Search

To determine the epidemiological and etiological profile of tinea capitis in adults in Dakar (Senegal).A 9-month prospective, multicenter, descriptive and analytic study. Patients included were aged over 18 years. Mycological tests were used to confirm the diagnosis.121 patients were included with a mean age of 36.1 years and a hospitalisation frequency of 0.8%. The age range of 64.4% of patients was between19 and 38 years. 51% of patients were housewives. A low socioeconomic level was found in 72.8% of cases. In 3.3% of patients, the disease began in childhood. 31.4% of patients had already consulted a traditional healer. Similar familial cases were noted in 60.3% of patients. Contact with a sheep was noted in 32.2% of cases, deliberate skin lightening in 64% of women, hair salon attendance in 46.7% of women, and immunosuppression in 17.3% of patients, while itching was present in 95.5%. Dermatologic examination showed scaled plaques and a diffuse form, with 92.6% and 64% (n=75) respectively. Wood's light examination was positive in 40.2% of patients. A positive culture test was found in 71%. The most frequently encountered species were: T. soudanense (65%), M. audouinii (21%), T. rubrum (4.7%), M. gypseum (3.5%), T. violaceum (2.3%), T. verrucosum (2.3%) and M. canis (1 case). The clinical course was favorable under treatment with griseofulvin or terbinafine.Tinea capitis in adults mainly affects young women. The diffuse form is the most common. The most frequently encountered species was T. soudanense.

The etiologies of intertrigo in adults are numerous and different. The objective of our work was to study the epidemiological, clinical and the risk factors of intertrigo in adults.We conducted a prospective study for a period of seven months in two Dermatology Units in Dakar (Senegal). All adults patient with intertrigo seen during this period who gave consent were included.One hundred and three patients with intertrigo were diagnosed with a hospital prevalence of 2.54%. The sex -ratio was 0.63 and the average age was 41. The study of habits and lifestyles of the patients found a history of intensive skin lightening, sport, wearing synthetic clothes and smoking in 26, 22, 20 and 22 cases, respectively. Infectious complications mainly bacterial (3.88%) and viral (1.94%) were reported in nine cases (8.7%). A dry erythroderma was noted in 3 cases (2.9%). It was found that the intertigo was commonly caused by fungal infections with a prevalence of 48.5% followed by immuno-allergic reactions with a prevalence of 34.9%, suppurative hidradenitis and inverse psoriasis with the same prevalence of 2.9%. Fifty-eight percent of cases with tinea and 63% of cases with candidiasis were women. Thirty-five percent of tinea cases and 45% of candidiasis cases were found to have a history of intensive skin lightening.The cause of intertrigo in adults are mainly infectious, particularly fungi, infections and immuno-allergic diseases. There are predisposing factors and some professions are more at risk.

The authors report a case of multifocal African histoplasmosis with polymorphic skin involvement occuring in a patient without proven immunosuppression. He was a young 22-year-old patient from eastern Senegal - but born in Ouganda - who presented with polymorphic skin lesions: ombilicated papulo-nodules, gums and ulcerative and budding lesions. He showed lymphadenopathies without clinical inflammation and with a cheesy appearance of the biopsy but without tuberculosis and also hepatosplenic and bone involvement. Mycological samples of the skin and lymph nodes biopsies revealed yeasts of Histoplasma capsulatum var. duboisii with a positive culture on Sabouraud medium. HIV serology, HTLV1et 2, the serum proteins electrophoresis were unremarkable. Treatment with amphotericin B was irregular because of its inaccessibility in the national territory and its cost. The patient died of sepsis together with the aggravation of his disease.

