Abstractobjective In 2009, the Ministry of Health of Morocco launched a national confidential enquiry around maternal deaths based on the newly implemented routine maternal death surveillance system (MDSS). The objective of this paper is to show the importance of substandard care among the factors associated with maternal deaths.methods The Moroccan National Expert Committee (NEC) organised an audit of maternal deaths identified by the MDSS to determine the medical cause, the preventability of the deaths and the type of substandard care involved.results Three hundred and three cases of maternal deaths were analysed for the year 2009. Direct causes accounted for 80.8%. 75.9% were considered avoidable by the NEC. The three main factors were insufficient follow-up of care in 45.6% of cases, inadequate treatment in 43.9% and delay in seeking care in 41.3%. The auditors found that 54.3% of all maternal deaths could have been avoided if appropriate action had been taken at the health facilities.conclusion The audit of maternal deaths in Morocco enabled a better understanding of the circumstances contributing to maternal deaths and pinpointed that more than half of maternal deaths were associated with substandard care in hospitals.

BackgroundLimited national information is available in Morocco on the prevalence and distribution of HPV-sub-types of cervical cancer and the role of other risk factors. The aim was to determine the frequency of HPV-sub-types of cervical cancer in Morocco and investigate risk factors for this disease.MethodsBetween November 2009 and April 2012 a multicentre case-control study was carried out. A total of 144 cases of cervical cancer and 288 age-matched controls were included. Odds-ratios and corresponding confidence-intervals were computed by conditional logistic regression models.ResultsCurrent HPV infection was detected in 92.5% of cases and 13.9% of controls. HPV16 was the most common type for both cases and controls. Very strong associations between HPV-sub-types and cervical cancer were observed: total-HPV (OR = 39), HPV16 (OR = 49), HPV18 (OR = 31), and multiple infections (OR = 13). Education, high parity, sexual intercourse during menstruation, history of sexually transmitted infections, and husband’s multiple sexual partners were also significantly associated with cervical cancer in the multivariate analysis.ConclusionsOur results could be used to establish a primary prevention program and to prioritize limited screening to women who have specific characteristics that may put them at an increased risk of cervical cancer.

The relevance of vaginal colonization of pregnant women by Escherichia coli is poorly understood, despite these strains sharing a similar virulence profile with other extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli producing severe obstetric and neonatal infections. We characterized the epidemiology, antimicrobial susceptibility and virulence profiles of 84 vaginal E. coli isolates from pregnant women from Rabat (Morocco) and Manhiça (Mozambique), two very distinct epidemiological settings. Low levels of antimicrobial resistance were observed to all drugs tested, except for trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole in Manhiça, where this drug is extensively used as prophylaxis for opportunistic HIV infections. The most prevalent virulence factors were related to iron acquisition systems. Phylogroup A was the most common in Rabat, while phylogroups E and non-typeable were the most frequent in Manhiça. Regardless of the apparently “low virulence” of these isolates, the frequency of infections is higher and the outcomes more devastating in constrained-resources conditions, especially among pregnant women and newborns.

Endometriosis is defined by the presence and growth of ectopic functional endometrial tissue outside the uterus. Scar endometriosis has been described following obstetrical and gynecological surgery. It is a rare condition, though probably on the rise, due to the considerable increase of cesarean sections performed worldwide. Its physiopathology is complex; its symptomatology is rich and diverse but thorough clinical examination along with ultrasound imaging and potentially pretherapeutic cytologic evaluation are usually efficient in diagnosing the condition. Treatment is mostly surgical. We report the case of a cesarean section scar endometriosis, managed at a tertiary level center and emphasize the diagnosis and treatment options.