The COVID-19 pandemic has great consequences on mental health. We aimed to assess medical students’ psychological condition and influencing factors as a baseline evidence for interventions promoting their mental wellbeing. We conducted an online survey from April 8 to April 18, 2020 to examine the mental health of medical students by the nine-item Patient Health Questionnaire, seven-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale, seven-item Insomnia Severity Index, and six-item Kessler psychological distress scale. Factors associated with mental health outcomes were identified by multivariable logistic regression analysis. Five hundred forty-nine students completed the survey; 341 (62.3%), 410 (74.6%), 344 (62.6%), and 379 (69%) reported anxiety, depression, insomnia, and distress, respectively. Female students, living in high COVID-19 prevalence locations, more than 25 days confinement, psychiatric consult history, and being in a preclinical level of studies had higher median scores and severe symptom levels. Multivariable logistic regression showed female gender as a risk factor for severe symptoms of anxiety (odds ratio [OR]: 1.653; 95% CI: 1.020–2.679;P= 0.042), depression (OR: 2.167; 95% CI: 1.435–3.271;P< 0.001), insomnia (OR: 1.830; 95% CI: 1.176–2.847;P= 0.007), and distress (OR: 1.994; 95% CI: 1.338–2.972;P= 0.001); preclinical level of enrollment as a risk factor for depression (OR: 0.679; 95% CI: 0.521–0.885;P= 0.004), insomnia (OR: 0.720; 95% CI: 0.545–0.949;P= 0.02), and distress (OR: 0.650; 95% CI: 0.499–0.847;P= 0.001), whereas living in high COVID-19 prevalence locations was a risk factor for severe anxiety (OR: 1.628; 95% CI: 1.090–2.432;P= 0.017) and depression (OR: 1.438; 95% CI: 1.002–2.097;P= 0.05). Currently, medical students experience high levels of mental health symptoms, especially female students, those at a preclinical level and living in regions with a high prevalence of COVID-19 cases. Screening for mental health issues, psychological support, and long-term follow-up could alleviate the burden and protect future physicians.

Introduction: The insertion of an implantable central venous access is performed according to a variety of approaches which allow the access to the subclavian vein, yet the supraclavicular technique has been underused and never compared to the other methods. The aim of this study was to testify on the efficacy and safety of the subclavian puncture without ultrasound guidance « Yoffa » in comparison with the classical infraclavicular approach (ICA). Material and methods: This is a retrospective study with prospective data collection on patients followed at the national oncology institute for cancer, in the period extending from May 1st 2017 to August 31st 2017. All patients had a totally implantable central venous access device inserted by the same surgeon AS for chemotherapy administration and demographic characteristics, as well as procedure details were examined. The primary outcomes were the intraoperative complications, while the secondary outcomes represented immediate postoperative and mid-term complications (at 15 months of follow up). Outcomes were compared between techniques by means of non parametric tests and the Fischer test. Results: Our study included 135 patients with 70 patients undergoing the subclavian technique, while 65 were subject to the infraclavicular approach. Both groups had no statistically significant demographic characteristics. The number of vein puncture attempts exceeding once, the accidental artery puncture and operative time were more significant in the ICA group; (39,6 vs 17,6 p = 0,01) (9.2% vs 0; p = 0,01) and (27± 13 vs 23± 8min, p = 0.045) respectively. There was no statistically significant difference in the immediate and midterm complication rate between the two methods 1(1,4) vs 2 (3) p = 0.5. Conclusion: In case of unavailability of ultrasonographic guidance, the use of the supra-clavicular landmarks approach is linked to higher success rates and less arterial punctures, thereby proving to be a safe and reliable approach.

