Background: Refractory/relapsed acute leukemia has always been a challenging problem for hematologist. Over the past decade emphasis has been made in the development of regimens containing fludarabine, combined with cytosine arabinoside for the treatment of refractory/relapsed acute leukemias. The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of the combination of fludarabine, high dose cytarabine, and granulocyte colony stimulating factor in refractory relapsed cases of acute leukaemia,
Methods: a prospective study is being conducted at the national center of hematology and hematology unit /Baghdad teaching hospital from July 2008 to July 2010.Twenty Patients with refractory/relapsed acute leukemia were treated with fludarabine 30mg/m2 and cytosine arabinoside (AraC) 2 g/m2 for 5 days, and granulocyte colony stimulating factor G-CSF 300 microgram/day from day 0 till neutrophil recovery (ANC >1.0 x 109/l).Response was evaluated by bone marrow examination on day 30-post chemotherapy.
Results: Patients included were refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) (n=5), relapsed ALL (n=4), refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) (n=8), relapsed AML (n=3). Complete remission (CR) was achieved in 9(45%) patients, 3 (15%) patients got partial remission. Three (15%) patients died of post chemotherapy complications and 5(25%) patient failed to achieve remission. Major complications encountered were: anemia, fever, bleeding, mucositis and bacterial infections.
Conclusion: FLAG protocol is well tolerated and effective regimen in relapsed / refractory acute leukemias. The toxicity is acceptable, enabling most patients to receive further treatment, including transplantation procedures
Background: Significant numbers of patients with spinal tuberculosis (TB), especially in developing countries, still present late after disease onset with severe neurological deficits.
Objective:This study was conducted to assess the outcome of surgery in patients with tuberculosis of the spine with motor deficits.
Type of the study: Retrospective study.
Methods: We retrospectively analyzed data obtained in all the patients with severe motor deficits due to spinal TB admitted to and surgically treated in four hospitals in Baghdad/Iraq during the period from January 2012 to January 2014. History, examination, imaging, histological, postoperative, a
... Show MoreBackground: Acute appendicitis is the most common abdominal surgical emergency. The diagnosis of this condition is still essentially clinical and there is difficulty in the clinical diagnosis, especially among elderly, children and patients with a typical presentation, so early and accurate diagnosis of acute appendicitis is important to avoid its complications.Objectives: To evaluate the degree of accuracy of Alvarado scoring system in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis.Method: Two hundred patients were admitted to the Alkindy Teaching Hospital from January 2011 to april 2014- presented with symptoms and signs suggestive of acute appendicitis. After examination and investigations all patients were given a score according to Alvarado sc
... Show MoreCutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is one of the most prevalent cutaneous parasitic protozoan infections in Iraq; characterized by a chronic infection and granulomatous disease that invades the skin. Type 1 immune was predominates in CL patients with exacerbated production of pro-inflammatory cytokine, therefore this study aimed to evaluate serum level of interferon gamma (IFN-γ) and monokine induce by interferon gamma (MIG/CXCl9) as a useful markers of disease development in patients during different stage of infection (<1 month .. early , 1-6 month.. chronic and >6 months.. late). The result showed that there was an early effort to eliminate the parasite proliferation which illustrated by a high significant increase of both IFN-γ
... Show MoreBackground: Chronic kidney disease is a condition that results from an indefinite change in the structure and function of the kidneys. A slow, steady progression characterizes it and is irreversible. Objectives: This study aims to evaluate the findings of certain biochemical and hematological tests in samples from Iraqi CKD patients. Methods: This study included 90 subjects, where 70 patients with chronic kidney disease and 20 healthy individuals. Blood samples were collected from the patients during their visits to Ghazi Al-Hariri Surgical Specialties' Hospital- Medical City, Baghdad, Iraq. Age, sex and body mass index were assessed for each participant followed by renal function tests [serum blood urea, creatinine, uric acid a
... Show MoreRheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory polyarthritic disease associated with remissions and exacerbations and characteristic genetic, clinical, pathological, and immunological features. The present study was designed to evaluate some immunological parameters of some Iraqi patients with RA. The study was carried out on 75 Iraqi RA patients who were referred to the consultantand which divided into 59 female and 16 male, treated and non-treated. The diagnosis of those patients has been performed under supervision of a specialist physician in rheumatology. Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique has been applied for the detection of anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies (anti-CCP) and (Interleukin-1α (IL-1α)
... Show MoreBackground: Epilepsy is a common neurological disorder of incidence rate 1-2%. Genetic, congenital, developmental, tumors, head trauma and central nervous system infections maybe the cause of epilepsy. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of stomatitis, xerostomia and taste disorder among patients taking carbamazepine or sodium valproate and to make salivary analysis for IgA, cystatin c and salivary flow rate. Material and method:This study performed in al- Yarmuk teaching hospital in Baghdad, Samples consist of (70) epileptics half of them treated with carbamazepine and other half treated with sodium valproate, and (18) healthy control group of both genders and with different ages to detect the prevalence of oral manifestations, s
... Show MoreThe local study were selected 70 Iraqi Arab Patients (39 females and 31 males), who referred to HLA laboratory in teaching laboratories in Baghdad medical city from April 2009 – May 2010 were diagnosed with Behcete's disease, C-reactive protein concentration(CRP) was evaluated by ELISA technique, anti-nuclear antibody (ANA) and anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA) were evaluated by Indirect immunofluorescence technology. The result showed significant differences (P<0.05) of CRP concentration in patients group compared with control, negative antinuclear nuclear antibody in all cases while ANCA was positive in 8.5% of patients with type P (PANCA). These results lead to suggest that ANCA auto-antibody may have a role in triggeri
... Show MoreBackground: Direct measurement of intracellular magnesium using erythrocytes has been suggested as a sensitive indicator for the estimation of body magnesium store. Marked depletion in plasma and erythrocyte magnesium levels was particularly evident in diabetic patients with advanced retinopathy and poor diabetic control. While insulin has been shown to stimulate erythrocyte magnesium uptake, hyperglycemia per se suppressed intracellular magnesium in normal human red cells.
Aim of the study: To investigate the erythrocyte magnesium level in Iraqi type I and II diabetic patients, with specific emphasis on the effect of both, metabolic control and the type of antidiabetic treatments.
Methods: Sixty two diabetic patients (7 with type
Background: Major depressive disorder (MDD) is mental disorder characterized by an all-encompassing low mood accompanied by low self-esteem, and by loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities. The aims of the study: were to determine the prevalence of oral manifestation among patients with major depressive disorder receiving antidepressant drugs, and detect alkaline phosphatase (ALP), Total Salivary proteins (TSP), and Interleukin-6 (IL-6) in relation to MDD patients under treatment and to compare with healthy controls. Materials and method: (50) MDD patients; between the ages of 20 years and 60 years.The depression patients are divided into (25) patients under treatment with fluoxetine (Prozac), and (25) patients under tr
... Show MoreAmino acids have the role in the process of proteins synthesis. They are an essential source of nitrogen atoms that have a role in the pathways of synthetic reaction pathways. The carbon skeletons of the amino acids are the source of energy in addition to their role as precursors in the paths of interactions. The amino acids analysis for the brain of the quail bird in different stage of development (10-16 days of incubation) in addition to the hatching stage (17th day) and the adult. Materials and Methods: Amino Acids Analysis The amino acids were separated from the embryos and adult brains of the quail bird Coturnix coturnix and were diagnosed based on standard amino acids, using high performance liquid chromatographic device (H.P.L.C.). R
... Show More