Background:Wilson’s disease (WD) is an inherited
disorder of copper metabolism that is characterized
by tremendous variation in the clinical presentation.
Objective: To assess demographic distribution,
clinical presentations, diagnostic evaluation, and any
association between clinical presentations and other
studied variables of a sample of Iraqi patients with
WD.
Methods: A descriptive cross sectional study with
analytic elements was conducted during 2011, from
the 1st of February till the 10th of June. The sampling
method was a convenient non-random one, carried
out through consecutive pooling of registered WD
patients. A questionnaire-form paper had been
developed for the process of data collection.
Results: The study had enrolled 29 patients, with a
male to female ratio of (1.07:1), their mean age was
27.12±12.18 years. 82.8% of them lived in urban
area. 48.3% were singles. Only 20.7% of patients had
a positive family history of WD. 69% of patients had
consanguineous parents. The main initial clinical
presentations were; hepato-neurologic (31%), pure
hepatic (27.6%), neuro-psychiatric (13.8%) and other
presentations (27.6%). Hepatic manifestations were
seen in (82.8%) of patients; jaundice was the most
frequent (89.7%). Ophthalmologic manifestations in
(55.1%) of patients including; Kayser-Fleischer rings
(51.7%), diplopia (6.9%) and cataracts (3.4%).
Neurologic manifestations existed in 44.8% of
patients; tremors were the most frequent (41.4%).
Psychiatric manifestations existed in 31% of patients;
depression was the commonest (27.6%). Joints
manifestations existed in 20.7% of patients. The
diagnosis delay was 11.26±8.2 months.
Conclusion: The higher percentage of patients were
of hepato-neurologic and pure hepatic presentations.
Patients with hepato-neurologic type are diagnosed in
older age, while those with neuro-psychiatric type are
diagnosed in younger age and with longer diagnosis
delay.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa has variety of virulence factors that contribute to its pathogenicity. Therefore, rapid detection with high accuracy and specificity is very important in the control of this pathogenic bacterium. To evaluate the accuracy and specificity of Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) assay, ETA and gyrB genes were targeted to detect pathogenic strains of P. aeruginosa. Seventy swab samples were taken from patients with infected wounds and burns in two hospitals in Erbil and Koya cities in Iraq. The isolates were traditionally identified using phenotypic methods, and DNA was extracted from the positive samples, to apply PCR using the species specific primers targeting ETA, the gene encoding for exotoxin A, and gyrB gene. The res
... Show MoreBACKGROUND: SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) is considered a highly infectious and life threatening disease. OBJECTIVE: The present paper aims to evaluate various aspects of preventive measures and clinical management of the scheduled visits for orthodontic patients to the dental clinics during the outbreak of COVID-19, and to assess how orthodontists dealt with this challenge. METHODS: Orthodontists in private and public clinics were invited to fill a questionnaire that addressed infection control protocols and concerns about clinical management of patients in the clinics during the pandemic. Frequncies and percentages of the responses were obtained and compared using Chi-square tests. RESULTS: About 77% of those working in private clinics, a
... Show MoreSecondary trigeminal neuralgia (STN) results from an identifiable underlying pathology, including tumor compression, multiple sclerosis, arteriovenous malformations, hypertension, structural lesions, inflammation, trauma, or familial genetic conditions. This study, through a comprehensive review of the literature in PubMed, Google Scholar, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library, explores the multifaceted aspects of STN. This study delves into the diverse etiological factors, focusing on the pathophysiological mechanisms that lead to trigeminal nerve dysfunction. The clinical manifestations of STN often overlap with those of primary trigeminal neuralgia, creating diagnostic challenges and necessitating a thorough evaluation that in
... Show MoreBackground: Thyroid surgery is most common endocrine surgery in general surgical practice. Objectives: the aim of this work is to evaluate the feasibility, benefits and outcomes of open mini-incision thyroidectomy and compared the results with that of conventional thyroidectomy. The comparison between the two groups was in term of incision length, amount of blood loss, time of operation, postoperative pain, hospital stay and the cosmetic outcomes.Type of the study: this is a single-blinded randomized controlled studyMethods: This study compared the advantages and outcomes of 22 patients subjected to mini-incision thyroidectomy (Group A) with the equal numbers of patients subjected to conventional thyroidectomy (Group B).Results: the oper
... Show MoreBackground. After tooth extraction, alveolar bone resorption is inevitable. This clinical phenomenon challenges dental surgeons aiming to restore esthetic and function. Alveolar ridge preservation can be applied to minimize dimensional changes with a new socket grafting material, an autogenous dentin graft, produced by mechanically and chemically processing natural teeth. This study assessed the safety and efficacy of using autogenous dentin biomaterial in alveolar ridge preservation. Materials and Methods. Patients with nonrestorable maxillary anterior teeth bounded by natural sound teeth were included in this study. After a detailed clinical and tomographic examination, eligible participants were randomly allocated into two groups
... Show MoreBackground: This clinical trial aims to evaluate the color changes of direct resin composite veneer (DCV) restorations based on spectrophotometric analysis of 4 different types of resin composites between the baseline immediately after polishing and after one year of follow-up. Materials and methods: 28 patients were assessed for eligibility for participation, aged between 18 and 38 years old, who indicated for DCV restorations in anterior maxillary teeth were considered for participation in this study. In total, 25 patients who met the inclusion criteria were selected (6 males and 19 females, mean age: 20.9 at the time of restoration placement), and 3 patients were excluded. Partic
... Show MoreObjective: To assess the clinical learning environment and clinical training for students' in maternal and child
health nursing.
Methodology: A descriptive study was conducted on non probability sample (purposive) of (175) students' in
Nursing College/ University of Baghdad for the period of June 19th to July 18th 2013. A questionnaire was used as a
tool of data collection to fulfill with objective of the study and consisted of three parts, including demographic,
clinical learning environment and clinical training for students' in maternal and child health nursing. Descriptive
statistical analyses were used to analyze the data.
Results: The results of the study revealed that the 65.1% of student at age which ranged b