BACKGROUND: HLA-B27 can effect clinical presentation and course of ankylosing spondylitis. Different detection techniques of HLA-B27 are available with variable sensitivities and specificities. OBJECTIVE: To compare serologic and molecular diagnostic techniques of detecting HLA-B27 status and to correlate it with some clinical variables among ankylosing spondylitis patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 83 Iraqi patients with ankylosing spondylitis. Clinical and laboratory evaluations were reported. HLA-B27 status was determined in all patients by real-time PCR using HLA-B27 RealFast™ kit; ELISA method was used as well to detect soluble serum HLA-B27 antigens using Human Leukocyte Antigen® kit. RESULTS:

Hypothyroidism is a condition in which thyroid hormones levels decreased in the blood. These hormones are necessary for energy production and body viability. In many occasions this condition is accompanied or followed by different metabolic disorders. The current study is conducted in the "Specialized center for endocrinology and diabetes" and carried on 70 hypothyroid patients and 60 randomly chosen individuals with normal thyroid function .Both groups were submitted to laboratory tests to evaluate thyroid function (T3,T4.TSH). The study involved evaluation of the relationship between hypothyroidism and insulin resistance (IR) . Health problem related to many diseases , became common lately. Insulin resistance diagnosed through

Keloids are prevalent fibro-proliferative tumors, and treating them is still a challenge although intralesional injections of triamcinolone acetonide (TAC) are effective, they have frequently linked adverse effects. Pentoxifylline (PTX) is an anti-fibrotic and anti-inflammatory, and vasodilator. It has not yet been tested for intralesional injection in keloids. The aim of the study is to study the efficacy of intralesional pentoxifylline versus triamcinolone acetonide in keloid scars of 40 patients. In this study, 40 patients with keloid scars regardless of the cause of keloid born, 20 patients have injected with intralesional triamcinolone acetonide, and 20 patients with intralesional pentoxifylline every two weeks until the lesi

Patients with decompensated cirrhosis have typically prescribed a combination of therapeutic and prophylactic medications. Polypharmacy increases the probability of medication errors and drug related problems. Clinical pharmacists are highly effective at identifying, resolving, and preventing clinically important drug-related problems in their patients' care. The objectives of the study were the identification and classification of drug-related problems, as well as the discussion of these problems with health care providers (physicians, pharmacists, and nurses) and patients. Reduce their incidence as effectively as possible and educate all research participants on the significance of following their prescribed drug regimen

Background: Atherosclerosis is well known related to age and certain cardiovascular diseases. Aging is one reason of arteries function deterioration which can cause loss of compliance and plaque accumulation, this effect increases by the presence of certain diseases such as hypertension and diabetes disease. Aim: To investigate the reduction of blood supply to the brain in patients with diabetes and hypertension with age and the role of resistive index in the diagnosis of reduced blood flow. Method: Patients with both diseases diabetic and hypertension were classified according to their age to identify the progression of the disease and factors influencing the carotid artery blood flow. By using ultrasound and standard Doppler techniq

The surgical treatment of inferior turbinate hypertrophy (ITH) is challenging. Submucosal diathermy (SMD) is a well-known surgical procedure used for the treatment of ITH, microdebrider-assisted rhinoplasty (MAT) is relatively a newer technique used in the management of ITH. To evaluate the effect of MAT on inferior turbinate size and nasal airway patency in patients with bilateral ITH in comparison to SMD. Seventy-one patients presented with nasal obstruction due to bilateral ITH were allocated into two groups, group a (35 patients) were subjected to SMD and 36 patients in group B were subjected to MAT. All the patients had been sent to CT scan pre-operatively and at the third postoperative month to measure the cross-sectional areas

Sewage sludge samples were collected from Al-rasafa and Al-karkh refinement stations which represent the main stations of Baghdad city. Samples were collected from all treatment stages: before, after, and during refinement processes. The High Purity Germanium Coaxial Detector system with energy resolution 1.8 keV for energy line 1333 keV of Co – 60 radioactive sources was used to measure radioactivity from both natural and artificial sources. GENIE – 2000 analysis the results statistically and qualitatively. The results showed that all sewage sludge samples exhibited natural radioactive level and sometimes less than the international regular standards, but Al–Karkh station showed increment in radioactive levels than Al– Rasa

The present study aimed to use the magnetic field and nanotechnology in the field of water purification, which slots offering high efficiency to the possibility of removing biological contaminants such as viruses and bacteria rather than the use of chemical and physical transactions such as chlorine and bromine, and ultraviolet light and boiling and sedimentation and distillation, ozone and others that have a direct negative impact on human safety and the environment. Where they were investigating the presence in water samples under study Coli phages using Single agar layer method and then treated samples positive for phages to three types of magnetic field fixed as follows (North Pole - South Pole - Bipolar) and compare the re