Background: Quality of life in brain tumor patients is an emerging issue and has prompted neurosurgeons to recon¬sider the need for cognitive assessment in the course of treatment. To date there has been a lack of comprehensive neuropsychological assessment performed preoperatively and in the acute postoperative period in our hospitals.Objectives: to establish the effects of tumors and their surgical treatment, from a neuropsychological perspective, on cognitive functioning in patients with cerebral Gliomas. Methods: This is a prospective study conducted in the Neurosurgical Hospital in Baghdad, Iraq, during the period from January 1999 to January 2001. Any patient admitted during the period of the study with clinical history, signs, symptoms, and contrast enhanced MRI suggesting a cerebral glioma and confirmed by postoperative histopathological results of glioma has been included in this study. While multifocal lesions, long-lasting epilepsy, use of antiepileptic therapy, multiple cranial lesions, previous cranial surgery, any chronic illness, and histopathological result of other tumors were exclusion criteria. All patients were at their first operation for brain tumors. Patients were examined by analyzing several functional domains (intelligence, executive functions, memory, language, praxis, gnosis and mood state) in order to establish the effect of tumor and surgery on cognition.Results: 29 patients who fulfilled the selection criteria were included. Mean duration of clinical history was 5 months (range 1–9 months). At baseline, using test- and domain-based criteria, 79% and 38% of patients, respectively, were impaired, the former related to tumor factors such as edema (P < 0.05), larger size (P < 0.05) and higher grade (P = 0.001). Verbal memory, visuospatial memory and word fluency were the most frequently affected functions, partly associated with depression. Postoperatively, 38% and 55% of patients, respectively, were unchanged, 24% and 21% improved, and 38% and 24% worsened; 24% and 62% of patients were intact, respec-tively.Conclusions: The extent of removal did not influence the outcome. Improvement involved previously impaired functions and was correlated with high-grade tumors. Worsening regar¬ded executive functions was related to tumor size and was partly explained by radiological findings on postoperative MRI. This prospective study, focusing on the effects of tumor and surgery, showed that tumor significantly affects cognitive func¬tions, mainly due to the mass effect and higher grading. Surgical treatment improved the functions most frequently affected preoperatively and caused worsening of execu¬tive functions soon after operation, leaving the overall cognitive burden unchanged and capable of improvement prospectively.
Background: Multiple myeloma (MM) is characterized by clonal proliferation of malignant plasma cells within the bone marrow. In most patients, monoclonal immunoglobulin heavy chains or light chains are produced and are associated with organ dysfunction. The growth factor B-cell activating factor (BAFF) plays an important role in the pathogenesis of multiple myeloma due to its ability to promote B-cell survival, expansion, and differentiation. Objective: to measure the circulatory level of B-cell activating factor in multiple myeloma patients in relapsed and remission states and explore its possible correlations with the clinical staging, β2-microglobulin, and interleukin-6. Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 60
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Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a progressive airflow limitation that is preventable but not curable. It is associated with persistent symptoms that cause a considerable burden on individual productivity at work, and daily activities, and reduced quality of life, also burdening the healthcare system and society. Objectives: The study aims to measure the burden of COPD on patients in terms of daily activities and work productivity. It also seeks to investigate some inflammatory biomarkers' levels and their correlation with selected outcomes. Patients and Methods: A cross-sectional study on 120 stable COPD patients who were diagnosed and treated according to the GOLD guidelines at Kirkuk General Hospital's
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Objectives: The study objectives are to determine the impact of education program upon the academic nurses'
practice concerning documentation of nursing sheets, and to find out the relationship between nurses knowledge
and their demographic characteristics, which include age, sex, and years of experience in medical and surgical
wards.
Methodology: A quasi- experimental study was carried out at the medical and surgical wards in teaching
hospitals in Sulaimani governorate from the beginning of March up to June 2007٠
To reach the objectives of the study anon-probability (purposive) sample of (25) academic nurses who work in
the medical and surgical wards in teaching hospitals.
The data were collected through the use
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
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Background: One of the drawbacks of vital teeth bleaching is color stability. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of tea and tomato sauce on the color stability of bleached enamel in association with the application of MI Paste Plus (CPP-ACPF). Materials and Methods: Sixty enamel samples were bleached with 10% carbamide peroxide for two weeks then divided into three groups (A, B and C) of 20 samples each. After bleaching, the samples of each group were subdivided into two subgroups (n=10). While subgroups A1, B1 and C1 were kept in distilled water, A2, B2, and C2 were treated with MI Paste Plus. Then, the samples were immersed in different solutions as follow: A1 and A2 in distilled water (control); B1 and B2 in black
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Background: This study aims to investigate the effect of fixed orthodontic appliances and/or antihypertensive drugs on the weight of experimental rats. Materials and Methods: Thir-ty-six male Wistar albino rats were subjected to a split-mouth design study, in which an orthodontic appliance was inserted in one side to move the first molar mesially for 2 weeks while the other side acted as a control to tooth movement. The rats were allocated into three groups: group A (n = 12), without any pharmacological treatment; group B (n = 12), subcu-taneous injection of bisoprolol fumarate (5 mg/kg) daily; and group C (n = 12), subcutaneous injection of valsartan (10 mg/kg) daily. A fixed orthodontic appliance with a closing coil spring delivering 5
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The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of omega-3 poly unsaturated fatty-acids co-administered with the therapeutic dose of lornoxicam on liver of healthy rats. Twenty-eight adults male rats weighing 180-200g were used in this study and the animals were randomly divided into four groups of seven rats each. Group I: negative control/rats intraperitoneally injected with normal saline in a dose 5ml/kg/day; Group II: rats intraperitoneally injected with lornoxicam at dose 0.7 mg/kg/day; Group III: rats orally-administered omega-3 only at a dose 185mg/kg/day; Group IV: rats co-administered omega-3 (185mg/kg/day) orally and in
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