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: Diabetes mellitus is a well known risk factor for acute coronary syndrome but the hypothesis that patients with acute phase hyperglycemia, regardless the previous diagnosis of diabetes, have worse prognosis than those with normal glucose values is controversial. This paper aims to estimate the prevalence of admission hyperglycemia, its effect on in-hospital prognosis of diabetic and non-diabetic patients with acute coronary syndrome, and to compare it with 2nd day fasting plasma glucose as a prognostic marker.
Methods: One hundred patients, (59) diabetic and (41) non-diabetic, with documented acute coronary syndrome enrolled in this study over the period of June/ 2009-Jan./2010 from coronary c
Background: Genetic factors play an important role in susceptibility to Guillain Barre' syndrome. Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) as part of immune system has a role in the disease process.Aim of the study: to assess the relationship between HLA-A alleles with Guillain Barre' syndrome (GBS) compared with a healthy control group using PCR-SSOP method.Type of the study: Cross-sectional study.Patients and methods:Patient's group consisted of 30 Iraqi Arab Muslims patients with Guillain Barre' syndrome that consulted the Neurological department in Neurosciences Hospital between January-2013 to January- 2014 were genotyped for HLA-A alleles. A control group consisted of 30 healthy volunteers among the staff of AL-Kindi College of Medicine that
... Show MoreBackground: Staphylococcus aureus is a Gram-positive, spherical, grape like clusters arrangment
bacterium, non-spore forming. Is a genus that causes many hard diseases such as food poisoning,
gastroenteritis with severe symptoms. S. aureus is commonly found in the wide environment (soil, air and
water) and is importantly found in the nose and skin in the humans. And can causes ear infection by
entering the ear. The diagnosis of Otitis externa is usually made clinically and bacterial tests.
Objective: To detection and isolation of the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus from pus specimens of ear
swab, among Iraqi children with Otitis externa.
Patients and methods: Eighty ear swab specimens from suspected cases of Otitis ex
Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is one of the most common infections associated with chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients undergoing hemodialysis (HD) in Iraq.
Aim of the study: To determine the prognostic factor value of Programmed Cell Death-1 (PD-1) and Programmed Cell Death Ligand-1 (PD-L1) immune checkpoint biomarkers among CKD patients with HCV infection under HD.
Methodology: ELISA technique was used for the measurement of the above-mentioned biomarkers in the serum of 90 Iraqi patients. The participants were divided into three groups; Group I included 30 patients infected with HCV without antiviral treatment, group II included 30 patients infected wit
... Show MoreBackground Tinea versicolor is a common dermatological problem worldwide in distribution, caused by dimorphic fungus called Malassezia furfur, they exist at the very interface between
commensal and pathogen and, as such, their interaction with the human immune system is of great interest. Immuno-inflamatory activity mediated by different cytokines could have a role in the etiology of tinea versicolor.
Patients and Method: The study covered 46 subjects .It comprised 26 patients with TV compared with 20 healthy normal controls. Serum IL-6 analysis was done by ELISA.
Results: The level of IL-6 was elevated in patients with tinea versicolor, when compared with healthy control
Conclusion: IL-6 increases du
Background: - Diabetic foot infections may be classified as superficial or deep. Bacteria are liable to enter any cut or ulcer causing infection. Defect in treatment of infected deep diabetic foot may result in oesteomyelitis, limb loss, and even death.
Methods: - Microorganisms were isolated and identified from both superficial & deep foot ulcers infection of (60) diabetic patients.
Results: - The present results showed that high incidence (30.8%) of Escherichia coli (E-coli) was isolated from dry - superficial foot ulcers followed respectively by Staphylococcus epidermidis (S. epidermidis). 3.1 % and 15.4% of Proteus mirabilis (P. mirabilis), equal Percentages for Klebsiellae Pneumoniae (K. pneum
Colorectal cancer (CRC) Patients showed different expression patterns of miRNAs which are involved in carcinogenesis in comparison to healthy controls individuals, miRNAs are involved in tumor progression and development of metastases. We investigate the expression profile of microRNA 320 and to quantify the expression level abundance among colorectal cancer patients in comparison to the healthy control group. The A total number of 60 plasma samples was collected from CRC patients along with 40 plasma samples from healthy controls and subjected to relative quantification using qPCR assay with a specified set of primers designed using s
... Show MoreBackground: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common endocrinopathy affecting women, at reproductive age. PCOS is a chronic hyperandrogenic state that has many significant short-term and long-term implications for patients such as oligomenorrhea, amenorrhea, infertility, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, increased risk of endometrial cancer, and hirsutism. Objectives: To evaluate the obesity and glycemic criteria among women with polycystic ovary syndrome. Method: A case control designed study was carried out at the National Diabetes Center (NDC) / Al-Mustansiryia University; on 50 participants formed the PCOS group and 50 healthy control participants. Data collected about age, age at menarche and BMI. Also, blood sam
... Show MorePerceptions of deity have practical effects in a person’s life, especially in his attitudes toward natural things since nature was created, in which man has treated it as something sacred. The Greek philosophers before Plato and Aristotle did not find in them the idea of divinity clear. Rather, they all searched for the first substance or the first cause of existence, and then gave it all the attributes of God from eternity and eternity, and considered it a first reason without which the universe would not have existed. knowledg