Background: Background : Patients with non-rheumatic atrial fibrillation have high risk of thromboembolism especially ischemic stroke usually arising from left atrial appendage .Transoesophageal echocardiography provides useful information for risk stratification in these patients as it detects thrombus in the left atrial or left atrial appendage. Objective : This study was conducted at Al-Kadhimiya Teaching Hospital to assess the prevalence of left atrial chamber thrombi in patients with chronic non-rheumatic atrial fibrillation using transoesophageal echocardiography and its clinical significance as well as to verify the superiority of transoesophageal over transthoracic echocardiography in the detection of these abnormalities. Type of the study: Cross sectional study.Patients and Methods : Forty (40) consecutive patients (11 female and 29 male), at a mean age of 46 ± 9 years (range 28–60) with chronic non-rheumatic Atrial fibrillation were enrolled to this prospective study between March 2006 and December 2006. Tansthoracic and transesophageal two dimensional , M- mode , Doppler, and color- flow echocardiography were obtained with a kretz diagnostic ultrasound system. Results : The prevalence of Left atrium thrombus was 12.5%, 5 patients from the total number which was 40 patients. All of them seen bytransoesophagealechocardiography and non are detected byTansthoracic echocardiography . All the left atrial thrombi were confined to the left atrial appendage (100%). Left atrial spontaneous echo contrast was detected in 10 patients 25% by transoesophageal echocardiography, but was not observed in patient bytransthoracic echocardiography. All the 5 thrombi were found in left atria were significantly associated with spontaneous echo contrast 100% (P-value <0.001), reduced left ventricle ejection fraction (p-value <0.05) , large left atrium diameter ( p-value <0.05) and low LAAV <20 cm/s (p-value <0.001) compared to those without thrombus . Conclusions : The study showed that the prevalence of left atrial thrombus and appendage is not uncommon in patients with non-rheumatic atrial fibrillation and is exclusively seen in patients with left atrial SEC. Low Left ventricle ejection fraction , large Left atrium diameter , and low Left atrial appendages velocity are significantly associated with subsequent thrombus formation , and is more sensitive in the detection of these abnormalities compared with transthoracic echocardiography
Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a widespread, yet often overlooked, parasitic disease caused by the Leishmania protozoan, which is prevalent in numerous countries, including Iraq. This condition is marked by the appearance of skin lesions on various exposed areas of the body. In most old-world regions, sodium stibogluconate (SSG) is the classical widely used drug to treat CL. The progression of skin ulceration is controlled by different inflammatory modulators including cytokines and enzymes. In this study, the possible role of the enzyme Matrix metalloproteinase9 (MMP-9) and its inhibitor Metallopeptidase inhibitor-1 (TIMP-1) as immunological markers was evaluated in CL patients suffering from cutaneous leishmaniasis before and aft
... Show MoreBackground: The aim of this study was to determine phototoxic effect of visible blue light on anaerobic periodontal pathogens namely Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans and Porphyromonas gingivalis. Materials and methods: Strains of Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans and Porphyromonas gingivalis were isolated from pockets of systemically healthy patients aged between 35-55 years old with pocket depths of 5-6 mm, the bacteria cultured on special blood Agar plates solid media, then subjected to visible blue light emitted from commercially available light cure devise (LED curing light); that emits blue light (400-500nm) of 1000mw energy at different periods of time exposures, then the CFU of each plate was measured by direct colony count
... Show MoreBackground: Benign Prostate Hypertrophy(BPH)is a common urological problem worldwide which is defined as denomatous hyperplasia of the periurethralpart of prostate gland that occurs especially in men over 50 years old and that tend to obstruct urination by constriction the urethra Objectives: The study was aimed to investigate the level of Malondialdehyde (MDA), Nitric Oxide (NO) and Superoxide Dismutase (SOD) as an antioxidant, besides other factors such as the level of Lipids Profile (Total Chlosterol (TC), High Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol (HDL-C), Low Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol (LDL-C), Very Low Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol (VLDL-C), and Triglyceride (TG))in patients suffer from BPH . Methods: In this study ;clinical ,spec
... Show MoreOtitis media with effusion (OME) is a common disease especially among young children (before school age) and it is one of the common causes of acquired hearing loss in childhood. Pediatric patients with OME are usually undernourished. The purpose of this study is to determine whether the serum levels of trace elements (zinc, copper, magnesium, iron) have a role in the development of OME in children. This study carried out on 55 children and subdivided them into two groups. Group 1 (patient group) consist of 30 children suffering from OME and group 2 (control group) included 25 apparently healthy children. Serum levels of zinc, copper, magnesium and iron were measured for both groups. Comparison the results between the two groups showed t
... Show MoreDiarrhea is one of the most commonly encountered minor ailments in the community pharmacies. It is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. However, the majority of pharmacists in Iraq did not manage diarrheal cases in a proper way. Therefore, the current study aimed to evaluate the benefit of a new mobile application (diarrhea management step by step) to improve the pharmacist's role in the management of diarrhea. The study was conducted from 21th September to 21th October 2021 using a pre-post design via a simulated patient (SP) technique. A validated diarrhea scenario was presented to each pharmacist by the SP twice, once before and the other after giving the mobile application to the pharmacist. Furthermore, pharmaci
... Show MoreFirstly, in this study, a brief updated description and applications of different solar collectors used in renewable energy systems for supplying electric and thermal energy was presented. Secondly, an attempt was made to utilize tilting orientation of solar collector for maximizing collector energy with time in respect to horizontal orientation. For energy calculation, global solar radiation was used since they are directly related. For that purpose, field measurements of half-hourly radiation on two flat panels of tilting and horizontal orientations were carried out throughout 8-month period under local climate of Baghdad. Then, energy gain and radiation level averages were calculated based on the field radiation
... Show MoreThe efficiency evaluation of the railway lines performance is done through a set of indicators and criteria, the most important are transport density, the productivity of enrollee, passenger vehicle production, the productivity of freight wagon, and the productivity of locomotives. This study includes an attempt to calculate the most important of these indicators which transport density index from productivity during the four indicators, using artificial neural network technology. Two neural networks software are used in this study, (Simulnet) and (Neuframe), the results of second program has been adopted. Training results and test to the neural network data used in the study, which are obtained from the international in
... Show MoreStaphylococcus haemolyticus is one of the most frequently isolated coagulase-negative staphylococci. The ability to form biofilm is considered as one of the most important virulence factors of coagulase negative staphylococci. There is only limited knowledge of the nature of S. haemolyticus biofilms. This study was aimed at evaluating the ability of S. haemolyticus strains to produce biofilm in the presence of copper oxide nanoparticles (CuONPs). The biological synthesis of nanoparticles is an environmentally friendly approach for large-scale production of nanoparticles. Copper oxide nanoparticles were produced in the current study from the S. haemolyticus viable cell filtrate. UV-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy, X-ray diffra
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