Background : Left main coronary artery (LMCA) disease represents important and serious portion of coronary artery disease(CAD).
Aim: The aim of this study is to estimate the incidence of LMCA disease among patients with CAD undergoing coronary artery angiography and to evaluate clinical characteristics of patients with LMCA disease.
Methods: The study involved review of clinical notes and coronary angiography of 1020 patients with CAD in Ibin Al Bitar hospital for cardiac surgery between April and September 2004.This review included evaluation of electrocardiogram (ECG), echocardiogram(ECHO), ECG exercise test (EET) and coronary angiography.
Results: Among 56 patients proved to have left main coronary artery (LMCA) disease,40 patients had complete data available which were studied. Mean age of patients with LMCA disease was 60 ± 8.07 years, 82% of them were males, 62% were smokers, 40% were diabetics and 55% were hypertensive. In this group 62.5% of patients with LMCA disease presented as acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and 37.5% as chronic stable angina (CSA),normal left ventricular (LV) function was found in 75% of patients and 40% have normal electrocardiogram (ECG).
Patients with LMCA disease who have distal involvement represent 75%,15% have diffusely diseased LMCA, right coronary artery (RCA) was involved in 80% of patients and those with
RCA involvement were more commonly presented with ACS (78%), while those without RCA involvement presented more as CSA. Those patients who underwent ECG exercise test had poor functional Capacity, with mean exercise duration of 3.7 ± 2.3 minutes and mean metabolic equivalents (METs) of 4.5 ± 2.46. The tests were positive in 76.9% of patients inconclusive in the rest but no negative tests were recorded. No significant differences were observed between those patients with ACS and those with CSA in regard to patients' characteristics.
Conclusion: LMCA disease is not uncommon among those with CAD, it occurs in patients with multiple cardiovascular risk factors. Patients with LMCA disease usually have poor functional
capacity and their ETTs are commonly positive and of high risk score. Involvements of right coronary artery (RCA) in addition to LMCA render the patients more unstable.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome called coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Due to its concerning rate of transmission and intensity, coronavirus was classified as a pandemic on March 11, 2020. With the continuous evolution of the viral genome and mutations that may alter infectivity, disease severity or interactions with host immunity, SARS-CoV-2 has evolved into many variants: Alpha (B.1.1.7 lineage), Delta (B.1.617.2 lineage), Delta plus (B.1.617.2.1), Omicron (B.1.1.529 lineage) and other variants. Thus, this study aimed to find and provide database for local clinical characteristics of different variants of SARS-COV-2 and severity of infection with viral load compared with the wild
... Show MoreBackground: Pyle`s disease is a distinct skeletal dysplasia with defective metaphyseal modeling and Erlenmeyer-flask deformity of tubular bones.
Objectives: Clinical implications in five reported cases with mechanical bone properties different from normal bones were presented. One patient with Genu-valgum deformity had corrective osteotomy done with internal fixation showing osteotomy healing and sustained deformity correction with more than twelve years of follow up. Two patients presented with fractures and angular malalignment with abundant callus .The other two had insufficiency fractures due to repetitive low energy activities.
