SUMMARY. The objectives of the present study were to assess the possible predictors of COVID-19 severity and duration of hospitalization and to identify the possible correlation between patient parameters, disease severity and duration of hospitalization. The study included retrospective medical record extraction of previous coron avirus COVID-19 patients in Basra hospitals, Iraq from March 1st and May 31st, 2020. The information of the participants was investigated anonymously. All the patients’ characteristics, treatments, vital signs and laboratory tests (hematological, renal and liver function tests) were collected. The analysis was conducted using the SPSS (version 22, USA). Spearman correlation was used to measure the relations

The study aimed to evaluate the level of MMP‑2 in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients in comparison with that in remission status, and healthy subjects, and to find its correlation with hematologic parameters. This study included sixty newly diagnosed AML patients. Remission status was assessed after induction chemotherapy. The overall survival (OS) was determined after 6 months. The plasma MMP‑2 level was measured at diagnosis by enzyme immunoassay. Twenty‑eight healthy individuals were recruited as a control group. Plasma MMP‑2 was higher in AML patients than in healthy individuals (P = 0.005). The level of MMP‑2 was much higher in the M5 subtype than in the other subtypes (P = 0.0001). There was no statistically significant d

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Left ventricular hypertrophy is a significant risk factor for cardiovascular complications such as ischemic heart disease, heart failure, sudden death, atrial fibrillation, and stroke. A proper non-expensive tool is required for detection of this pathology. Different electrocardiographic (ECG) criteria were investigated; however, the results were conflicting regarding the accuracy of these criteria. OBJECTIVE: To assess the accuracy of three electrocardiographic criteria in diagnosis of left ventricular hypertrophy in adult patients with hypertension using echocardiography as a reference test. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This is a hospital-based cross sectional observational study which included 340 adult patients with a his

During infection, T. gondii disseminates by the circulatory system and establishes chronic infection in several organs. Almost third of humans, immunosuppressed individuals such as HIV/AIDS patients, cancer patients, and organ transplant recipients are exposed to toxoplasmosis. Therefore, the study aimed to investigate the possibility that Toxoplasma infection could be a risk factor for COVID-19 patients and its possible correlation with C-reactive protein and ferritin. Overall 220 patients referred to the Al Furat General Hospital, Baghdad, Iraq were enrolled from 2020–2021. All serum samples were tested for T. gondii immunoglobulins (IgG and IgM) antibodies, C-reactive protein and ferritin levels. In patients with COVID-19, the results

To investigate the effects of losartan and enalapril on serum uric acid in hypertensive patients with metabolic syndrome, one hundred and twenty six newly diagnosed mild hypertensive patients, having markers of metabolic syndrome included  in the study. The patients were divided into two groups. Group 1 (60 patients) was given losartan (50 mg/ day) and group 2 (66 patients)  enalapril (20 mg/ day) for a duration of 2 months. A control group of seventy apparently healthy individuals were included. Metabolic syndrome was diagnosed according to diagnostic criteria of metabolic syndrome related to the American National Cholesterol Education Program-Adult Treatment Panel III. Serum uric acid levels were measured bef

Abstract: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease with severe acute respiratory syndrome and first recognized in Wuhan, China, and it has since spread to the world, resulting in the coronavirus pandemic to 2020. The present study aimed to evaluate Molecular study of some types of vaginal fungi isolated from recovered women from Covid-19 in Baghdad governorate. The study was conducted on 213 samples collected between December 2021 and March 2022, where the number of positive samples reached 188 with percentage 88.26%, while the number of negative samples reached 25 with percentage 11.73% by taking vaginal swabs from various female patients in Al- Kadhimiya Teaching Hospital. Three of Candida spp. were isolated: Candida a

Topic management is the awareness of how speakers deal with initiating, developing, changing, and ending a topic and how they fix the relationship when a misunderstanding occurs. It is such an important unit of conversation as it includes the transition from one strategy to the other to be accomplished in a systematic and orderly manner. These strategies are impaired in dementia patients thus lead to communication breakdown. This study aims at detecting the dementia patients' topic management strategies in selected speeches and answering the questions of which of these strategies are fully or partially detected in these speeches. The researchers use a qualitative method to examine the speeches of those patients and they adopt an eclectic