In Senegal, reported cases of cutaneous leishmaniasis are often due to Leishmania major. Immunosuppression related to HIV infection contributes to the emergence of leishmaniasis in humans and to cutaneous localization of viscerotropic species. We report the first observed case in Senegal of opportunistic cutaneous leishmaniasis due to Leishmania infantum associated with HIV.A 5-year-old boy presented crusted ulcerative lesions of the scalp and left forearm, together with axillary and cervical lymphadenopathy present for two months. Direct parasitological examination of the scalp and arm lesions, coupled with liquid aspiration of lymph nodes and bone marrow, enabled identification of amastigote forms of Leishmania. Polymerase chain reaction performed on skin, lymph node and bone marrow biopsy samples allowed identification of L. infantum. The child was positive for HIV1. Treatment of HIV infection and leishmaniasis resulted in clinical improvement.Co-infection with cutaneous leishmaniasis due to L. infantum and HIV is a complex combination in terms of the related therapeutic issues. The clinical and laboratory outcomes depend on restoration of immunity and on the efficacy, safety and availability of anti-leishmaniasis drugs.

Endodontic infections are characterized by their microbial polymorphism with the presence of pathogenic agents such as bacteria. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of yeast in the root canals of teeth with pulp necrotic with or without apical periodontitis and to study the sensibility of these at disinfection at sodium hypochlorite to 2.5 %.Root canal samples, taken with paper points before and after disinfection with sodium hypochlorite dosed at 2.5 % on 50 single rooted teeth in 38 patients, were seeded in petri dishes containing Sabouraud Chloramphenicol (SC) (Conda Laboratories, Madrid). These stains were incubated in an incubator at 37°C for 48hours. The presence of yeast was confirmed by white colonies on the entire circumference of the tip paper. The identification of species was done by macroscopic and microscopic examinations associated with Blastese test.The yeast colonies were isolated from 7 teeth (14 %) out of 50. All positive samples were from teeth with an open necrotic pulp (P0.001). The only species found was Candida albicans. Immediate disinfection with sodium hypochlorite at 2.5 % did not show a complete elimination of yeasts.The results of this study show that the canal of necrotic teeth with or without apical periodontitis may shelter yeasts even after immediate disinfection with sodium hypochlorite 2.5 %.

Elephantiasic myxoedema is very rare. We report 5 pretibial myxoedema cases observed in the Dermatological department of Le Dantec hospital in Dakar.Our 5 cases were 3 women (age: 52, 45 and 18 years) and 2 men (age: 54 and 32 years).All the cases were enormous, multinodular pachydermic, bilateral, elephantiasis in the low leg and associated to Graves 'disease. The duration was 4 month to 12 year. In 3 cases there was a Diamond syndrome which is a severe form. The cutaneous lesions were not influenced by medical treatment of thyroid disease. Systemic steroids achieved improvement of the elephantiasis in 1 case.Elephantiasis is a very unusual presentation of pretibial myxoedema and its occurrence doesn't depend to the intensity of thyrotoxicosis and its evolution. However in our cases, it was a severity indicator factor, like Diamond syndrome. Local and systemic steroids give very rarely improvement.

Sarcoidosis cases had been rarely reported in Senegal in spite of the high frequency of sarcoidosis in black people. The purpose of this work was to determine the epidemiological, clinical and evaluative profile of sarcoidosis in Dakar.We performed a multicentric retrospective trial in order to characterise sarcoidosis cases in Senegal from 1968 to 2004.Twenty cases (21 females and 9 men) were observed. The average age was 40 years. Duration before first medical attention was up to one year in 20 cases. Ten patients received an anti tuberculosis treatment before sarcoidosis diagnosis. Sarcoidosis was a systemic disease in 76% of cases and only cutaneous in 24%. Cutaneous lesions were found in 66,66% of cases. Presenting features were cutaneous (46%), general (30%), rheumatoid, (16,6%), Lofgren syndrome (3 cases). The cutaneous lesions were specific in 94% of cases as small nodules (50%), placards (20%), great nodules (15%) and scars sarcoidosis (10%). Extra cutaneous involvement were pulmonary (73,33%), lymphadenopathy (66,66%), and rheumatoid (20%). Pulmonary tuberculosis was associated in 4 cases.Our data confirmed rarity of sarcoidosis in Senegal opposite to the high reported frequency in other black population in developed country. Clinical features were polymorph and the systemic forms predominant. Tuberculosis may be rule out in order to avoid miss diagnosis.

