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.
Background: Celiac disease is an autoimmune chronic disease that affects the human’s intestine and subsequently reflects its effect on the entire body health by retardation the absorption and immune mediated complications cause the involvement of oral health. The present study intended to evaluate the impact of the histopathological disease activity upon dental enamel defects and dental caries.
Subjects and methods: Forty celiac-diseased patients aged 7-11 years were collected from 3 different teaching hospitals in Baghdad classified by means of the histopathological activity of the intestinal disease according to modified Marsh-Ros
... Show MoreInflammation markers are significantly higher among hemodialysis (HD) patients, which have been associated with chronic activation of the immune system. Hemodialysis centers in Baghdad appear to be taking measures with low adequacy and frequency of dialysis sessions, which can be a reason for decreased kidney functions. Therefore, the objective of this study focuses on the assessment of different aspects of hemodialysis for regular HD patients in Baghdad, including inflammatory markers (serum C-reactive protein, CRP, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate, ESR), dialysis dose, comorbidities, and demographic factors for a period of one year (2018), the assessment covered four major hospitals in Baghdad namely (Al-Kind
... Show MoreBackground: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic and debilitating autoimmune disease characterized by chronic inflammation with subsequent cartilage and bone destruction. Cytokines are key mediators of inflammation and can be found in abundance both in the joint and blood of patients. This study was designed to evaluate the role of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines in pathogenesis of RA, as well as study the correlation among these cytokines.
Patients and methods: Forty patients with RA and thirty age-matched healthy controls were included in this study. Serum cytokines were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
Results: The serum levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1α, IL-2, IL-6, IL-8
Background: Obesity (body mass index >30) is increasing worldwide with an estimated 1.7 billion people currently affected by the disease, Gallstone represent the third most common disease observed among obese patients. Moreover about 30% of the patients who are candidates for bariatric surgery either have undergone a prior cholecystectomy or are found to present gallstones at time of surgery, On the other hand, newly formed gallstones may be diagnosed in 27% to 43% of patients who have undergone bariatric surgery within a very short period of time.
Objective: To determine the prevalence of gallstone disease requiring cholecystectomy after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy and roux en Y gastric bypass during a one year follow up and t
The negative impact of oral diseases on the function, economy, and general health of the population is well‐documented. In the last decades, evidence linking increased expression of depression and oral diseases/conditions has significantly increased. The aim of this study is to assess the association between oral disease/conditions and self‐reported symptoms of depression individuals.
A specially designed questionnaire was distributed via social media for 1 week. It consisted of two main sections; the first section was dedicated to collect demographic variables and self‐reported symptoms
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a heterogeneous autoimmune disease characterized by elevated levels of circulating anti-nuclear autoantibodies and interferon-alpha (INFs-α). Interferon regulatory factor-5 (IRF5) plays an important role in the induction of type I interferon and pro-inflammatory cytokines, and participates in the SLE pathogenesis. This study aimed to investigate the role of IRF5 gene expression levels in a sample of SLE Iraqi patients and its correlation with disease activity, and to identify its diagnostic ability as a biomarker reflecting disease activity. Blood samples were taken from 45 participants diagnosed with SLE cases classified according to the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria. T
... Show MoreHematological malignancies are important diseases that need more powerful therapeutics. Even with current targeting therapies, such as rituximab and other chemotherapeutic agents, there is a need to develop new treatment strategies. Combination therapy seems the best option to target the tumor cells by different mechanisms. Virotherapy is a very promising treatment modality, as it is selective, safe, and causes cancer destruction. The Iraqi strain of Newcastle disease virus (NDV) has proved to be effective both in vitro and in vivo. In the current work, we tested its ability on anti-hematological tumors and enhanced current treatments with combination therapy, and studied this combination using Chou–Talalay analysis. p53 concentration was
... Show MoreIn this study, the effect of intersecting ribs with inclined ribs on the heat transfer and flow characteristics of a high aspect ratio duct has been numerically investigated. The Relative roughness pitch (P/e) is 10 and the Reynolds number range from 35,700 to 72,800. ANSYS (Fluent-Workbench 18.0) software has been utilized to solve the Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations with the Standard k-ε turbulence model. Three ribbed models have been used in this study. Model 1 which is a just inclined ribs, Model 2 which has a single longitudinal rib at the center with inclined ribs and Model 3 which has two longitudinal ribs at the sides. The results showed that the heat transfer rate has been enhanced when the int
... Show MoreBackground: Speckle tracking echocardiography (STE)-derived mitral annular displacement (MAD) utilizes the speckle tracking technique to measure strain vectors, which provides accurate estimates of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF).Objectives: To validate the accuracy of mitral annular displacement (MAD), assessed by Speckle Tracking Echocardiography (STE), as a surrogate for determination of left ventricular systolic function in comparison to 2-Dimensions Simpson method in patients with different heart diseases.Methods : This cross-sectional study included patients who referred to outpatient department of Ibn Albitar Center for Cardiac Surgery, Baghdad, Iraq, between October 2012 and April 2013. STE continuously tracked annular
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