Background: Speckle tracking echocardiography (STE)-derived mitral annular displacement (MAD) utilizes the speckle tracking technique to measure strain vectors, which provides accurate estimates of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF).Objectives: To validate the accuracy of mitral annular displacement (MAD), assessed by Speckle Tracking Echocardiography (STE), as a surrogate for determination of left ventricular systolic function in comparison to 2-Dimensions Simpson method in patients with different heart diseases.Methods : This cross-sectional study included patients who referred to outpatient department of Ibn Albitar Center for Cardiac Surgery, Baghdad, Iraq, between October 2012 and April 2013. STE continuously tracked annular

Significant 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

Blastocystis is a ubiquitous human and animal protozoa that inhabit the gastrointestinal tract. Metronidazole is considered the standard drug for the treatment of Blastocystis infection; however, there is growing evidence of treatment failure, hazardous side effects, and appearance of strains resistant to metronidazole. In the last era, many studies have been implicated in the quest for new treatments for Blastocystis infection, especially natural products. Attention has been focused on the effect of Amygdalin (B17) and pumpkin seed on eradicating parasitic infections. The current work was built up to explore the in vitro efficacy of two natural compounds, Amygdalin (B17) and pumpkin seeds against

Objective: Detection the presumptive prevalence of
silent celiac disease in patients with type 1 diabetes
mellitus with determination of which gender more
likely to be affected.
Methods: One hundred twenty asymptomatic patients
[75 male , 45 female] with type 1 diabetes mellitus
with mean age ± SD of 11.25 ± 2.85 year where
included in the study . All subjects were serologically
screened for the presence of anti-tissue transglutaminase
IgA antibodies (anti-tTG antibodies) by Enzyme-
Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) & total IgA
was also measured for all using radial
immunodiffusion plate . Anti-tissue transglutaminase
IgG was selectively done for patients who were
expressing negative anti-

Urinary tract infection is a bacterial infection that often affects the bladder and thus the urinary system. E. coli is one of the leading uropathogenic bacteria that cause urinary tract infections. Uropathogenic E. coli is highly effective and successful in causing urinary tract infections through biofilm formation and urothelial cell invasion mechanisms. Other organisms that cause urinary tract infections include members of the Enterobacteriaceae family, streptococci and staphylococci species and perch. In addition, K.penumoniae is another important gram-negative bacterium that causes urinary tract infections. With the PCR technique, unseen bacterial species can be detected using standard clinical microbiology methods. In this study, the

Background: Pemphigus vulgaris (PV) is an autoimmune vesiculobullous mucocutaneous disease with life-threatening consequences. Rituximab (RTX) has recently emerged as an effective treatment for PV. Objectives: This study aims to determine changes in neutrophil and platelet counts for PV patients treated with RTX or corticosteroids combined with Imuran (azathioprine). Materials and Methods: The present cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Dermatology at Baghdad Teaching Hospital, Baghdad, Iraq. Thirty PV patients received two types of treatment: 15 patients were administered RTX and 15 patients took corticosteroids with Imuran (azathioprine). Neutrophil and platelet counts were detected at the hospital laboratory. Results

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease that affects mainly the synovial membranes and articular structures and is characterized by chronic, systemic inflammation involving multiple joints.Being a synovial joint, the Temporomandibular Joint is subject to the same disorders affecting other synovial joints, including RA.Beside it was considered as a specific serological marker for diagnosing RA disease ,antibodies to cyclic citrullinated peptide have proven to be associated with joints destruction, though; it may play a potential role in the prediction of the disease severity. Materials and Methods: Sixty nine individuals (69) were enrolled in this study, forty nine (49) were patients diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis, a

Type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM) is a metabolic disease that is associated with an increased risk for atherosclerosis by 2-4 folds than in non- diabetics. In general population, low IGF-1 has been associated with higher prevalence of cardiovascular disease and mortality .This study aims to find out the relationship between IGF-1 level and other biochemical markers such as Homeostasis Model Assessment insulin resistance(HOMAIR) and Body Mass Index(BMI) in type 2 diabetic patients . This study includes (82) patients (40 females and 42 males) with age range (40-75) years,(34) non obese diabetic patients and (48) obese diabetic patients. The non obese individuals considered

Interleukins (IL-2 and IL-4) are increased in asthmatics and were reported to induce resistance to steroid therapy in some patients who fail to get benefit from glucocorticoids when used in full dose and for long period of time. In this context, the present study was conducted on Iraqi patients to provide additional laboratory mean, beside the clinical diagnosis, for the decision whether the asthma is steroid sensitive or resistant by monitoring the level of immunoglobulins, complement proteins and interleukins among asthmatic patients (steroid sensitive or resistant) and the possible contribution of other factors like age, sex and environments in the development of steroid resistance. A total number of 55 asthmatics and 28 normal subjec