Background: The median nerve in paraplegic patients, who must rely on increased hand activities including transfer and wheel-chair propulsion, may be subjected to increased pressure, so that the incidence of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) may be higher than that in the normal population.
Objectives: To study the prevalence and the severity of carpal tunnel syndrome in Iraqi paraplegic patients and to identify the effect of duration of the injury as a possible factor related to its occurrence to avoid any chronic problems which interfere with the hand functions since these patients are greatly dependent on their hands for their daily activities.
Patients and Methods: Fifty paraplegic patients (100 hands), whose level of spinal cord injury was below D2, and fifty normal control subjects were included in this study. All patients studied in this work had complete spinal cord injury and were stabled medically and neurologically.
Clinical examination for the signs and symptoms of CTS as well as nerve conduction studies were carried out in both median and ulnar nerves for their sensory and motor components eliciting values for distal latencies for all patients and the control groups.
Results: Thirty percent of the paraplegic patients (15 patients) had signs and symptoms consistent with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), and all of them had electrodiagnostic confirmation of this injury.
Seventy percent of these paraplegic patients (35 patients) had no signs and symptoms suggestive of CTS, and only nearly about forty eight percent (17 patients) of them had only electrodiagnostic confirmation of CTS. Overall, 64% of the 50 paraplegic patients had CTS (32 patients). Nine paraplegic patients (18%) exhibiting bilateral CTS. Eight paraplegic patients (16%) had abnormal electrophysiological findings involving the ulnar nerve at the wrist and all of them had electrophysiological findings of CTS.
There was a sharp increase in incidence of occurrence of CTS from 6.3% in the group 1 to 5 years from injury to 13.7% in the group 6 to 10 years, and to 25% in the group 11 to 15 years, and again a very big increase to 50% in the group 16 years and over from injury.
Conclusion: Early testing of the median and ulnar nerve function, even in asymptomatic patients within the first 5 years of the injury, is recommended so for early detection, preventive and/or curative measures to be undertaken considering the fact that these patients are greatly dependent on their hands for their daily activities.
Background: Family history of type 2 diabetes is a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is characterized by progressive β-cell dysfunction; many investigators have used C peptide levels as a biomarker of β-cell function.
Objective: the current study was design to investigate the impact of family history on biochemical characteristics (c-peptide, HbA1c, lipid profile, insulin secretion, insulin sensitivity and insulin resistance.
J Fac Med Baghdad 2013; Vol.55, No .3 Received Feb .2013 Accepted July.2013 |
Subjects and me
... Show MoreNa+/K+-ATPase is a prevalent enzyme that maintains the Na+ and K+ gradients across the cell membrane by transporting three Na+ out and two K+ into the cell, the aim of this study is to provide detailed mechanistic insights, potentially with important effects on physiological regulation of active Na and K transport in tissues of Aerobic Thyroid Patient. Thyroid tissues were obtained from a 35 year old patients, the operation was carried out at the Al-Hadi Specialist Hospital in Samarra city, the sample was stored at -20ºC until used. The purification protocol included Salt Precipitation, Ion Exchange Chromatography, Gel Filtration and E
... Show MorePolycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is a well-known endocrinopathy and one of the most frequent endocrine-reproductive-metabolic syndromes in women, which can result in reduced fertility. While the actual cause is unknown, PCOS is regarded as a complicated genetic characteristic with a great degree of variability. Moreover, hormones and immune cells, including both innate and acquired immune cells, are thought to interact in PCOS. Chronic low-grade inflammation raises the risk of autoimmune disease. The study's purpose is to investigate the chemokine monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and fertility hormones in samples of women patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) in the City of Medicine. Sixty PCOS women comprise 30 heal
... Show MoreBackground: The events in pregnancy elicit one of the best examples of selective anatomical, physiological and biochemical adaptations, with profound changes in respiratory physiology. The changes in respiratory physiology are due to increased size of the fetus with advance gestation which constitutes a mechanical impediment to normal process of ventilation.
.Patients and methods: This study started from the 1st of Nov. 2009 till the 30th of Oct. 2010. pregnant women aged (16-44 years) of different weight, height and different conception from 1st, 2nd, 3rd trimester and post term were included. Spirometry was performed in Baghdad teaching hospital( pulmonary fun
... Show MoreBackground: Among different air pollutants, cigarette smoke contains toxic chemicals, mutagenic and carcinogenic compounds, which can adversely affect male fertility. In this study, semen parameters and reproductive hormonal concentrations of subfertile smokers were compared with subfertile non-smokers.
Objectives: evaluation of the effect of cigarette smoking on male fertility by evaluating several semen parameters as well as some reproductive hormones in a group of smoker and non smokersubfertile Iraqi subjects.
Patients and Methods: At the male infertility clinic of Al-yarmuk teaching hospital, Almustanseria medical college, Baghdad, Iraq from the 1st of October 2010 to the end of June 2011, 88 men (49 non-smokers, and 39 smoker
Obesity is an escalating health problem in developing countries. One to ten children worldwide are overweight in a report showed by the International Obesity Task Force. Ghrelin, orexigenic peptide, has 28 amino acids, it is considered the greatest remarkable promotion in the last two decades for understanding the physiological changes of action regulating food intake and hunger. Obestatin is a 23-amino acid peptide nearly connected to ghrelin that secures from substitutio
... Show MoreHepatitis, a condition of liver’s inflammation that can be self-limiting or, in certain chances, it may lead to liver cancer, fibrosis or cirrhosis. Hepatitis viruses mainly cause hepatitis in the world. People with hepatitis C have predominant chances to develop diabetes as HCV virus participates in causing type 2 diabetes. HCV virus causes pathogenesis in two ways: it either directly destroys the β cells of pancreas or contributes to the specific autoimmunity of β cells. The present cross sectional study was done in Wazirabad Tahsil of Gujranwala District to analyze the percentage of patients suffering from hepatitis C who had the risk of diabetes mellitus. For this research work, demographic information and data about any other me
... Show MoreBackground: The high prevalence of head injury among civilian populations and the provision of the adequate hospitals services have become matters of worldwide concern. Brain-stem auditory evoked potentials (BAEPs) have been shown to be of highly resistant to systemic factors and toxic or metabolic derangements, making them particularly useful in differentiating reversible brain-stem dysfunction from that due to structural disruption.
Objectives: The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the changes in brainstem evoked response (BAER( in patient with moderate closed head injury and assessing again these changes in BAER six months later as follow up indices.
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third most common cause of cancer-related death. Therefore, it is critical for researchers to understand molecular biology in greater depth. In several diseases including cancer, abnormal miRNA expression has been linked to apoptosis, proliferation, differentiation, and metastasis. Many miRNAs have been studied in relation to cancer, including miR-122, miR-223, and others. Hepatitis B and C viruses are the most important global risk factors for HCC. This study is intended to test whether serum miRNAs serve as a potential biomarker for both HCC and viral infections HBV and C. The expression of miRNA in 64 serum samples was analyzed by RT-qPCR. Compared to healthy volunteers, HCC patients' sera expre
... Show MoreBackground: Leukemia is a group of malignant disorders
associated with increased numbers of blood white blood
cells. Acute leukemia occurs at all ages. Because zinc
influences many body systems and functions, zinc is an
essential nutrient for tissue growth, cellular division,
protein synthesis DNA and RNA replication it also ought to
play a critical role in the growth of tumor. In this study,
serum zinc was estimated in leukemic patients and
compared with healthy subjects.
Methods: The subjects in the present study were; fourtyfour depressed patients aged (14-48 year), thirty-one
apparently healthy subjects were selected as control group.
Their sex and age were comparable to that of patients.
Determin