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
Non tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) present in the environment, mainly in water and not transmitted from human to human. The lung is the most common target of NTM infections in human. The symptoms of NTM infection are: fever, weight loss and abdominal pain.
114 sputum samples were examined microscopically using Ziehl-Nelsen stain, all were positive. They cultured on Lowenstein-Jensen media.
The results of this study indicate presence of 3 (2.6%) of rapidly growing mycobacteria, phenotypically they resemble T.B. bacilli. They were diagnosed by biochemical tests, they were positive for catalase and pyruvate, negative for niacin, nitrate reduction test, sensitive for Thiophene-2-carboxyl acid hydrozide test& resistant for Para nitr
Left bundle branch block (LBBB) is a common finding in electrocardiography, there are many causes of LBBB.
The aim of this study is to discuss the true prevalence of coronary artery disease (CAD) in patients with LBBB and associated risk factors in the form of hypertension and diabetes mellitus.
Patients with LBBB were admitted to the Iraqi heart center for cardiac disea
The aim of this study is to propose reliable equations to estimate the in-situ concrete compressive strength from the non-destructive test. Three equations were proposed: the first equation considers the number of rebound hummer only, the second equation consider the ultrasonic pulse velocity only, and the third equation combines the number of rebound hummer and the ultrasonic pulse velocity. The proposed equations were derived from non-linear regression analysis and they were calibrated with the test results of 372 concrete specimens compiled from the literature. The performance of the proposed equations was tested by comparing their strength estimations with those of related existing equations from literature. Comparis
... Show MoreA computational investigation is carried out to describe the behaviour of reflected electrons upon a charged insulator sample and producing mirror effect images. A theoretical expression for the scanning electron path equation is derived concerning Rutherford scattering and some electrostatic aspects. The importance of the derived formula come from its correlation among some of the most important parameters that controls the mirror effect phenomena. These parameters, in fact, are the trapped charges, incident angle and the scanning potential which investigated by considering its influences on the incident electrons. A pervious experimental operation requirements are adopted for operating the introduced expression. However, the obtained r
... Show MoreBackground: Powerlifters and bodybuilders use anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) especially – as many as 55 percent of elite powerlifters admitted using these agents. In contrast to numerous documented toxic and hormonal effects of AAS their impact on the structure and function of the left ventricular (LV) was not yet fully understood.
Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) or kala-azar is one of the worlds most neglected tropical diseases in mortality and fourth in morbidity, rK39 dipstick was used to diagnose the suspected infected patients as cheapest simple technique which can differentiate recent from chronic infection, for disease out-coming, naïve T-lymphocyte cells should be differentiated into pathogen-specific immunity responses, such as T-helper 1(Th-1) or (Th-2). HLA-G is a special protein defined as nonclassical HLA class I molecule can suppress the immune system through prevention of T-cell function by foul all T-cell mechanisms. So, this study aimed to detect and evaluate the level of sHLA-G in the sera of patients infected with VL. The results showed that there was
... Show MoreCalendula officinalis L. (Asteraceae) known as marigold is known to have several pharmacological activities and used for the treatment of several diseases as measles, jaundice, constipation and several inflammations. Marigold flowers contain several chemical constituents mainly flavonoids, triterpenoids and essential oil. In this study marigold flowers cultivated in Iraq had been investigated for its flavonoids content. The study revealed the presence of quercetin and kaempferol glycosides and the absence of myricetin glycosides. The flowers were extracted with ethanol 70% fractionated with different solvent and the flavonoids were isolated by preparative HPLC. The isolated flavonoids were identified by measuring melting points, UV, IR,
... Show MoreThe results of the present study showed that twenty-five samples were collected for the age group 35–40 years and four samples for the age group 65–70 years for both genders. The results showed that 48 (48%) of the samples were obtained from the hands, 16 (16%) from the legs, 12 (12%) from the abdominal area, and 10 (10%) from the chest area. The four (4%) samples were obtained from burns in the back and thighs area. The samples taken according to the cause of burns were 40 (40%) due to hot water, hot liquids, or hot steam, followed by 18 (18%) due to the use of hot tools, 15 (15%) due to fires, 12 (12%) due to electric currents, 10 (10%) due to chemicals such as strong acids, alkaline lye, paint thinner, or gasoline, and 5 (5%) due
... Show MoreThis study illustrates the impact of non-thermal plasma (Cold Atmospheric Plasma CAP) on the lipids blood, the study in vivo. The lipids are (cholesterol, HDL-Cholesterol, LDL-Cholesterol and triglyceride) are tested. (FE-DBD) scheme of probe diameter 4cm is used for this purpose, and the output voltage ranged from (0-20) kV with variable frequency (0-30) kHz. The effect of non-thermal atmospheric plasma on lipids were studied with different exposure durations (20,30) sec. As a result, the longer plasma exposure duration decreases more lipids in blood.