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.
Hundreds of commensal bacteria are existed in the mouth and nose, and the interactions between these microbiotas and the Toll-like receptors (TLRs) in different parts of the upper respiratory tract, gastrointestinal tract, and immune cells maty assist to maintain the homeostasis of the immune system. Thus, it is important
to study the relationship between type one hypersensitivity and normal flora in the mouth and nose. Blood and saliva or sputum samples of seventy-one allergic patients were collected randomly in Baghdad/ Al- Zahraa center for asthma and allergies. Those patients were suffering from different types of hypersensitivity type1 such as skin and respiratory tract allergy (e.g, asthma and
Background: Breast cancer is the most common cancer in Iraq and the United Kingdom. While the disease is frequently diagnosed among middleaged Iraqi women at advanced stages accounting for the second cause of cancer-related deaths, breast cancer often affects elderly British women yielding the highest survival of all registered malignancies in the UK. Objective: To compare the clinical and pathological profiles of breast cancer among Iraqi and British women; correlating age at diagnosis with the tumor characteristics, receptor-defined biomarkers and phenotype patterns. Methods: This comparative retrospective study included the clinical and pathological characteristics of (1,940) consecutive female patients who were diagnosed with invasive b
... Show MoreAcute lymphoblastic leukemia which developed after first primary solid organ malignancy (1M) considered as secondary acute lymphoblastic leukemia (sALL) and it is rare. The observational study that researches for(sALL) in worldwide and even in Iraq is limited. This study investigated (sALL) among 50 (ALL) Iraqi patients (30 children; 20 adults). Five (4 female;1 male) out of 50 (ALL) patients (10%) were with(sALL) .They asked through questionnaire form about their age , 1M , latency period and immunophenotype .They were in 14-40 years age group and with previous malignancies breast , ovary, lung and thyroid cancers. The median latency period (from 1M to sALL) was 30 months. Four of (sALL) were with B cell immunophenotype , while on
... Show MoreAsthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of respiratory airways characterized by distinctive history of respiratory symptoms due to variable airflow obstruction which reverses either spontaneously or in response to certain medications. Acetylcholine is a parasympathetic neurotransmitter which plays fundamental roles in the development of persistent asthma. Treatment guidelines recommend using medium doses of inhaled corticosteroids in addition to another controller bronchodilator instead of using high doses inhaled steroid alone for treatment of moderate to severe persistent asthma. The inhaled long acting muscarinic antagonist, tiotropium, was approved recently to control unresponsive asthma to inhaled corticosteroid with or without a long
... Show MoreThere are a few studies that discuss the medical causes for diabetic foot (DF) ulcerations in Iraq, one of them in Wasit province. The aim of our study was to analyze the medical, therapeutic, and patient risk factors for developing DF ulcerations among diabetic patients in Baghdad, Iraq.
The goal of present study was to investigate the benefits of broccoli (as antiandrogenic plant) in protection and treatment for reproductive hormonal and metabolic disturbance, which combined with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). The PCOS model was introduced by injecting subcutaneously prepubertal female rats at 21 days old with Letrozole for 39 days, and divided into 6 groups (8 rats each ) as follows:
Group 1: Female rats were injected with 0.1 ml of normal saline. Group 2: Female rats were injected with 0.1 ml of 400 µg Letrozole Group 3: Female rats were injected with 0.1 ml of 400 µg L with orally gavaged of broccoli juice. Group 4: Female rats were injected with 0.1 ml of normal saline and at the end of the last
The current study was designed to evaluate the efficiency of broccoli plant in therapy of PCOS that induced for the first time by testosterone andriol (T.A).
Forty-eight immature female rats (21 days old) were divided into 6 groups (8 rats each) as follows: G1, animals were injected with sesame oil for 39 cascade days (control). G2, animals were injected with 1mg/100g b.w of T.A for 39 cascade days. G3, animals were injected with 1mg/100g b.w of T.A gathered with gavaged broccoli juice (b.j) for 39 cascade days. G4, animals were injected with sesame oil for cascade 39 days at the end of last injection were gavaged with d.w for 30 cascade days. G5, animals were injected with 1 mg/100g b.w of T.A for
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