Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada syndrome and Crohn's disease: an exceptional association.

Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease (VKH) is a rare, multisystem disease of melanocyte-containing organs. It is characterized by diffuse, granulomatous inflammation involving various organs. It has been reported to occur in association with other autoimmune disorders. We report the case of a female patient who was diagnosed with VKH at the age of 4 years and who was treated with corticosteroids until the age of 16. Twenty years later, Crohn's disease was diagnosed, with a severe flare-up. Three cases of VKH associated with ulcerative colitis have previously been reported anecdotally but, to our knowledge, this is the first case occurring in association to Crohn's disease.

Suspected azathioprine induced liver cirrhosis: an unusual side effect.

In recent years, the hepatotoxic potential of thiopurines, in particular 6-thioguanine (6-TG) has been discussed in literature. However, cirrhosis was exceptionally reported. We report the case of a 56-year-old woman with ileocaecal Crohn's disease treated with azathioprine. After taking azathioprine (2 mg/kg daily) for four years, she underwent surgical treatment for acute intestinal obstruction. In peroperative, we noticed a cirrhotic liver. A surgical biopsy was performed and the diagnosis of cirrhosis was confirmed. Autoimmune and viral liver diseases were ruled out by laboratory parameters. Therefore, Azathioprine is believed to be the causative actor for inducing liver cirrhosis. Thus, treating inflammatory bowel disease effectively while trying to limit iatrogenic disease is a continuous struggle.

[Primary biliary cirrhosis: a retrospective study of 36 cases]. / La cirrhose biliaire primitive: étude rétrospective d'une série de 36 cas au centre Tunisien.

BACKGROUND: Primary biliary cirrhosis is a rare cholestasis liver disease affecting the women of mature age,it association with Autoimmune hepatitis defined the overlap syndrome. AIM: It was to determine epidemiological, clinic-biological, immunological, histological, therapeutic and evolutive characteristics of PBC and to compare them to those in subjects having an overlap syndrome. METHODS: It is a retrospective study grouping all the cases of PBC hospitalized over a period of 15 years (1995-2009) in the hepatogastro-enterology department at Sahloul hospital in Sousse. RESULTS: Thirty six cases were grouped over the period of the study. They were all women. The mean age was 54.5 years (28-79). The disease was symptomatic at the moment of diagnosis in 75% of the cases. The functional signs revealing the disease were principally asthenia, present in 69.4% of the cases, followed by jaundice and prurit. Cholestasis was constant in all the patients, stage III of scheuer was the most frequent in the patients (25%) followed by stage IV (22%). OS was present in 1/3 of the patients; the treatment is based on the prescription of urso-desoxycholic Acid associated with corticoids and with immunosuppressors in the case of OS. The average survival of the patient having PBC and OS was comparable. It was respectively of 61.8 and 55.9 months. CONCLUSION: Our results as well as the literature reveal the rarety of this disease and its predominance in women. PBC has to be diagnosed at an early stage to guarantee a better response and a better survival of the patients.

[Prévalence de l'infection à Helicobacter pylori et des lésions endoscopiques hautes chez les diabétiques: Etude cas/témoins]. / Prevalence of helicobacter pylori infection and gastroscopic finding in diabetic patients: a case-control study.

BACKGROUND: Current data on the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection in dyspeptic diabetic patients are contradictory in the literature. AIM: the aim was to assess the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection, gastroscopic lesions, and gastric histopathological lesions, in dyspeptic diabetic patients. METHODS: It was a case-control study collecting 394 dyspeptic patients (194 diabetic and 200 nondiabetic patients). RESULTS: The average age of patients was 47 years. 144 patients (47%) were male and 150 patients (53%) were female. The two patient groups were matched for age and sex. The prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection was comparable between the two groups of patients (85% in diabetics versus 90% in the controls). The frequency of gastroscopic lesions was 50% in diabetics and 55% in controls with no significant difference between the two groups. At histology, the prevalence of chronic gastritis, intestinal metaplasia, and gastric atrophy was 85%, 13% and 39% respectively in the group of diabetic patients. These results were comparable to those found in patients without diabetes. CONCLUSION: Our work shows no difference between diabetics and non-diabetics on the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection, gastroscopic, and gastric histopathological lesions.

Sclerosing Cholangitis in Behçet's Disease.

Introduction. Sclerosing cholangitis is characterized by an inflammatory and fibrotic lesion of intra- and/or extrahepatic bile ducts. When a causal mechanism of a bile duct lesion is identified, the sclerosing cholangitis is considered secondary. The vasculitis, including the Behçet disease, is cited as a probable cause of the ischemia and the sclerosing cholangitis. No cases of extrahepatic secondary sclerosing cholangitis have been reported to date. Case Report. We report the first case of secondary sclerosing cholangitis of the extrahepatic bile ducts associated with Behçet disease in a male who is aged 43, with a previous history of the angio-Behçet followed by complications of thrombophlebitis and a cerebral thrombophlebitis, and who has a cholestatic jaundice. The diagnosis has been carried out by the MR cholangiopancreatography which has objectified a moderate distension of the intrahepatic bile ducts upstream of regular stacked parietal thickening of the main bile duct. The patient has been treated successfully with the ursodeoxycholic acid and the placement of a plastic stent. Conclusion. This diagnosis should be mentioned to any patient with vasculitis and who has a cholestatic jaundice.

[Hepatic steatosis in chronic hepatitis B: prevalence, risk factors, and impact on fibrosis and therapeutic response]. / La stéatose hépatique au cours de l'hépatite chronique B: prévalence, facteurs de risque, et effet sur la fibrose et la réponse thérapeutique.

BACKGROUND: steatosis is a common injury in chronic hepatitis C, but this association has not been sufficiently studied in chronic hepatitis B. aim: To evaluate the prevalence of hepatic steatosis in chronic hepatitis B and determine its association with various histologic, biochemical, virological, and metabolic diseases, and its effect on fibrosis and therapeutic response. METHODS: Our study was compiled 133 patients with chronic hepatitis B who received no antiviral therapy and who had a liver biopsy. Our patients were divided into 2 groups: 51 patients (38.3%) had steatosis (Group I), while 82 (61.7%) had no steatosis (Group II). RESULTS: In groupeI, the average age, BMI, cholesterol, triglycerides, and glucose were significantly higher than the group without steatosis in univariate study (P <0.05). In multivariate analysis, only high BMI and hypertriglyceridemia were included.No significant difference between the two groups was observed in the rate of transaminases, HBeAg status, viral load (P> 0.05). Steatosis doesn't influence fibrosis stage and therapeutic response. CONCLUSION: During chronic hepatitis B, steatosis appears to be the result of metabolic factors of the host rather than the effect of the virus. Hepatic steatosis does not seem to influence the progression of liver fibrosis, or therapeutic response, however, the role of steatosis should be better studied by prospective longitudinal clinical studies on large populations of patients.

[Importance of vaccination chronic hepatitis B]. / Interet de la vaccination au cours de l'hepatite chronique B.

Weak therapeutic responses and weak immune cytotoxic CD8 and CD4 response in chronic hepatitis B emphasize the necessity to find new therapeutic strategies especially as specific immunotherapy. Vaccination, whose principle was to widen immune repertoire, was used as a curative treatment of chronic hepatitis B. It would be the therapeutic procedure with the lowest cost and the potentially greatest benefit. Our purpose was to enhance the interest of therapeutic vaccination in chronic hepatitis B in order to debate later its usefulness in developing countries.