Background: Coronary artery disease remains the main cause of death despite several preventive programs. Epicardial adipose tissue is a visceral fat depot of the heart located along the large coronary arteries and on the surface of ventricles and apex. Intima media thickness is commonly recognized as the initial stage in the development of atherosclerosis. The development of ultrasound machines, advances in echocardiographic devices and high resolution transducers facilitate comprehensive analysis of epicardial fat thickness (EFT) and carotid –intima media thickness (C-IMT).
Aim: To investigate the relationship of echocardiographic epicardial fat thickness (EFT) and carotid –intima media thickness (C-IMT) with the severity of coronary artery disease.
Methods: A cross sectional multicenter diagnostic accuracy study carried out at Ibn Al-Nafis Cardiovascular Hospital, Ibn Al- Bitar Cardiology Center and Ghazi Al-Hariri Hospital –Iraqi Center for Cardiology during the period between October 2016 and May 2017 assessing. History regarding demographic data and risk factors was taken. Two dimensional transthoracic echocardiographic measurements were done. EFT was measured from parasternal long axis view perpendicular to the right ventricular free wall. C-IMT was measured according to that recommended by the American society of echocardiography (ASE).
Results: The current study demonstrated that the EFT has a direct and significant correlation with the number of involved vessels (P value ˂ 0.001, r= 0.770). The validity of EFT to discriminate between multiple vessels disease and no vessel involvement is excellent (AUC= 0.984, cut point > 8mm, sensitivity=92.9%, specificity= 93.3%). There is inverse and significant correlation between ejection fraction (EF) and three vessels disease (P value ˂ 0.001, r= -0.507). Also there is a direct and significant correlation between C-IMT and severity of CAD. ROC analysis for validity of C-IMT to discriminate between multiple vessels disease and no vessel involvement is excellent (AUC= 0.961, cut point > 1.04mm, sensitivity=92.9%. specificity=86.7%). C-IMT is fair to discriminate between single vessel disease and no vessel involvement (AUC=0.738, cut point ˃ 0.84mm, sensitivity 100%), so if correlated with age, C-IMT above 0.84 can be used as a cut off point for the prediction of CAD. Finally, EFT and C-IMT are more likely to reflect severity of CAD than their ratio.
Conclusions: C-IMT and EFT are simple and reproducible parameters that can be used as a screening tool for the presence and severity of CAD especially before symptoms appearance in high risk patients
Background: The styloid process is a cylindrical bone (protrusion). It situated above the common carotid artery between the external and internal branches immediately proximal to the internal jugular vein and facial nerves. The styloid process varies in length also it may be absent as well as elongated. Classically, an elongated styloid process and calcified of stylohyoid ligament causes Eagle’s syndrome. The aim of this study was to examine the styloid process using 3 dimensional multi-detector computed tomography (3D-MDCT) to detect the presence of Eagle’s syndrome that causes severe headache and migraine. Materials and methods: One hundred patients with severe headache and migraine were exposed to 3D- multi-detector CT with special
... Show Moreداء المشوكات الكيسي (CE) هو مرض وبائي يسبب مرضًا خطيرًا وخسائر اقتصادية في معظم بلدان العالم. MiRNAs هي عامل جيني ضروري لتنظيم الاستجابة المناعية من خلال قدرته على التدخل في التعبير الخلوي ؛ واحد هذه الحوامض النووية الدقيقة -146 أ. هدفت الدراسة الحالية تقييم إذا كان بإمكاننا استخدام microRNA 146a كمؤشر حيوي للكشف عن CEو تحديد العلاقة بين التعبير الجيني microRNA 146a و IL-17 في مرضى CE.حيث اشتملت الدراسة على 50 مريضًا من CE تم إد
... Show MoreMycobacterium tuberculosis is the cause of the major world health issue, tuberculosis (TB). The cytokine, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) has been implicated in protection against TB in the early stages of the disease. TNF-α is an effective cytokine in the killing of intracellular M. tuberculosis. This study inducted to investigate whether there is any relationship between levels of TNF-α in sera of TB patients and their recovery, and is there any difference in the level of this cytokine in sera of female and male TB patients. This study included 29 patients with pulmonary TB (18 female and 11 male), their ages ranging from 37 to 59 years. All of them received first line TB therapy. They were consulted at Pasture Center during Septem
