Background: Left ventricular hypertrophy and diastolic dysfunction are considered to be an important risk factor for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in asymptomatic hypertensive
patients. At the bedside, left ventricular geometric remodeling and diastolic dysfunction in hypertension can not be diagnosed without echocardiography which is a useful adjunct to the medical history, physical examination, ECG, and chest radiography. Hence, it provides an opportunity for good management and prognosis of what appears to be preclinical hypertensive complication. 
Subjects and Methods: 127 subjects with essential hypertension of either sex attending echo unit were subjected to medical history, clinical exa

      Background: Left ventricular function and volumes have major diagnostic and prognostic importance in patients with various cardiac diseases, such as ischemic heart disease which is a life-threatening heart disease condition characterized by systolic dysfunction and a decrease in cardiac output. 

According to left ventricular ejection fraction, the degree of ischemic heart disease was classified as mild, moderate, and severe. To determine cardiac function and hemodynamics, the echocardiography technique is used, which is a noninvasive diagnostic method.

Patients and Methods: The study included 216 patients between 25 and 75 years old; 121 males and 95 females; 265 normal individuals (age range: 25 to 75 years ol

Background: Congenital cardiac defects have a wide spectrum of severity in infants. About 30-40% of patients with congenital cardiac defects will be symptomatic in the 1^st year of life, while the diagnosis was established in 60% of patients by the 1^st month of age.

Objectives: To identify the occurrence of specific types of CHD among hospitalized patients and to evaluate of growth of patients by different congenital heart lesions.

Methods: A retrospective study, done on ninety-six patients (51 male and 45 female) with congenital heart disease (CHD) admitted to central teaching hospital of pediatrics, Baghdad from 1^st September 2009 to 30

Background: Ischemic heart disease is a major cause of the diastolic heart failure. Risk of heart failures was increased with microvascular coronary disease, which is characterized by left ventricular stiffness  with impaired relaxation and reduced compliance. Aim of this study is to estimate the effect of the severity of myocardium ischemia on the left ventricle ejection fraction and left ventricular volume using SPECT with ^99mTc MIBI and to compare the results  with the echocardiography. The study included 117 subjects with ischemic heart disease were examined using SPECT and echocardiography techniques. The following

Association of Electrocardiographic Left Ventricular Strain Pattern with Coronary Artery Disease and Cerebrovascular Accident in Hypertensive Patients

Background: Patients diagnosed with hypertension and left ventricular hypertrophy could presented with electrocardiographic changes including criteria of left ventricular hypertrophy, and left ventricular strain pattern( fixed ST depression and T inversion in leads I, avL, V5&6)

Objective: To study the impact of electrocardiographic left ventricular strain pattern in hypertensive patient as predictor for coronary artery disease and cerebrovascular accident development.

Material and method: a cro

Background: Coronary artery bypass graft is routinely performed on an arrested heart using cardiopulmonary bypass with aortic cross clamping and Cardioplegia. Off-pump coronary artery bypass graft (OPCABG) is being increasingly used in selected cases as an attempt to decrease morbidity and mortality.
Objective: The main objective of this study is to clarify those patients who are indicated for OPCABG despite it is surgically demanding technique and to evaluate the mortality and morbidity associated with such procedures.
Patients and methods: It is a retrospective study of 28 patients with coronary artery disease, in need for coronary artery bypass graft admitted and surgically treated at the Iraqi Centre fo

Rheumatoid arthritis (AR) is one of the chronic diseases resulting in many complications such as cardiovascular disease (CVD). Any change in the lipid profiles and myocardial markers indicates cardiovascular disease risk, so this study is designed to monitor the pattern of lipid profiles and myocardial markers in newly diagnosed RA patients. Blood samples were collected from 70 Iraqi patients newly diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (male and female) and 30 healthy served as control. These individuals were aged 35-65 years. The serum samples were obtained to determine myocardial markers; included troponin, creatinine kinase (CK), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase GOT; and lipid profiles; such as choleste