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
This study was carried out in Artificial Insemination Center of Iraq to revealed FMD disease effect on some seminal attributer parameters of 14 imported Holstein bulls divided to three groups according to different reproductive efficiency (four High, five medium and five weak). Results showed that FMD disease had significant (P < 0.05) adverse effect on most seminal attributer parameters, mass, individual motility and sperm concentration / ml during post disease in first of two, four, all months of high, medium and weak semen quality bulls respectively .but semen volume didn’t influenced significantly with this disease. So semen collection should be suspended until resume normal fertility of sperm, after two, four month of high and
... Show MoreThe study includes collection of data about cholera disease from six health centers from nine locations with 2500km2 and a population of 750000individual. The average of infection for six centers during the 2000-2003 was recorded. There were 3007 cases of diarrhea diagnosed as cholera caused by Vibrio cholerae. The percentage of male infection was 14. 7% while for female were 13. 2%. The percentage of infection for children (less than one year) was 6.1%, it while for the age (1-5 years) was 6.9%and for the ages more than 5 years was 14.5%.The total percentage of the patients stayed in hospital was 7.7%(4.2%for male and 3.4%for female). The bacteria was isolated and identified from 7cases in the Central Laboratory for Health in Baghdad. In
... Show MoreBackground: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory disease of the central nervous system, in which the myelin sheaths got injured. The prevalence of MS is on grow, as well as, it affects the young ages. Females are most common to have MS compared to males. Oxidative stress is the situation of imbalance between oxidants (free radicals and reactive oxygen species (ROS)) and antioxidants in a living system, in which either the oxidants are elevated or antioxidants are reduced, or sometimes both. ROS and oxidative stress have been implicated in the progression of many degenerative diseases, which is important in cracking the unrevealed mysteries of MS. In this review article, some of the proposed mechanisms that link oxidative stres
... Show MoreBiomarkers to detect Alzheimer’s disease (AD) would enable patients to gain access to appropriate services and may facilitate the development of new therapies. Given the large numbers of people affected by AD, there is a need for a low-cost, easy to use method to detect AD patients. Potentially, the electroencephalogram (EEG) can play a valuable role in this, but at present no single EEG biomarker is robust enough for use in practice. This study aims to provide a methodological framework for the development of robust EEG biomarkers to detect AD with a clinically acceptable performance by exploiting the combined strengths of key biomarkers. A large number of existing and novel EEG biomarkers associated with slowing of EEG, reductio
... Show MoreThe follower of the history of cinema in the world notes that cinema started recording one and these films are varied in their subjects, while the life of man was the material of these films to be in a creative artistic style.
If the Palestinian films produced by Palestinian directors do not have an impact on the local, Arab and international levels, this is due to the weakness in several technical fields or with the intention to make them bad or negligence of those who produce these films.
This research deals with the role played by Palestinian films in dealing with the internal situation from the point of view of the Palestinian media elite in terms of their exposure to films and the motives of this exposure and the expectation
The subject of this study is one of the most interactive media networks, which is the Instagram.The study uses a descriptive approach and focuses on how Instagram turns from a media tool to a marketing tool. The study problematic consists of this question: How Instagram turns to a marketing tool, and what are the advantages and the disadvantages for that?This study highlights the definition of Instagram, the creation of it and its improvement, the Instagram in Bahrain, the Instagram uses, the Instagram as a marketing tool, and the advantages and disadvantages of using Instagram for marketing.The study confirms that Instagram is a new media network, and focuses on how it develops on later stages and mentions the increase of the percentage
... Show MoreBackground: Human leukocyte antigen-G (HLA-G)and Toll-like receptor-9 (TLR-9)play a role in the regulation of autoimmune diseases and inflammatory processes. Aim of the study: To detect the HLA-G + 3142G > C gene polymorphism that associated with the susceptibility to SLE patients and associated with Hepatitis B infection and TLR-9 serum level. Patients and methods: This study was done on 75 SLE patients and 75 healthy control groups. Genotyping of HLA-G + 3142G > C were detected by PCR and PCR-RFLP methods. In addition to the estimation of Hepatitis B surface (HBs)antigen status by immunochromatography technique and TLR-9 serum level by ELISA technique. Results: The HLA-G + 3142G > C gene polymorphism between the SLE patients and controls
... Show MoreBackground Parkinson’s disease (PD) is currently the fastest-growing neurological disorder in the world. Patients with PD face numerous challenges in managing their chronic condition, particularly in countries with scarce healthcare infrastructure. Objective This qualitative study aimed to delve into neurologists’ perspectives on challenges and gaps in the Iraqi healthcare system that influence the management of PD, as well as strategies to mitigate these obstacles. Method Semi-structured interviews were conducted with neurologists from five different Iraqi provinces, working in both hospitals and private neurology clinics, between November 2024 and January 2025. A thematic analysis approach was employed to identify the main challenge
... Show MoreBackground: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative aging disease, with idiopathic PD being most common. Gastrointestinal tract disorders (GITD) and microbiota changes may trigger idiopathic PD. Neurotoxins from microbiota can travel from the gut to the brain via the brain-gut axis (BGA), leading to α-syn protein misfolding and dopaminergic neuron death. Methods: The aim of the current study was to investigate the link between PD and GITD by measuring several biochemical and immunological markers in 142 patients. The biochemical markers measured were vitamins B6, B12, and D, calcium, serotonin, ghrelin, dopamine, and α-syn protein. The immunological markers included transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β), tu
... Show MorePresent investigation aimed to study plasma BNP hormone estimation as predictor of brain stroke and neurocognitive in relative with other limitations in CKD patient. The case control experimental study was conducted on CKD patient at Yarmuk Hospital at Baghdad Province, Iraq from February to April 2020. The results showed that there were significant variances (P< 0.05) between CKD patients and control group, there was significant increase in BNP hormone and cystatin-C levels at patient, while ihematological parameters were significantly decreased. The parameters of lipid profile were significantly increased (P<0.05). The result revealed that there was relationship between BNP hormone level and CKD. This support that BNP level is related wit
... Show More