Background: Mitral regurgitation (MR) is the most commonly encountered valve lesion in modern clinical practice. Severe mitral regurgitation may cause systolic dysfunction. Left ventricular ejection fraction may not be an accurate measurement of LV function in patients with mitral insufficiency. Myocardial performance index (MPI) is a simple non invasive measure of myocardial function. Methods: The study involved 50 patients with valvular mitral regurgitation and 50 healthy subjects as a control group. Transthoracic echocardiography was carried out for all patients and control group. The echocardiographic measurements included left ventricular end diastolic and end systolic dimensions, left atrial diameter, ejection fraction (EF), and myocardial performance index (MPI). Results: Results revealed insignificant change in MPI between patients with mild MR and controls (26.47%), and significant changes in MPI between patients with moderate and severe mitral regurgitation and control group (29.41%, 41.17% respectively) with p value b0.05. Insignificant change in EF between patients with mild MR and controls (5.52%) was noted (p value N0.05), while the changes in EF between patients with moderate and severe mitral regurgitation and control groups were (−9.3%), (−7.4%) respectively with p value b0.05. Conclusion: Myocardial performance index is a good and easily determined index in the assessment of left ventricular function in patients with mitral regurgitation and has the ability to detect LV dysfunction earlier than ejection fraction.
Background: The internally displaced children are vulnerable groups have less access to dental services, worse oral health, and bear a disproportionate burden of oral diseases. Aim of the study: This study was conducted on group of internally displaced children living in Baghdad governorate camps to measure their dental caries prevalence and experience and find out the association between dental caries and the duration of displacement in camps. Subjects and methods: A sample of 1393 children were selected, 567 internally displaced children from camps in Baghdad governorate and 826 school children as control matching in age and gender. The age of children ranged from 5-12 years old. Oral examination was performed using WHO 2013 criteria, to
... Show MoreThe purpose of this study is to describe the extent and nature of informal tenure practices in urban areas in Iraq, through undertaking a rapid assessment in Baghdad city. The UN-HABITAT 2008 publication Secure Land Rights for All discusses the importance of access and rights to land throughout the developing world. Secure land rights are critical to development and poverty reduction, and the greatest challenge in providing secure land rights are in urban areas, where overcrowding can lead to a number of informal tenure practices ranging from individually unregistered or unauthorised housing, to large informal settlements. Access to land is a fundamental basis for human shelter, food production, and other economic activity. Secur
... Show MoreActivities associated with mining of uranium have generated significant quantities of waste materials containing uranium and other toxic metals. A qualitative and quantitative study was performed to assess the situation of nuclear pollution resulting from waste of drilling and exploration left on the surface layer of soil surrounding the abandoned uranium mine hole located in the southern of Najaf province in Iraq state. To measure the specific activity, twenty five surface soil samples were collected, prepared and analyzed by using gamma- ray spectrometer based on high counting efficiency NaI(Tl) scintillation detector. The results showed that the specific activities in Bq/kg are 37.31 to 1112.47 with mean of 268.16, 0.28 to 18.57 with
... Show MoreVisceral leishmaniasis(VL) or kala-azar is one of the world most neglected tropical diseases in mortality and fourth in morbidity, rK39 dipstick was used to diagnose the suspected infected patients as easiest and rapid technique for VL diagnostic, the disease out-coming required to the differentiation of cell mediated immunity either T-helper 1(Th-1) or (Th-2). One of main pointers that may be considered as one of immune evasion strategy in the host-parasite interplay is HLA-G level alteration. HLA-G Known as a special proteins (non-classical HLA class I) molecules which can suppress the immune system by T-cell functions impaired in the aid with target receptors as LILRB4. The development of the cell mediated immunity initiated with Interle
... Show MoreThe tremendous benefits of using cellular phones, which began to increase and unprecedented spread worldwide last decade, were accompanied by harmful effects on the environment due to the increase in electromagnetic radiation (EMR) which be emitted from mobile phone towers. This effect on humans, animals, and plants, which is considered a form of environmental pollution, was sensed by developed countries and Environmental protection organizations. These countries have established restrictions and enacted laws to reduce their negative impact on living beings. The field survey included six major hospitals and 38 schools were distributed over the central neighbourhoods in Al-Najaf city. The results showed that power density (PD) measurement
... Show MoreThe performance of photovoltaic (PV) panel having staggered metal foam fins was examined experimentally in Baghdad, Iraq. Three staggered metal foam fin configurations attached to the backside of the PV panel were studied. The measured parameters were front and back surfaces temperature, open voltage and current circuits, maximum power, and PV efficiency. It was noted that the maximum electrical efficiency enhancement was 4.7% for staggered metal foam fins (case III) than the reference PV panel. The operating temperature of the cell was increased when the value of solar intensity was high. Thereby, the electrical efficiency was decreased. It was found that the metal foam fins decreased the PV temperature by 2-3 o
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