Background: stress test (EST) is one of the main diagnostic and prognostic tests for ischemic heart disease. However, its usefulness depends on achieving target heart rate, then chronotropic incompetence and poor exercise capacity limits its utility. We evaluated the usefulness of atropine administration during the EST to decrease the number of tests with inconclusive results in these patients.
Patients &Methods: We carried out this study in Ibn AI-Bitar Teaching Hospital from September 2007 to December 2008 and comprised of 210 patients undergoing EST. In subjects experiencing fatigue when they achieved 50-75% of target heart rate (THR), or those who failed to achieve their THR, atropine was administered in doses of 0.5 mg per minute until the test conclusion (positive test results or target heart rate achieved) or until a maximum dose of 2 mg was administered.
Results: Forty-one (19.5%) of the 210 patients required atropine (mean dose: 1.1 mg) during the study. Among patients who received atropine, conclusive test was achieved in 38 cases (92.7%). Atropine administration resulted in a mean increase in heart rate of 38 beats/min (range 8-71 beat/min). Atropine injection resulted in a trend towards more positive results of EST in comparison to non-atropine group (31.7% versus 18.3%, /?=0.053). There was no difference in response to atropine in subjects with chronotropic incompetence or poor exercise capacity (p=0.5).
Conclusion: Use of atropine as an adjunct to standard EST can help decrease the number of inconclusive tests. Larger studies are necessary to define the role of atropine in EST and also to
evaluate the accuracy of conclusive EST after atropine administration
In regression testing, Test case prioritization (TCP) is a technique to arrange all the available test cases. TCP techniques can improve fault detection performance which is measured by the average percentage of fault detection (APFD). History-based TCP is one of the TCP techniques that consider the history of past data to prioritize test cases. The issue of equal priority allocation to test cases is a common problem for most TCP techniques. However, this problem has not been explored in history-based TCP techniques. To solve this problem in regression testing, most of the researchers resort to random sorting of test cases. This study aims to investigate equal priority in history-based TCP techniques. The first objective is to implement
... Show MoreBackground: Zinc is involved in a variety of
metabolic processes and it has a well known
antioxidant activity, so the measurement of its serum
level can have a special value in several diseases.
Objectives: The study is designed to determine the
serum zinc level in heart failure patients and to
compare it with that of healthy individuals and to
study the significance of the results obtained.
Methods: Atomic absorption spectrometer
technique was used to determine serum zinc level in
fifty heart failure patients and fifty healthy individuals
who were age and sex matched.
Results: The mean serum zinc level in healthy
individuals was about 45.5% greater than that of heart
failure patients. This diffe
Let ℛ be a commutative ring with unity and let ℬ be a unitary R-module. Let ℵ be a proper submodule of ℬ, ℵ is called semisecond submodule if for any r∈ℛ, r≠0, n∈Z+, either rnℵ=0 or rnℵ=rℵ.
In this work, we introduce the concept of semisecond submodule and confer numerous properties concerning with this notion. Also we study semisecond modules as a popularization of second modules, where an ℛ-module ℬ is called semisecond, if ℬ is semisecond submodul of ℬ.
In this work, we introduce a new convergence formula. We also define cluster point , δ-Cauchy sequence, δ-convergent, δ-completeness , and define sequentially contraction in approach space. In addition, we prove the contraction condition is necessary and sufficient to get the function is sequentially contraction as well as we put a new structure for the norm in the approach space which is called approach –Banach space, we discuss the normed approach space with uniform condition is a Hausdorff space. Also, we prove a normed approach space is complete if and only if the metric generated from approach space is complete as well as prove every finite –dimensional approach normed space is δ-complete. We prove several r
... Show MoreBackground: Crohn's disease (CD) is an immunological disorder associated with chronic inflammatory process of several unspecific regions of gastrointestinal tract but frequently detected in the terminal Ilium and proximal colon or both. This disease frequently presented with various oral manifestations as a consequence of inflammatory process of the disease, nutritional deficiency or medications side effects. Several therapeutic approaches have been developed for CD management that are targeting the inflammatory process and directed at controlling the host immune response. Immunosuppressants such as Azathioprine and anti-TNF α agents as well as the combination of them have been widely used as an effective therapeutic modality with a bett
... Show MoreBackground: The gold standard in assessing asthma control is the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) criteria. And because of the difficulties of access to pulmonary functions tests, The ACT has the added advantage that it does not require lung function assessment.
Objectives: The aim of this study is to assess asthma control through ACT score and GINA guideline, and to determine if the ACT can be as useful as the GINA-guidelines criteria in assessing asthma control in Iraq. Patient and method: Cross sectional study with comparing ACT vs. GINA guideline in control of asthma level. This study was conducted at Respiratory consultation unit of the Iraqi National center of early detection of Cancer, Baghdad-Ira
Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common female endocrine disorders leading to infertility. Majority of women with PCOS have insulin resistance and elevated hemoglobin A1c.The presence of thyroid dysfunction may affect the levels of HbA1c and the results of ovulation induction programs.  
... Show MoreBackground: Obesity increases the host’s susceptibility by modulating the immune and inflammatory systems in a manner that predisposes to inflammatory tissue destruction and leaves an individual at greater risk of periodontitis. Melatonin is a pineal secretory product involved in numerous actions, such as regulation of internal biological clocks and energy metabolism, and it functions as an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent. There exists a substantial amount of evidence supporting the beneficial effect of melatonin supplementation on obesity and its complications. Aim of the study: To investigate the effects of systemic melatonin intake on periodontal health status and lipid profiles in obese periodontitis patients. Subjects and met
... Show MorePsoriasis is a common, chronic, immune mediated disorder.The disease is arising as a result of dysregulated interactions of the innate and adaptive immune system in the context of skin epithelium and connective tissue. The biological drug Etanercept(ETN) approved for use in treated psoriasis. ETN is tumor necrosis factor- α (TNF-α) inhibitor. In this study, 48 psoriatic patients were taken before and after treatment who attended to the Dermatology and Venereology Department in Baghdad Teaching Hospital during the period from December 2016 to September 2017and 50 samples were used as healthy control group. The results showed that most psoriatic patients 52.08 % were within the second
... Show MoreBackground: Plaque retention during fixed orthodontic therapy is an important cause of developing enamel demineralization. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of different brackets types on the count of Streptococcus Mutans in orthodontic patients using conventional fluoridated toothpaste. Materials and Methods: Plaque samples were collected from maxillary 1st premolar teeth of twenty right handed patients (using split mouth technique) before bonding, after 48 hrs of bonding using tooth brush only, and after 2 weeks of using fluoridated toothpaste. Stainless steel bracket was bonded on right first premolar while the left one was bonded with sapphire bracket. The calculation of the Streptococcus Mutans count was done usin
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