Mycetoma is a pathological process during which eumycetomic (fungal) or actinomycotic causative agents from exogenous source produce grains. Medical treatment is available for actinomycetomas and surgery is still the main treatment for eumycetoma. We report 90 cases of actinomycetoma occuring in male adult patients coming mainly from central Senegal. Patients living far from health structures consult after a long evolution period for tumors and pains which prevent them from carrying out their activities. The three etiological agents in our patients were Actinomadura pelletieri (60 cases), Actinomadura madurae (25 cases) and Streptomyces somaliensis (5 cases). The three clinical features are inflammatory forms (75 cases) mainly due to Actinomadura pelletieri, tumoral forms (13 cases) and cystic forms (2 cases). Lesions are localized on the foot in 50% of cases and in other part of the body for the other half. Bone damage was observed in 55% of cases. 83% of the patients were cured after a one-year treatment of sulfametoxazole adminstered orally. Two patients died of visceral involvement.

Squamous cell carcinoma is a malignant epithelial tumor of the skin, rarely observed in "black" skin. It often complicates an acquired or congenital pre-neoplastic dermatosis. We report on 80 cases of squamous cell carcinoma having occurred in black African patients from Senegal.We retrospectively analyzed all the medical files of patients followed-up in the department for histologically confirmed squamous cell carcinoma from 1980 to 1999.Eighty cases of carcinoma were collected. The mean age of the patients was of 47 years (range: 1 to 85) and the sex ratio was of 1.35 (46 men and 34 women). A pre-neoplastic dermatosis was identified in 65% the patients. Acquired pre-neoplastic dermatosis was: heat burn scars (15 cases), chronic discoid lupus erythematosus (6 cases) and chronic phagedenic ulcer (4 cases). Pre-neoplastic genodermatoses were: albinism (6 cases), xeroderma pigmentosum (5 cases) and epidermodysplasia verruciformis (1 case). Lesions were multiple and cephalic in patients with genodermatosis. Death due to carcinoma occurred in 8 patients.This large series of squamous cell carcinoma emphasizes: the rarity of squamous cell carcinomas in black patients and the frequency of its occurrence on acquired pre-existing dermatosis. For many years phagedenic ulcers predominated. Our results show the regression of the latter and its increase on post-burn scars and chronic lupus erythematosus. Pre-neoplastic genodermatoses that determine multiple cancers, usually located on sun-exposed areas and occurring in young patients, are particularly severe.

Mycetoma is a pathological process in which eumycotic (fungal) or actinomycotic causative agents from exogenous source produce grains. It follows penetrating injury inoculating soil organisms, occurring preferentially in rural areas usually among labourers who work barefoot. Mycetoma is a localized chronic, and deforming infectious disease of subcutaneous tissues, skin and bones. We report 130 cases of mycetoma in Senegal from 1983 to 2000.There were 130 patients with mycetoma. Clinical diagnosis of mycetoma was based on open tract sinuses, tumefaction or discharge of grain. Diagnosis confirmation was based on mycology and histology. An X-ray was preformed to detect bone lesions. Treatment was medical for actinomycetoma and surgical for eumycetoma.We observed 76 actinomycetoma and 54 eumycetoma (Sex ratio M/F=6.6; mean age=34.7 +/- 14.8 years). The mean duration before the first medical evaluation was 4.8 +/- 5.6 years. Actinomycetoma was due to Actinomadura pelletieri, (54 cases), Actinomadura madurae (17 cases) and Streptomyces somaliensis (5 cases). Eumycetoma was due to Madurella mycetomatis (38 cases), Leptospahria senegalensis (9 cases), Pseudoallescheria boydii (6 cases) and Rhinoclediella atrovirens (1 case). Clinical inflammatory features significantly associated with actinomyces (p0.001 OR=2.64) were predominant (85 cases). Tumoral and cystic features were found in the others forms. Lesions were located on the foot in 81 patients. Bone lesions, depending on the duration, were observed in 68 patients. Neurological damage occurred in 3 patients with dorsolumbar actinomycetoma. Sixty-six patients with actinomycetoma were cured by medical treatment.The 130 cases of mycetoma were remarkable by the long duration of the disease before the first medical evaluation. Pain and tumor were the two main symptoms which brought the patients to the hospital and had appeared after 5 years duration and the predominance of actinomadura pelletieri actinomycetoma was responsible for 41.3 p. 100 of our cases. In Niger and Mauritania, mycetoma were actinomycetoma in respectively 71.2 p. 100 and 25 p. 100 of cases. The geographic distribution of pathogenic mycetoma agents was determined by the annual rainfall. Distinction between eumycetoma and actinomycetoma is very important for the treatment.