... Show MoreBackground: Incorporation of chemical additives has long been a technique used to improve properties of the gypsum products. The purpose of this work was to study the effects of adding a combination of gum Arabic and calcium hydroxide to a type III dental stone and type IV improved die stone with different proportion. The effect on water/powder ratio, and surface hardness was determined. Material and method: Both material stone and die stone were blended with two proportion of additives so that each material was mixed twice but with different proportion of gum Arabic (0.1% and 0.2%) and calcium hydroxide (0.5 % and 0.3%). Data for hardness were subjected to two-way analysis of variance. Results: The results revealed that the chemical additi
... Show MoreThe present study aims to study the content and spatial distribution of lead (Pb) contamination in the soils of some Baghdad cities (Middle of Iraq). Twenty soil samples were randomly collected from different land-use in the studied area at a depth between 5 to 30 cm. Ten samples are collected from Al-Rissafa side areas (Adhamiya, Al-Wazeeria (Battery Manufacturer), Shikh Omer, Ziyouna, Karada, Shaab, Sadr city, Al-Za’franiya, Al-Dora expressway, and Alselikh ) and other ten samples are collected from Al-Krakh side areas Al-Dora, Al-Masafi junction, Al-Dora, Sayidia, Al-Salam university college, Al-Bayaa (Industrial District), Jehad, Amirya, Abu Ghraib, Al-hurriya, and Kadhimiya. The soil samples have been analyzed for the lead (P
... Show MoreBackground: Mitral regurgitation (MR) is the most commonly encountered valve lesion in modern clinical practice. Severe mitral regurgitation may cause systolic dysfunction. Left ventricular ejection fraction may not be an accurate measurement of LV function in patients with mitral insufficiency. Myocardial performance index (MPI) is a simple non invasive measure of myocardial function. Methods: The study involved 50 patients with valvular mitral regurgitation and 50 healthy subjects as a control group. Transthoracic echocardiography was carried out for all patients and control group. The echocardiographic measurements included left ventricular end diastolic and end systolic dimensions, left atrial diameter, ejection fraction (EF), and myoca
... Show MoreTwo experiments were carried out, the first at the College of Agriculture - University of Baghdad during spring season 2017 Everest cv. class (Elite) was used to study the effect of foliar application of calcium and magnesium and addition of humic acid to the soil on potato growth and yield, The layout of the experiment was factorial within RCBD design using three replicates. Calcium and Magnesium sprayed with concentrations (0, 500, 1000 mg.L-1), while the humic acid was added to the soil with (0, 0.75 gm.m2), The second experiment included storage of tubers produced from the spring season, with to study the effect of field treatments on improving the storability of the tubers. The results showed that the treatment of calci
... Show MoreThe research aims to study the entrepreneurial performance of the banks, according to the intelligence of competitive and strategic as the entrepreneurial performance is the one who does not stand the benefits of excellence in accomplished when just achieving the bank's objectives planned, but exceed it down to creativity in accomplishing these goals in a manner leads to making a entrepreneurial bank in the markets and the focus the eyes of competitors and the banks and other Following his example.
Was chosen the subject of research and strategic intelligence and competitive because of its impact on the strategic success of the banking sector, the fact is the entrepreneurial in the Iraqi banking mar
... Show MoreOn of the psychological disorders that the human encounters is guilty conscience, this feeling is negative and affects on the individual and on those around him and harms the psychological health of the individual.
since the university students slice is one of the important slices in the community which the country dependes on their abilities , their energies and their faculties in the construction and development, the university professors and specialists in the field of education and psychology who are around them should help them in achieving psychological balance and adjustment with themselves and with others, the following research objectives have been set :
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