Examining and comparing the image quality of degenerative cervical spine diseases through the application of three MRI sequences; the Two-Dimension T2 Weighed Turbo Spin Echo (2D T2W TSE), the Three-Dimension T2 Weighted Turbo Spin Echo (3D T2W TSE), and the T2 Turbo Field Echo (T2_TFE). Thirty-three patients who were diagnosed as having degenerative cervical spine diseases were involved in this study. Their age range was 40-60 years old. The images were produced via a 1.5 Tesla MRI device using (2D T2W TSE, 3D T2W TSE, and T2_TFE) sequences in the sagittal plane. The image quality was examined by objective and subjective assessments. The MRI image characteristics of the cervical spines (C4-C5, C5-C6, C6-C7) showed significant difference

Irisin is a novel myokine and adipokine, its role during pregnancy and its association with some metabolic risk factors especially pre-pregnancy body mass index (pre-BMI) need more evaluation. The aim of the study is to find whether the pre-BMI could predict irisin levels during normal pregnancy and to clarify associations of irisin with some pathological parameters.

Irisin levels were estimated by ELISA in sera of 59 normal pregnant women who enrolled from December 2016 to May 2017 at Maternity Hospital, Zakho city, Kurdistan region (Iraq). Thirty-two normal-weight pregnant (pre-BMI≤24.9 kg/m², Age=24.03 mean±3.7standard deviation) and 27 overweight/obese-pregnant (pre-BMI>25 kg/m², Age=27.6 mean±3.9

Background/Aim: The timing of a tooth's eruption can be affected by a variety of factors. The nutritional status has an impact on the development of a child's body. The purpose of the study was to analyse the number of children aged 6 to 9 in an Iraqi Arab population who had erupted permanent first molars and to examine how nutritional status affected the timing and level of emergence. Methods: A total of 330 boys and girls, in first grade elementary school, made up the sample. First molars that had erupted were noted, along with the level of the eruption. Each child's nutritional status was evaluated by recording their height and weight and body mass index (BMI) value was compared to the 2007 WHO reference. Results: Girls had highe

Background: The present study aimed to assess the distribution, prevalence, severity of malocclusion in Baghdad governorate in relation to gender and residency Materials and Methods: A multi-stage stratified sampling technique was used in this investigation to make the sample a representative of target population. The sample consisted of 2700 (1349 males and 1351 females) intermediate school students aged 13 years representing 3% of the total target population. A questionnaire was used to determine the perception of occlusion and orthodontic treatment demand of the students and the assessment procedures for occlusal features by direct intraoral measurement using veriner and an instrument to measure the rotated and displaced teeth. Results a

Background: Gasoline constituents and its derivatives had many hazardous effects on the general health of humans. Thus, gasoline stations workers may be affected by different types of related diseases.This study was conducted to assess selected salivary elements and their relation with dental caries, oral hygiene status and periodontal diseases among gasoline stations workers in comparison with individuals have no regular exposure to gasoline. Materials and methods: The study group consists of thirty male subjects with an age range (33-39) years who worked in different gasoline stations in different areas of Baghdad city and thirty persons that matching in age and gender and not exposed to gasoline were selected as a control group. Dental c

Background: Lead-acid battery workers are at higher risk for systemic diseases as well as oral diseases like dental caries. The aim of this study was to assess selected salivary antioxidants and their relation with dental caries among lead acid battery factory workers in comparison with non-exposed group. Materials and methods: The sample consisted of 35 subjects aged 35-45 year-old who worked in Babylon lead acid battery factory in Baghdad city and matching group that not exposed to lead were selected as a control. Dental caries severity was recorded by using DMFS index, stimulated salivary samples were collected and analyzed for the measurement of salivary antioxidants (uric acid, total protein, catalase and glutathione peroxidase enzymes

Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by impairments in social interaction and communication, restricted patterns of behavior, and unusual sensory sensitivities. Saliva may provide an easily accessible sample for analysis. Some salivary constituents levels altered in adolescents with ASD including antioxidants . This study aimed to investigate salivary physicochemical characteristic in relation to oral health status among adolescent with ASD. Materials and methods: Two groups were included in this study: forty institutionalized autistic adolescents and forty apparently healthy school adolescents with age range (12-15 years old, only males) selected randomly from Baghdad. Each group subdivided into two groups according

Background: Feeding is a complicated process that involves the coordination of cardiovascular, respiratory, gastrointestinal (GI), and oropharyngeal mechanisms, with support from the musculoskeletal and craniofacial systems. The practice of feeding could be correlated with eruption stage and nutritional status in infants. Aim of the study: This study aimed to assess the relation of feeding patterns to a selected oral variable (stage of the eruption of primary teeth) and growth parameters among clinically healthy infants. Subjects and Methods: A cross-sectional comparative study on a sample of (300) infants aged between 6 and 18 months was performed in Karbala City, Iraq. The feeding pattern was investigated using an information sheet ans

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common disease and it accounts for over 10% of all hospital medical admission. Cigarette smoking is the most important risk factor. Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PHT) is a common complication of COPD and the increase in pulmonary artery pressure is often mild to moderate. The presence of pulmonary arterial pressure and its severity is readily and reliably determined by transthoracic echocardiography in majority of COPD patients.
Patients and Methods: This study included 55 patients with mean age 65.6 ±8.2 years .The mean duration of symptoms was 18 ±10 months. 32 patients (58%) were current smoker, 18 patients (33%) were exsmoker and 5 pat