Introduction/Aim. Roughly six percent of all malignancies diagnosed in children are malignant bone tumors. They have a dramatic effect on psychological status of children and their families. The aim of the study was to analyze the clinico-pathological features of bone tumors in Iraqi children and to assess response to treatment, outcome, and survival. Patients and methods. Over an eleven-year period, a retrospective study was done for children with bone tumors conducted on patients data that included a battery of pre-treatment investigations including a complete blood count, serum electrolyte, hepatic, and renal profile, bone marrow aspirate and biopsy, fine-needle aspiration, and imaging studies. Results. Data of 41 children with bone tumor were collected. The most common site of involvement was lower limbs, found in 21 (51.2%) cases. At the time of diagnosis, 29 patients presented with localized disease (70.7%), while 12 (29.3%) patients presented with metastasis. From 41 patients included in the study, histopathology of 29 (70.7%) patients was Ewing's sarcoma, whereas 12 (29.3%) patients were diagnosed with osteogenic sarcoma. The most common toxic effect of chemotherapy was febrile neutropenia which was recorded in 22 (59.5%) patients, followed by hemorrhagic cystitis in 3 (8.1%) patients; both febrile neutropenia and hemorrhagic cystitis were recorded in 5 (13.5%) patients, convulsion was found in 1 (2.7%) patient, and no complication were reported in 5 (13.5%) patients. Relapse was found in 8 (21.6%) patients. Conclusion. High rate of patients were lost to follow-up. Two-year event-free survival (EFS) was 53%, which is lower than that reported in other studies due to late diagnosis, late referral with the presentation in the locally advanced stage of disease.
Immunosuppressive cytokines are the main components of the tumor microenvironment and perform a vital function in controlling the immune response to malignant neoplasms.The objective: to study the influence of interleukin-4 (IL-4) and transforming growth factor-β3 (TGF-β3) on the development of breast tumors in women.Materials and methods. The concentration of cytokines IL-4 and TGF-β3 in blood serum was determined in 40 women with benign breast tumors, 40 women with malignant breast tumors, and 40 healthy patients without breast pathology, who were included in the control group.Breast cancer (BC) patients were divided into two groups; the first group included patients with the II stage of BC, who were considered to have a low le
... Show MoreIn this paper, we show that for the alternating group An, the class C of n- cycle, CC covers An for n when n = 4k + 1 > 5 and odd. This class splits into two classes of An denoted by C and C/, CC= C/C/ was found.
Background: osteoporosis is characterized by a reduction in bone mineral density, skeletal microstructure breakdown, increased bone fragility, and fracture susceptibility. Osteopenia is the preceding step to osteoporosis because it causes a decrease in bone mass, osteoporosis reduces a person's quality of life. Periostin (encoded by Postn), its name is derived from the fact that it was first detected in periosteal osteocytes and osteoblasts. Periostin deficiency has been linked to osteoporosis and weak bones. Study objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine periostin levels in serum of Iraqi patients with osteoporosis and osteopenia, and it is also possible to consider periostin as a diagnostic factor to follow the progression o
... Show MoreWidespread use of antihypertensive agents in clinical practice necessitates the knowledge of their pleiotropic effects. At the present time there are no sufficient evidences of positive effect of these medications on bone coming from randomized controlled trials; knowledge of additional effects of those drugs on the bone metabolism will allow doctors to choose optimal treatment of hypertension, taking into account the state of bone tissue. At the same time it will also allow to prevent osteoporosis in patients having osteoporosis risk factors or initial signs of bone loss.
Ten elderly hypertensive women age > 60 years old (64.2±3.6) treated with captopril for a 5-6 years ago while they attending Al Yarmouk Teaching Hospital i
... Show MoreThe objective of this work was to analyze the involvement of AhR in bone metabolism using a rat model of experimental osteoporosis and to analyze the mechanisms behind its activity. Rats were assigned randomly to the subsequent groups; Control, received no treatment; ovariectomized (OVX) rats; Sham; Sham+RES received resveratrol; OVX+RES and OVX+CH received AhR’s antagonist, CH223191 (CH); and finally OVX+CHR group received both AhR antagonist along with resveratrol. Resveratrol and AhR antagonist treatment started 7 days after surgery and continued to 45 days. The serum of osteocalcin (OC) and Ca+2 was measured by ELISA and spectrophotometer, respectively. X-ray was used to estimate bone density of rats. In molecular levels,
... Show MoreAddition of bioactive materials such as Titanium oxide (TiO2), and incorporation of bio inert ceramic such as alumina (Al2O3), into polyetheretherketone (PEEK) has been adopted as an effective approach to improve bone-implant interfaces. In this paper, hot pressing technique has been adopted as a production method. This technique gave a homogenous distribution of the additive materials in the proposed composite biomaterial. Different compositions and compounding temperatures have been applied to all samples. Mechanical properties and animal model have been studied in all different production conditions. The results of these new TiO2/Al2O3/PEEK biocomposites with different
... Show MoreBackground: The efficacy of educational strategies is crucial for nursing students to competently perform pediatric procedures like nasogastric tube insertion. Specific Background: This study evaluates the effectiveness of simulation, blended, and self-directed learning strategies in enhancing these skills among nursing students. Knowledge Gap: Previous research lacks a comprehensive comparison of these strategies' impacts on skill development in pediatric nursing contexts. Aims: The study aims to assess the effectiveness of different educational strategies on nursing students' ability to perform pediatric nasogastric tube insertions. Methods: A pre-experimental design was employed at the College of Nursing, University of Baghdad, i
... Show MoreAbstract
The current study was conducted to assess the effect of advancing age on total serum IgE level in asthmatic patients. To this purpose, 90 asthmatic patients and 30 healthy individuals ( control group ) were enrolled. Asthmatic patients were categorized into four groups. Group A consisted of asthmatic patients (9) whose age was more than 20 and up to 30 y. Group B contained asthmatics (13) of age more than 30 and up to 40 y. Group C comprised those (23) of more than 40 and up to 50 y. Group D consisted asthmatic patients (45) of age more than 50 y. Total serum IgE level significantly changed in group D patients when compared with those of