Implementing a multimodal management of peritoneal surface malignancies is a steep and complex process, especially as complete cytoreductive surgery (CRS) is the backbone and the major prognostic factor for hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) procedures. The implementation of such a program is a challenging process, particularly in low-middle income (LMIC) countries where ressource restrictions may represent a major hurdle to HIPEC appliances acquisition. Herein is the first audit of the implementation of a national peritoneal malignancy program in a north African country. The audit process was performed according to the three implementation steps, namely initiation (“1”:2005–2008), transition (“2”:2009–2013) and consolidation (“3”:2014–2017). We included all consecutive CRS without HIPEC performed with curative intent for ovarian, gastric, colorectal and pseudomyxoma peritonei type of malignancies with an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance Status ≤ 2. Target outcomes for incomplete cytoreduction (ICRS), serious complications ≥ 3b according to the Clavien-Dindo scoring, and early oncologic failure (EOF; disease progression within 2 years of treatment) were compared between the three phases. Independent risk factors correlated to these three outcomes were calculated using a logistic regression model.198 CRS procedures were completed with 49, 60 and 89 cases performed in the three phases, respectively. Overall, patients were comparable except for ECOG and ASA scores which were more severe in the third phase. The comparison of ICRS, serious complications and EOF rates showed a significant reduction between the three phases with (34%, 18% and 4% p = <0.001), (30.6%, 20% and 11.2%, p = 0.019) and (38.8%, 23.3% and 12.4% p = 0.002) respectively. Undergoing CRS in phase 3 on the other hand was a predictive factor of better short term surgical and oncological outcomes and completeness of cytoreduction, while ECOG performance status and spleno-pancreatectomy were also predictive factors of serious complications.

Background: Prolonged fevers (PF) are defined as a thermal shift >38 ° C without any immediately obvious cause (fever of unknown origin). The fever is considered as prolonged when it lasts at least 7 days in children and 5 days in infants. PF constitute a frequent reason for consultation. Our Objective is to highlight the epidemiological and etiological profile of prolonged fevers in children in the eastern region of Morocco. Material and methods: Our work is a retrospective study of 119 cases, conducted from January 1, 2015 to July 31, 2018 in the pediatric department of the C.H.U Mohammed VI Mother-Child Hospital in Oujda, Morocco. Results: The hospital incidence of PF in this study was 2.8%. The patients average age was 49 months. A male predominance was noted (63 boys). The patients were living in urban zone in 76% of cases. The symptom duration before first consultation was 18 days. Children with a history of suspected but not confirmed infection with notion of taking antibiotics and antipyretics were noted in 30% of cases. The functional signs were dominated by digestive symptoms in 34 patients, followed by mucocutaneous signs in 26% of cases, and cardiorespiratory manifestations in 12% of cases. The main physical signs were represented by a tumor syndrome in 34 patients, and 31 cases of cutaneous involvement. The etiologic diagnosis was confirmed by an abdominal ultrasound in 48% of cases, a myelogram in 19% of cases, a chest X-ray in 17% of cases, and a cardiac ultrasound in 14.5% of cases. At the end of the etiological investigation, the infectious causes were in 52 cases, inflammatory diseases in 32 cases, neoplasia in 27 cases, and undetermined causes 8 cases. Discussion: The hospital incidence of prolonged fevers is difficult to estimate because of the nosological problem they pose. However, FP constitutes 0.4% to3% of the reasons for pediatric hospitalization. In our study, it was 2.8%. Regarding age, almost half of the children hospitalized for FP exploration are under the age of six. This can be explained by the high frequency of febrile diseases, in particular infectious diseases, at this age the male predominance was marked in most studies with a sex ratio ranging from 1.1–1.8. The clinical signs on admission did not allow a clear etiological orientation, and it was the repeated questioning and physical examination during hospitalization that guided the etiological investigation. The most common feature is infectious causes. There is a high percentage of neoplastic causes compared with the literature. Indeterminate causes constitute only 6.7% compared with higher figures in the literature which can be explained by the progress of examinations in the field of etiological research. Conclusion: Prolonged fevers in children therefore remains a complex condition to handle despite advances in diagnostic means. Careful clinical examination is necessary for the management of children with PF. In fact, the patient should be regularly reassessed in search of new symptoms and other investigation leads. The reasoned prescription of additional workups and critical analysis of clinical signs are also essential steps in the etiological investigation.