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: This study was conducted to evaluate the hard palate bone density and thickness during 3rd and 4th decades and their relationships with body mass index (BMI) and compositions, to allow more accurate mini-implant placement. Materials and method: Computed tomographic (CT) images were obtained for 60 patients (30 males and 30 females) with age range 20-39 years. The hard palate bone density and thickness were measured at 20 sites at the intersection of five anterioposterior and four mediolateral reference lines with 6 and 3 mm intervals from incisive foramen and mid-palatal suture respectively. Diagnostic scale operates according to the bioelectric impedance analysis principle was used to measure body weight; percentages of body fa
... Show MoreIn this study, the spreading of the pandemic coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is formulated mathematically. The objective of this study is to stop or slow the spread of COVID-19. In fact, to stop the spread of COVID-19, the vaccine of the disease is needed. However, in the absence of the vaccine, people must have to obey curfew and social distancing and follow the media alert coverage rule. In order to maintain these alternative factors, we must obey the modeling rule. Therefore, the impact of curfew, media alert coverage, and social distance between the individuals on the outbreak of disease is considered. Five ordinary differential equations of the first-order are used to represent the model. The solution properties of the system ar
... Show MoreSignificant risks to human health are posed by the 2019 coronavirus illness (COVID-19). SARS coronavirus type 2 receptor, also known as the major enzyme in the renin-angiotensin system (RAS), angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE-2), connects COVID-19 and RAS. This study was conducted with the intention of determining whether or not RAS gene polymorphisms and ACE-2 (G8790A) play a part in the process of predicting susceptibility to infection with COVID-19. In this study 127 participants, 67 of whom were deemed by a physician to be in a severe state of illness, and 60 of whom were categorized as "healthy controls" .The genetic study included an extraction of genomic DNA from blood samples of each covid 19 patients and healthy control
... Show MoreBackground: Normal Left Ventricular systolic function is present in nearly 50% of patients with congestive heart failure, the majority of such patients have systemic hypertension. Recent studies have demonstrated Left Ventricular dyssynchrony among patients with heart failure and normal systolic function. The co-existence between Left Ventricular dyssynchrony and hypertension with normal systolic function (with no clinical evidence of heart failure) is less well understood.
Objective:
To assess the Left Ventricular dyssynchrony among hypertensive patients with normal systolic function by using Tissue doppler imaging.To find out the associations between the LV dyssynchrony and other global
... Show MoreBackground: Ultrasonography has been used to examine the thickness of the lower uterine segment in women with previous cesarean sections in an attempt to predict the risk of scar dehiscence during subsequent pregnancy. The predictive value of such measurement has not been adequately assessed. Objectives: To correlate lower uterine segment thickness measured by trans abdominal ultrasound in pregnant women with previous cesarean section with that measured during cesarean section by caliper and to find out minimum lower uterine segment thickness indicative of integrity of the scar.Methods: A prospective observational study at Elwyia Maternity Teaching Hospital, from January 2011 to January 2012. A total of 143 women were enrolled in the stu
... Show MoreABSTRACT
This study was conducted to determine the effect of various levels of hump fat (HF) used in manufacturing of camel, beef and chicken sausage to understand the effect of (HF) on physicochemical composition sausage, Different levels of hump fat (5, 7, and 10 %) were used, physicochemical compositions like (moisture, protein, fat, Ash, water holding capacity, shrinkage, cooking loss and pH) were determined. Results of the study revealed that moisture content showed high significant differences (P≤0.01)among treatments groups, Camel sausage and beef sausage tended to have highest values while chicken sausage reported the lowest value. The study showed no significant difference (P≤0.05) among the
... Show MoreBackground: Assessment of function of the right side of the heart in cases of left ventricular dysfunction has been widely studied but the sensitive and specific echocardiographic parameter to be tested is still a matter of controversy. Right ventricular function is related to left ventricular function by ventricular independence so function of both should be assessed carefully. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of left ventricular systolic dysfunction on right ventricular systolic and diastolic functions and pulmonary pressure using conventional and tissue Doppler echocardiography. Patients and Methods: Sixty patients (39 males and 21 females) with heart failure due to left ventricular systolic dysfunction
... Show MoreBackground: Prolonged use of low-dose estrogen ''20 micrograms or less" Combined oral contraceptive pill (that have estrogen and progesterone steroid hormone) had an effect on bone turnover .Bone mineral density is used in clinical medicine as an indirect indicator of osteoporosis and fracture risk. The aim of the study: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of low dose oral contraceptive pill on the cortical thickness (in millimeter) and bone mineral density at the mandibular cortex of mental and gonial regions in Hounsfield unit(HU) using spiral computed tomography. Material and method: This prospective study was conducted on computed tomographic image of 100 women aged between (20-40) years .The collected sample includes
... Show MoreThe 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