Results: Patients with Pyle`s disease have less than normal mechanical bone
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is one of an autoimmune condition with uncertain etiopathology. According to new data, ABO system had played a role in the development and understanding numerous diseases. Lower level of 25-hydroxy vitamin D3 (25-OHD3) is considered as a risk factor for MS. The aims of this study is to identify the role of blood group distribution on the levels of parathyroid hormone (PTH), 25-OHD3, total calcium, inorganic phosphorus and total magnesium on MS patients. Additionally, we assessed the relation between Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) and study parameters in patients. The Study included 107 patients with MS were distributed in to four groups according to their blood group (A, B, AB, and O). Additi
... Show MoreBackground: Implant stability is a mandatory factor for dental implant (DI) osseointegration and long-term success. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of implant length, diameter, and recipient jaw on the pre- and post-functional loading stability. Materials and methods: This study included 17 healthy patients with an age range of 24-61 years. Twenty-two DI were inserted into healed extraction sockets to replace missing tooth/ teeth in premolar and molar regions in upper and lower jaws. Implant stability was measured for each implant and was recorded as implant stability quotient (ISQ) immediately (ISQ0), and at 8 (ISQ8) and 12 (ISQ12) weeks postoperatively, as well as post-functional loading (ISQPFL). The pattern of implant
... Show MoreBackground: Cutaneous small vessel vasculitis characterized by necrosis and inflammation of upper dermal blood vessels. It presents with ulcers and systemic manifestations after extensive acute onset. Many patients have a form of cutaneous vasculitis that presents with chronic painful ulcerations & purpuras involving the ankles without systemic manifestations, with some similarity in clinical presentation to livedoid vasculopathy.
Patients and Methods: Thirteen patients were seen in the Department of Dermatology and Venereology, Baghdad Teaching Hospital, for a period extending from January 2004 to March 2005. They were evaluated clinically, histopathologically and other laboratory studies. In additio
Images are important medium for conveying information; this makes improvement of image processing techniques also important. Interpretation of image content is one of the objectives of image processing techniques. Image interpretation that segments the image to number of objects called image segmentation. Image segmentation is an important field to deal with the contents of images and get non overlapping regions coherent in texture and color, it is important to deal only with objects with significant information. This paper presents survey of the most commonly used approaches of image segmentation and the results of those approaches have been compared and according to the measurement of quality presented in this paper the Otsu's threshol
... Show MoreUromodulin is the most abundant protein ordinary excreted in urine which could be used as a biomarker to diagnose kidney diseases. However, evidence suggests that it regulates salt transport, protects against urinary tract infection and kidney stones, and has a role in kidney damage and innate immunity. This study aimed to understand the association of uromodulin gene rs13332878 with chronic kidney disease. More than 100 people were selected for the study and the samples collected from the under study subjects were divided into two groups. 70 chosen subjects were under the dialysis with kidney failure, and aged between 18-88 years. The second group included 30 samples from healthy individuals, used as control. One of t
... Show MoreBackground: Many cardiac diseases can cause cardiac hypertrophy developed by the established cardiac overload, such as long term of uncontrolled hypertension, valvuler disease or congenital anomaly and many more causes. If the cause of hypertrophy persists for long time it will generate heart failure, as a result changes in size, shape and function of the heart which refer as remodeling.
Objective: To investigate the types of remodeling in patients with heart failure, and study its relation with cardiac performance.
Patients and methods: The study included fifty normal individuals and fifty patients, only those patients who developed hypertrophy and failure were chosen. The study has included the measurements of many cardiac parame
ackground An autoimmune and inflammatory illness called rheumatoid arthritis (RA) occurs when your immune system mistakenly attacks normal cells in your body. Interleukin-35 is a brand-new cytokine that belongs to the immunosuppressive and anti-inflammatory IL-12 family. β -herpesvirus that produces inflammation and stays dormant in its host for life is the human cytomegalovirus. Human herpesvirus (HCMV) has been at the core of several RA-related theories. Objective The current study looked at the association between RA and serum IL-35 levels as well as the association between RA and CMV. Patients and methods Blood samples were taken in the Baghdad Teaching Hospital and Typical Rheumatology Unit from January 2022 to Mars 2022 for the curre
... Show MoreBackground: Assessment of function of the right side of the heart in cases of left ventricular dysfunction has been widely studied but the sensitive and specific echocardiographic parameter to be tested is still a matter of controversy. Right ventricular function is related to left ventricular function by ventricular independence so function of both should be assessed carefully. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of left ventricular systolic dysfunction on right ventricular systolic and diastolic functions and pulmonary pressure using conventional and tissue Doppler echocardiography. Patients and Methods: Sixty patients (39 males and 21 females) with heart failure due to left ventricular systolic dysfunction
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