Background: Legionella pneumophila (L. pneumophila) is gram-negative bacterium, which causes Legionnaires’ disease as well as Pontiac fever. Objective: To determine the frequency of Legionella pneumophila in pneumonic patients, to determine the clinical utility of diagnosing Legionella pneumonia by urinary antigen testing (LPUAT) in terms of sensitivity and specificity, to compares the results obtained from patients by urinary antigen test with q Real Time PCR (RT PCR) using serum samples and to determine the frequency of serogroup 1 and other serogroups of L. pneumophila. Methods: A total of 100 pneumonic patients (community acquired pneumonia) were enrolled in this study during a period between October 2016 to April 2017; 92 samples were collected from patients attended and admitted to Al-Imamein Al-Kadhimein Medical City and 8 samples from those in the (Center of Kidney Diseases and Transplantation) in the Medical City of Baghdad. All patients were under therapy with antibiotics. Serum and urine specimens were obtained from all patients; urine samples were processed for urinary antigen test (rapid test). Serum samples were collected and submitted to DNA extraction for detection of L. pneumophila mip gene by q RT PCR assay. Results: The percentage of L. pneumophila in two hospitals in Bagdad was 30%. Of these 26% was serogroup 1 detected by urinary antigen testing (UAT). In the other hand, 23% of samples were positive by q RT PCR based mip gene, of these 19 % were serogroup 1 and 4% were another serogroup. The sensitivity of UAT is high (P value < 0.001), which means statistically highly significance than q RT PCR. Conclusion: LPUAT is a rapid tool for early diagnosis of Legionella infection, which highlights the need of using this test in hospitals and health institutions and there is a high prevalence of L. pneumophila in Iraq that refer to the necessity of considering this microorganism point of view in future studies for detection and treatment in pneumonic patients. Keywords: L. pneumophila, mip gene, quantitative real time PCR, urinary antigen. Citation: Gauad SA, Abdulrahman TR, Muhamad AK, Jawad AA, Hassan JS. Clinical utility of urinary antigen test and molecular method for detection of Legionella pneumophila. Iraqi JMS. 2018; 16(2): 207-215. doi: 10.22578/IJMS.16.2.13
Congenital adrenal hyperplasia is a group of autosomal recessive disorders. The most frequent one is 21-hydroxylase deficiency. Analyzing
Background: Disc battery ingestion is a common
serious problem in Iraq. It increase in the last years
because of the increase in number of electronic toys
that uses these batteries. These batteries contains
many types of irritant chemicals that increases the
risk of it's ingestion.
Methods:We reviewed the medical records of
children aged between 1year and 7 years
old admitted to Surgical Specialty Hospital/Baghdad
Medical City due to disc battery ingestion from
January 2007 through December 2010). The diagnosis
of disc battery ingestion was based upon history,
clinical symptoms, and results of imaging studies.
The clinical data reviewed included sex, age, clinical
manifestation and duration of sy
Background: Behçet’s disease (BD) is a disorder of systemic inflammatory condition. Its important features are represented by recurrent oral, genital ulcerations and eye lesions. Aims. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate and compare cytological changes using morphometric analysis of the exfoliated buccal mucosal cells in Behçet’s disease patients and healthy controls, and to evaluate the clinical characteristics of Behçet’s disease. Methods. Twenty five Behçet’s disease patients have been compared to 25 healthy volunteers as a control group. Papanicolaou stain was used for staining the smears taken from buccal epithelial cells to be analyzed cytomorphometrically. The image analysis sof
... Show MoreBackground: Thyroid surgery is most common endocrine surgery in general surgical practice. Objectives: the aim of this work is to evaluate the feasibility, benefits and outcomes of open mini-incision thyroidectomy and compared the results with that of conventional thyroidectomy. The comparison between the two groups was in term of incision length, amount of blood loss, time of operation, postoperative pain, hospital stay and the cosmetic outcomes.Type of the study: this is a single-blinded randomized controlled studyMethods: This study compared the advantages and outcomes of 22 patients subjected to mini-incision thyroidectomy (Group A) with the equal numbers of patients subjected to conventional thyroidectomy (Group B).Results: the oper
... Show MoreThis case series aims to evaluate patients affected with post COVID‐19 mucormycosis from clinical presentation to surgical and pharmacological treatment to improve the disease prognosis.
This case series was conducted at a specialized surgery hospital in Baghdad Medical City for over 10 months. Fifteen cases who had mild to severe COVID‐19 infections followed by symptoms similar to aggressive periodontitis, such as mobility and bone resorption around the multiple maxillary teeth, were included in this case series.
By the time we conducted the current study,- COVID-19 epidemic has already become a global challenge, paralyzing socio-economic activity dramatically.
Hence , this study aimed to identify the most valuable prognostic indicators for COVID19 patients' early and accurate diagnosis by comparing laboratory biomarkers like C -reactive protein between non-severe and severe groups of patients. Depending on clinical symptoms, ---337 COVID-19 patients were enrolled at the Basra City Hospital from March 29 to April 29,2020 were classified into severe and non severe groups.
A total of 337 patients were diagnosed with C
... Show MoreAccording to so many previous studies, lack of sufficient information during prescribing steps may lead to medication errors. Thus, the presence of the clinical pharmacist during routine rounding process in the ward with intervention of patient care plan may reduce the probability of adverse drug events (ADEs).This study evaluate role of the clinical pharmacists, as a member of medical team with the physician, on ADEs and report their interventions in the internal medicine unit. This study was designed to compare between two groups of patients, those receiving care from a rounding team (physician, nurse, and clinical pharmacist) (study or intervention group with 51 patient); and those receiving c
... Show MoreBackground: The use of minerals in treatment of different diseases is as old as man himself. zinc is the most famous trace mineral related to male sexual function. Oligoasthenozoospermic subfertile patients were treated with zinc sulphate for three months.
Objectives: Aim of the research is to investigate the role of Zinc and if it affects the abnormalities of some semen parameters and to study the possible role of pharmaceutical preperations of zinc in amelioration of male subfertility as well as to assess the ability of Zinc to induce changes in the serum and semen zinc levels in addition to the levels of reproductive hormones (FSH and Testosterone).
Type of the study:
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This study aims to identify maternal death cases caused by Coronavirus infection 2019 pneumonia, including disease progression, fetal consequences, and the fatality cause.
Patients and methodology: A retrospective case collection of Iraqi pregnant women in their second and third trimesters diagnosed with COVID-19 pneumonia and died due to it.
The four cases were all of a young age, had a brief complaint period, and had no comorbidities. Fever, dyspnea, and fatigue were the most common symptoms. Hypoxia was present in all cases and was the cause of mortality in three cases, with thromboembolism being a potential cause in the fourth. Prelabour membrane breakup, fetal growth restriction, and fetal death are al
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