Vibrio vulnificus is a Gram-negative halophilic pathogen for man that can cause septicemia in patients with chronic liver disease. In healthy subjects, infections are generally local or regional. We report two cases of necrotizing dermo-hypodermitis due to Vibrio vulnificus.The first patient was a 21-year-old fisherman who developed extensive necrotizing dermo-hypodermitis 24 hours after a penetrating scratch with a fish bone. The second patient was also a fisherman. This 35-year-old man developed a massive area of necrotic tissue on the left leg, also 48 hours after a penetrating fish bone scratch. Both patients exhibited neutrophil hyperleukocytosis and thrombocytopenia. Bacteriological study of the pus and damaged tissue identified Vibrio vulnificus. Blood cultures were negative. Liver tests and liver ultrasound were normal. The course was favorable in both cases with antibiotic treatment and excision of the necrotic tissue.For these two cases of Vibrio vulnificus necrotizing dermo-hypodermitis, the diagnosis was based on epidemiological, clinical and bacteriological arguments. Neither of these patients had liver disease, explaining the limited locoregional nature of the infection. The severity of the skin necrosis and its rapid course are related to the toxins produced by V. vulnificus. Curative medical and surgical care is generally effective in cases without septicemia and prognosis is good. Education of exposed subjects, fishermen and patients with chronic liver disease, should be helpful for prevention.

We report 6 cases of black Senegalese boys with xeroderma pigmentosum. They were between 2 and 16 year-old and presented features of hypersensitivity to UV (keratosis, lentigines, poikilodermia and photophobia). Our cases were remarkable by the early occurrence of squamous cell and basal cell carcinoma located in photoexposed sites causing the death of 5 of them. Xeroderma pigmentosum must be considered as the first preneoplastic genodermatosis.

Patients with systemic scleroderma often have latent heart disease which could play an important role in morbidity and mortality. We therefore conducted a prospective study of cardiovascular manifestations in patients with systemic scleroderma.A prospective cross-sectional study included 29 patients with systemic scleroderma who underwent a complete cardiovascular work-up including physical examination, electrocardiogram, chest x-ray and Doppler-echocardiogram from July 1993 to February 1996.Hypertension was observed in 6 patients (20.7%) and was positively correlated with age (p = 0.007). Raynaud syndrome was also found in 6 patients (20.6%). Heart disease was observed in 14 patients (48.3%) and was positively correlated with age and lack of treatment for scleroderma (p = 0.008). Myocardial disease was the most frequent (11 patients, 37.9%), followed by pericardial disease and valve disease (4 cases each, 13.8%). Rhythm and conduction disorders were found in 2 (6.9%) and 8 (27.6%) of the patients.Cardiovascular manifestations are frequent but often latent in patients with systemic scleroderma. This finding emphasizes the importance of routine cardiovascular work-up in all patients with scleroderma.