Background: Breast cancer is the most common malignancy affecting the Iraqi population and the leading cause of cancer related mortality among Iraqi women. It has been well documented that prognosis of patients depends largely upon the hormone receptor contents and HER-2 over expression of their neoplasm. Recent studies suggest that Triple Positive (TP) tumors, bearing the three markers, tend to exhibit a relatively favorable clinical behavior in which overtreatment is not recommended. Aim: To document the different frequencies of ER/PR/HER2 breast cancer molecular subtypes focusing on the Triple Positive pattern; correlating those with the corresponding clinico-pathological characteristics among a sample of Iraqi patients diagnosed with the disease. Patients and Methods: This retrospective study involved 570 female patients diagnosed with breast cancer who visited the Main Referral Center for Early Detection of Breast Cancer and the National Cancer Research Center. The requested data was mainly extracted from an established information system database, developed by the principal author over a 4-years period from 2012 to 2016. The registered information comprised data related to clinical presentation, diagnostic and pathologic findings. ER, PR and HER2 status were analyzed immunohistochemically and the detected profiles were correlated with the corresponding clinico-pathological characteristics. Results: The rates of ER (+), PR (+) and HER-2 (+) tumors were 66.8%, 64% and 29.3% respectively. The tumor marker expression status was documented in eight subtypes; 83 cases (14.6%) of the examined breast carcinomas were categorized as ER+/PR+/HER2+ (Triple Positive/Luminal B), 89 cases (15.6%) were ER-/PR-/HER2- (Triple Negative), 241 (42.2%) were ER+/PR-/HER2- (Luminal A) while 67 (11.8%) showed ER-/PR-/HER2+ expression (HER-2 variant). No significant variations were noted when comparing age, menopausal status and tumor grade of Luminal B pattern to Luminal A and the rest of the studied subtypes. Although our data revealed a statistical difference with respect to the distribution of tumor types; where infiltrative ductal carcinoma constituted the major histology among patients with Triple Positive/Luminal B subtype (86.7% as compared to 67.6% in Luminal A), nevertheless, more than two third of those patients (67.4%) were diagnosed at earlier stages (I and II) compared to 55.2% of those in the remaining groups. Conclusions and Recommendations: Our findings support the hypothesis that the Triple Positive subtype might be driven primarily by the hormone receptor status. Further comprehensive surveys are recommended to focus on the intrinsic interactions and tumor cell heterogeneity of that pattern to avoid overtreatment and predict accurate response to therapy.
Poisoning with toxic substances accidently or deliberately can be life threatening and especially in some countries that lack the essential tests and facilities to identify the types and causes of these toxic substances. In Iraq, as many other countries, poisoning is one of the chronic public health problems. However, very little literature about the pattern of poisoning cases, types and age is available in Duhok Governorate. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the most common patterns of poisoning and the related age and gender in Duhok Governorate from 2016-2018, which would possibly contribute to the early diagnosis and treatment of poisoning. The present study was conducted for three years, started from 1st of
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With the premise that effective use of online instructional practices is of vital importance in classrooms, the current study aimed to examine the effects of using Moodle applications to develop instructors’ skills in designing electronic tests at Dhofar University. The sample of this study consisted of (25) instructors participated in the experimental group. The researchers implemented a quasi-experimental design with one group pre- and post-test; in addition, an observation card was implemented to measure the target skills related to test design. The research instruments were subjected to validity and reliability measures to ensure valid and reliable data and results. The study results showed that those instructors who participated i
... Show MoreThis research is considered one of the important researches in Maysan Governorate, as it focuses on the construction of helicopter airport project in the oil fields of the Maysan Oil Company, where the oil general companies in Maysan Governorate suffer from the cost of transporting the foreign engineering experts and the governing equipment of sustaining oil industry from Iraq's international airports to oil fields and vice versa. Private international transport companies transport foreign engineering from the oil fields to Iraqi airports and vice versa, and other international security companies take action to provide protection for foreign engineering experts during transportation. Hence, this process is very costly.
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BACKGROUND: Transverse fractures of the patella are important fractures with a wide variety of subtypes, the common incidence in the age group of 20–50 years. Surgical interference aims to achieve a perfect alignment of the joint surface, in addition to rigid fixation of the fracture for early re-habitation and early movement to retain the extensor mechanism of the knee joint. AIM: The aim of this study was to compare the radiological and functional outcomes of the displaced transverse patella fracture in adult patients treated by ORIF using tension band wiring versus cannulated screws with wiring. METHODS: A prospective analytic comparative study was conducted in Al-Kindy Teaching Hospital/Baghdad/Iraq for 18 months from Apr
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Background: Radial neck fractures in children account for 5 to 10% of all elbow fractures in children. They are extra-articular fractures of the radius proximal to the bicipital tuberosity. The physis is typically involved as a Salter-Harris I or II pattern. Alternatively, the fracture sometimes is extraphyseal, through the metaphysis. In children there is considerable potential for remodeling after these fractures. Up to 30° of radial head tilt and up to 3 mm of transverse displacement are acceptable. Many modalities of treatment are available regarding Surgical &Non-Surgical treatments. Objectives: To evaluate the functional outcome after surgical percutaneous joystick reduction therapy of severely angulated radial neck fracture i
... Show MoreThis paper provides an identification key to the species of Orthetrum Newman, 1833 (Odonata, Libellulidae), including six species that were collected from different localities in Iraq.
The species of O. anceps (Schneider, 1845) is registered as a new record in Iraq; the most important characters which are used in diagnostic key are included
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In this study the Entrance Surface Dose (ESD) received by pediatrics patients undergoing chest, abdomen and skull X-ray examinations was estimated. The study was conducted in two hospitals in Najaf city where three radiographic systems were considered. The study participants were classified into four age groups 0-1 , 1-5 , 5-10 and 10-15 years. Calculations were performed using exposure factors, kVp, mAs and focal-skin distance, together with patient data age. The ESD was calculated for the involved patients who underwent an Antero-posterior (AP) chest, abdomen and skull X-ray examination. The resulted data were analyzed and compared with international dose references. For all studied radiographic examinations and all X-ray mac
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