Objective: To provide a description of the clinical, etiological, and therapeutic aspects of pericardial effusions in Marrakech. Material and methods: This is a retrospective and cross-sectional study conducted in the cardiology department of the Avicenna military hospital from January 2014 to August 2018 of patients hospitalized for pericardial effusion, confirmed by echocardiography-doppler. Results: The study included 52 patients. The mean age was 43.6 ± 4.2 years (ranging from 24 to 81 years) with a sex ratio of 1.4. Exertional dyspnea and chest pain were the main symptoms. Sinus tachycardia was the main electrocardiographic sign. Pericardial effusion was moderate in 24 patients (46.15%). Pericardiocentesis was required in 8 cases (15.4%). The etiologies of the effusion were: idiopathic/viral (77%), tuberculosis (15.4%), neoplastic (3.8%), lupus and rheumatism (3.8%). Conclusion: Pericardial effusions mainly concern young subjects, their diagnosis is based on echocardiography, the treatment is according to the cause, tuberculosis is epidemic in our context but its frequency is decreasing in favor of more inflammatory/viral causes.

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Background: Stroke is a worldwide growing health problem; a significant proportion of acute ischemic strokes occur as the first manifestation of atrial fibrillation. We sought to evaluate the performance of 24-hour rhythm monitoring in detecting paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted at the University Hospital of Marrakech, in 174 selected patients with ischemic stroke without clear etiology at baseline subjected to ambulatory Holter monitoring. Results: The overall detection rate for atrial fibrillation was 4.1%, allowing the initiation of anticoagulant therapy in selected patients. Nevertheless, although some degree of success in detecting AF in a short period of monitoring was achieved, it is believed that the prevalence of AF is still underestimated by this screening modality. Conclusion: Tracking atrial fibrillation is a fundamental element in the secondary prevention of stroke; the development of new digital technologies now makes the possibility of long-term heart rhythm monitoring accessible. Numerous ECG recording solutions have been scientifically proven reliable, some are already recommended for the detection of cardiac arrhythmias. The choice of the screening method must be tailored to each individual case.