it. The alcoholization of the trigeminal nerve remains an effective cure and constitutes an accessible alternative under our work conditions in Africa.

Echinococcus granulosus strain typing in North Africa: comparison of eight nuclear and mitochondrial DNA fragments.

Recent studies of Echinococcus granulosus molecular strain typing have enabled a better understanding of the transmission cycle of cystic echinococcosis. There have been many publications in this area but there is a need for the evaluation of these tools. We have attempted to respond to this need in our study, which assessed 8 DNA fragments of 40 E. granulosus cysts from North Africa. Parasitological material was collected from 5 types of intermediate hosts, in 5 different countries. The primers chosen to amplify DNA targets were defined either in nuclear DNA, or in mitochondrial DNA. After amplification, PCR products were sequenced. The sequences obtained were aligned and comparisons were made within the group and with GenBank sequences. Whether the target was nuclear or mitochondrial, the same 2 main groups of genotypes were found. The first one, the 'sheep' strain, was found in the human, sheep and cattle samples collected in North Africa. The second one, the 'camel' strain, was found in the camel cysts and cattle and human cysts from Mauritania. These findings further confirm the congruence of the data given by the nuclear and the mitochondrial genome.

Combined eco-epidemiological and molecular biology approaches to assess Echinococcus granulosus transmission to humans in Mauritania: occurrence of the 'camel' strain and human cystic echinococcosis.

Mauritania lies between West-Central Africa where human cystic echinococcosis (CE) is considered extremely rare and West Maghreb where CE accounts for a real public health problem. Until 1992, Mauritania was considered as human CE-free even through CE seemed well known in livestock. In 1992, the introduction of ultrasonography led to the diagnosis of the first human CE cases. In 1997, a veterinary study revealed that dogs living around Nouakchott were commonly infected by Echinococcus granulosus. To assess E. granulosus transmission and to identify the most relevant animal reservoir responsible for human CE emerging in Mauritania, a simultaneous eco-epidemiological and molecular biology approach was performed. The fieldwork included sample collection and investigation of relationship between intermediate hosts, definitive hosts and humans. Typing of E. granulosus strains was performed using comparison of polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-amplified DNA sequences with one nuclear (BG 1/3) and 2 mitochondrial (COI, NDI) targets. Results show that the 'camel' strain is actually infectious to humans and circulates between intermediate hosts including camels and cattle. It is suggested that preventive measures at slaughtering places could reduce human contamination.