[Internal jugular venous cannulation: what is the best approach?]. / Cathétérisme veineux jugulaire interne : quelle est la meilleure voie d'abord ?

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to compare two approaches used for internal jugular venous cannulation: the anterior way, described by English et al. and the posterior way, described by Jernigan et al. The primary endpoint was the rate of success. The secondary endpoints were the related adverse events and the difficulty factors. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective, randomized open clinical trial. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study took place in the vital emergency room, the operating room and the emergency intensive care unit of Ibn Sina University hospital (Rabat, Morocco), between June and September 2010. Hundred and one patients needing a central venous catheter were randomized to undergo one of the two techniques. We compared: demographics, success rates, number of attempts, difficulty factors and adverse events. RESULTS: The success rate was significantly higher in the posterior group (96% versus 68%, P < 0.001), with fewer attempts (1.3 ± 0.7 versus 2.1 ± 1.3; P < 0.001). There were less pneumothorax, (0 versus 6%) and more accidental arterial punctures (34 versus 25.5%) in the posterior group, but the difference wasn't significant. Finally, none of the difficulty factors were correlated to the failure rate. CONCLUSION: This study shows that the posterior approach in internal jugular venous cannulation is more efficient than and as safe as the anterior approach.

[The post-traumatic pancreatitis: about four cases]. / La pancréatite post-traumatique: à propos de quatre cas.

The post-traumatic pancreatitis is the main reason of mortality in the traumatisms of the pancreas, its concurrence is related to the lesions of the pancreatic channels. It represents only 1% of the pancreatitis. In a descriptive retrospective study, four cases of post-traumatic pancreatitis are described.

[Cerebellum abscess: first demonstration of undiagnosed infective endocarditis in an adult with corrected transposition arteries]. / Abcès du cervelet révélant une greffe oslérienne sur une transposition corrigée des gros vaisseaux chez l'adulte.

Neurological complications occur in approximately 30% of all patients with infective endocarditis and represent a major factor associated with an increased mortality rate. Third of these complications is represented by cerebral embolism, followed by mycotic aneurysm, meningitis or meningoencephalitis. Brain abscesses are rare; their localization to the cerebellum is exceptional. A case of cerebellum abscess occurring in a 34-year-old patient with non-operated corrected transposition of the great arteries is reported. Occurrence of this abscess was the first demonstration of undiagnosed infective endocarditis.

[Puffer fish poisoning]. / Intoxication par le poisson coffre.

We report three cases of a collective tetrodotoxin poisoning, after ingestion of puffer fish eggs. This neurotoxin is the most potent membrane stabilizer, blocking the nervous conduction and resulting in death from respiratory paralysis in case of massive ingestion. The father died at admission, the mother and her daughter presented an acute respiratory failure and a flaccid tetraplegia, with favourable outcome after 24 hours.

[Myocardial rhabdomyolysis following paraphenylene diamine poisoning]. / Rhabdomyolyse du myocarde après intoxication par la paraphénylène diamine.

Acute intoxication with paraphenylene diamine, a mineral compound used as hair dye, associated asphyxia due to cervical oedema and rhabdomyolysis. We report the case of a patient with lethal cardiogenic shock secondary to myocardial rhabdomyolysis confirmed by a postmortem biopsy.

[Behcet's disease with multiple intracranial arterial aneurysms. Report of a case]. / Maladie de Behçet avec anévrismes artériels intracrâniens multiples. A propos d'un cas.

Behçet disease is a rare condition in central Europe but more common in Morocco. A case of multiple intracranial arterial aneurysms occurring in a 44 year-old Moroccan patient with 2-years history of Behçet's disease is reported. CT-scan showed an infarction in the right middle cerebral artery territory. Panangiography showed sacciform aneurysms of the bifurcation of the right and left middle cerebral arteries. The draining veins and sinuses were normal. The two aneurysms were successfully clipped by two microsurgical frontotemporal approach in one surgical time. There have been only eight reports of intracranial arterial aneurysms associated to Behçet disease in the literature.