Background: Immune thrombocytopenia is an immune-related disorder that causes an impairment in platelet production and stimulates platelet destruction, causing variable bleeding symptoms. Objective: This study focuses on refractory immune thrombocytopenic purpura patients on romiplostim treatment and their level of illness perception related to treatment response. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted from May 1st, 2025, to August 1st, 2025. Brief Illness Perception Questionnaires were administered to 84 patients with ITP to collect the data. The study took place at the Hematology and Bone Marrow Transplant Center, Medical City, Baghdad, Iraq. Results: The romiplostim response rate is 21 (25.0%), while the partial response rate is 41 (48.8%). The most frequent complaints were bleeding, 46 (54.8%), and joint pain, 30 (35.7%). In terms of illness perceptions, treatment control had the greatest mean score (6.9±2.85), and understanding had the lowest mean score (4.2±4.6). Conclusions: Romiplostim showed effective management among Iraqi patients, and the patients believe in its effectiveness. A low level of patient understanding was shown among the participants; education programs and patient counseling are required to increase health literacy among patients with immune thrombocytopenic purpura.
(3)
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is an important cause of respiratory infection among children and infants globally. The first line of the immune response against this virus is neutrophils, macrophages, and innate lymphoid cells. Antigen‑presenting cells such as dendritic cells which present the viral antigen to T lymphocytes that mediate viral clearance by T cytotoxic cells and initiate systemic lymphopenia. Humoral immunity will also be stimulated through B‑cell‑stimulating factors derived from epithelial cells of the respiratory tract that play an important factor in antibody production and induction memory to reinfection through IgG and IgA protective antibodies that are useful in vaccine production.
(9)
(5)
(13)
(13)
Background: Repeated teenage pregnancy is a major burden on the healthcare system worldwide. Objective: We aimed to compare teenagers with their first and third pregnancies and to evaluate the likelihood of neonatal complications. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on female teenagers (aged ≤ 19 yr) with singleton pregnancies. The subjects (n = 298) were screened over 12 months. Ninety-six women were excluded, based on the exclusion criteria. The remaining subjects (n = 202) were divided into two groups: teenagers with first pregnancy (n = 96) and teenagers with third pregnancy (n = 47). The subjects were observed throughout pregnancy and delivery. The final sample size of the first and thi
... Show More
(7)
(3)
Typhoid fever (TF) is a systemic infection caused by Salmonella Typhi (Salmonella Enterica) transmitted through contaminated water, food, or contact with infected individuals. In various infectious diseases, blood viscosity (BV) is affected by changes in hemoglobin concentrations and acute phase reactants. Inflammatory responses can lead to elevated plasma protein levels and further affect BV. This study aimed to investigate BV changes in patients with acute TF. A cross-sectional study was performed involving 55 patients with acute TF compared to 38 healthy controls. BV and inflammatory parameters were measured in both groups. TF patients showed reduced blood cells compared to healthy controls (p=0.001). Additionally, plasma total protein (
... Show More
Background: Despite the importance of vaccines in preventing COVID-19, the willingness to receive COVID-19 vaccines is lower among RA patients than in the general population. Objective: To determine the extent of COVID-19 knowledge among RA patients and their attitudes and perceptions of COVID-19 vaccines. Methods: A qualitative study with a phenomenology approach was performed through face-to-face, individual-based, semi-structured interviews in the Baghdad Teaching Hospital, Baghdad, Iraq, rheumatology unit. A convenient sample of RA patients using disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs was included until the point of saturation. A thematic content analysis approach was used to analyze the obtained data. Results: Twenty-five RA pa
... Show More
BACKGROUND: Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) is a proangiogenic factor that exerts different effects over stem cell survival growth, apoptosis, and adhesion. Its impact on leukemogenesis has been established by many studies. AIM: This study aimed to determine the effect of plasma HGF activity on acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients at presentation and after remission. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This was a cross-sectional prospective study of 30 newly-diagnosed, adult, and AML patients. All patients received the 7+3 treatment protocol. Patients’ clinical data were taken at presentation, and patients were followed up for 6 months to evaluate the clinical status. Plasma HGF levels were estimated by ELISA based methods in the pa
... Show More
(2)
(2)
Ampullary carcinomas are uncommon malignant tumours of the digestive system, they usually are adenocarcinomas presenting histologically as three types: intestinal, pancreaticobiliary and mixed. β-catenin is a multifunctional protein involved in physiological homoeostasis and intracellular adhesion. Abnormal nuclear accumulation of β-catenin has been described in many malignancies such as colon, breast, liver and others. The relationships between the immunohistochemical expression of β-catenin and the subtype, the grade and the stage of ampullary carcinoma are studied.
Background: It was stated in scientific literatures that the entire craniofacial complex is influenced by the growth of the cranial base structures. Nevertheless, many times this is not the case, and this point is subject to great controversy so the aim of this study is to evaluate the possible differences in cranial base shape and flexure between different skeletal classes for both genders and to investigate any possible correlation between cranial base variables and other skeletal base variables. Materials and Methods: The sample include 75 lateral cephalometric radiographs of Iraqi adults aged between 18-25 years (39 males, 36 females), collected from patients and undergraduate students in the orthodontic department of College of Dentist
... Show More