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
Objective: This study was conducted to identify the association of HLA-DRB1/DQB1 genes with the susceptibility or resistance to type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1D) among patients between the ages of five and eighteen.
Subjects and Methods: The study included 200 Sudanese participants, ages ranging from 5 to 18. One hundred participants were healthy non-diabetic as the control group and 100 with T1D as the case group. The investigation was carried out in Khartoum state. The selection of patients with T1D was from diabetic centers and hospitals. The allele-specific-refractory mutation system-polymerase chain reaction (ARMS-PCR) techniq
... Show MoreThe infection with H. Pylori stimulates a signaling cascade that causes the generation of Cytokines and provokes Oxidative stress that is involved in the chronic inflammatory response leads to Gastric cancers. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) produce 8-Hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), the persistent oxidative DNA damage product. The study objective was to assess if there was a link between inflammatory cytokine levels and the presence of Oxidative DNA damage in Gastric tumor patients. In addition, evaluation of the diagnostic and prognostic value of Oxidative DNA damage and inflammatory cytokine biomarkers for Stomach cancers is being conducted. The study was accomplished on medically diagnosed Stomach cancer patients before any form of trea
... Show MoreThe present study aimed to evaluate the levels of total immunoglobulin E and percentage count of eosinophil in some of allergic disease. Blood sample collected from 210 patients (110 female, 100 male) with allergic disease (allergic asthma, allergic rhinitis, and urticaria) their age between 10-70 years and 50 healthy control their age between 23-52 years. A highly significant (P<0.01) increase in the mean serum total IgE in patients with asthma (503.54 ± 63.49 IU/ml), Allergic rhinitis (442.77 ± 95.76 IU/ml) and urticaria (489.53 ± 69.68 IU/ml) as a compared with healthy controls (23.67 ± 5.81 IU/ml).There was a significant difference in percentage count of eosinophil in patients groups allergic asthma 4.37 ± 0.52% ,allergic rhinitis
... Show MoreThis study aims at identifying the role played by Public Relations in the field of security awareness of the dangers of terrorism. The research is directed to the employees at the Directorate General of Public Relations and Media at the Ministry of Interior. And that on the basis that those who play an important role in the security awareness are the security institutions, primarily the Ministry of Interior, since this Directorate is responsible for all subjects related to the public security using public relations science. It aims at identifying the functions, methods and communication tools used by the Directorate to raise awareness about the dangers of terrorism. In order to achieve the research objectives, the researcher uses the sur
... Show MoreIn this work a flowsheet has been put for the recovery of uranium and plutonium from 2.5M nitric acid solutions using 17.5% tributyl phosphate (TBP) and 2.5% trioctylamine (TOA) in kerosene diluent . The fission products (resulting from irradiated of uranium samples in nuclear research reactor) were removed from the desired actinides U & Pu .The organic phase TBP/TOA/Kerosene, containing both actinides U&Pu were stripped using 0.1 M HNO3. Trioctylamine (2.5 volume ratio ) in mesitylene , has been used in conditions appropriate for the recovery of Pu . From the experiments done using mixer- settler , the concentration of uranium in the organic phase in such conditions was very low ,not exceeding parts of a million .
Background: osteoporosis is characterized by a reduction in bone mineral density, skeletal microstructure breakdown, increased bone fragility, and fracture susceptibility. Osteopenia is the preceding step to osteoporosis because it causes a decrease in bone mass, osteoporosis reduces a person's quality of life. Periostin (encoded by Postn), its name is derived from the fact that it was first detected in periosteal osteocytes and osteoblasts. Periostin deficiency has been linked to osteoporosis and weak bones. Study objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine periostin levels in serum of Iraqi patients with osteoporosis and osteopenia, and it is also possible to consider periostin as a diagnostic factor to follow the progression o
... Show MoreArticle information: COVID-19 has roused the scientic community, prompting calls for immediate solutions to avoid the infection or at least reduce the virus's spread. Despite the availability of several licensed vaccinations to boost human immunity against the disease, various mutated strains of the virus continue to emerge, posing a danger to the vaccine's ecacy against new mutations. As a result, the importance of the early detection of COVID-19 infection becomes evident. Cough is a prevalent symptom in all COVID-19 mutations. Unfortunately, coughing can be a symptom of various of diseases, including pneumonia and inuenza. Thus, identifying the coughing behavior might help clinicians diagnose the COVID-19 infection earlier and distinguish
... Show MoreThis day, we see the Significant role that social media platforms play, it plays a vital role in shaping the Social, political, and economic awareness of individuals. The Iraqi Society, which is experiencing rapid cultural and social transformations, is considered a fertile ground for social media and its influences, whether negative or positive. Research and studies indicate that the negative use of social media will lead to weaking of the sense of belonging and citizenship among members of Iraqi society. This, in turn, threatens moral and educational values, increases feelings of family estrangement, and leads to social isolation. On the contrary, if social is used correctly, it can significantly contribute to enhancing educational values
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