Background: Sex variations in coronary artery disease (CAD) are well documented. However, sex differences in coronary artery calcium (CAC) and its role in the detection of coronary artery stenosis remain controversial. Objective: To assess the impact of sex variation on coronary artery calcification and its efficacy in predicting coronary artery stenosis. Methods: This is a cross-sectional observational study including 230 consecutive patients with suspected CAD (120 men and 110 women) referred for coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA). The study analyzed sex-based differences in the sensitivity and specificity of coronary artery calcification (CAC) for detecting moderate to severe stenosis across various coronary arteries. Results: The calcification scores 1-100 and 101-<400 were slightly more frequent in men (25% and 10%, respectively) than women (20.91% and 7.27%, respectively); however, the differences were not significant. For the left anterior descending artery (LAD), men showed slightly higher sensitivity and specificity (69.23% and 81.48%, respectively) than women (61.9% and 79.78%, respectively). For the left circumflex artery (LCX), men showed relatively higher sensitivity (68.75%) and lower specificity (89.42%) than women (50% and 98.81%, respectively). For the right coronary artery (RCA), women showed relatively higher sensitivity and specificity (75% and 93.4%, respectively) than men (50% and 91.82%, respectively). Conclusions: While the CAC has a relatively high specificity and low sensitivity in the detection of coronary artery disease, there is no difference in the score between men and women. When comparing vessels, women exhibit greater RCA calcification sensitivity and specificity than men, whereas for LAD, the opposite is true.
The influence of Toxoplasma gondii on some biochemical parameters has lately gained an increasing attention. The aim of this study was to assess the levels of some biochemical parameters in Toxoplasma positive and negative subjects. An analytical case–control study was achieved in Baghdad for the period from October 2018 until March 2019. Forty nine females participated in this study, with an age range of 18-55 years. The participants were separated into two groups, namely Toxoplasma positive subjects (n=21) and Toxoplasma negative subjects (n=28), based on enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Blood and serum samples were collected from all subjects to evaluate the serum levels of cholesterol, triglycerides, high density lip
... Show MoreAnkylosing spondylitis is a complex debilitating disease because its pathogenesis is not clear. This study aims at detecting some pathogenesis factors that lead to induce the disease. Chlamydia pneumoniae is one of these pathogenesis factors which acts as a triggering factor for the disease. The study groups included forty Iraqi Ankylosing spondylitis patients and forty healthy persons as a control group. Immunological and molecular examinations were done to detect Chlamydia. pneumoniae in AS group. The immunological results were performed by Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) to detect anti-IgG and anti-IgM antibodies of C. pneumoniae revealed that five of forty AS patients' samples (12.5%) were positive for anti-IgG and IgM C. pneu
... Show MoreBackground: Rhinosinusitis is an inflammatory disorder that refers to inflammation of the nose and paranasal sinuses. Recent studies show that serum IL-33, periostin, ARGE and sST2 had the role in the pathogenesis of chronic rhinosinusitis as an easy, non-invasive and readily available (biomarker) for diagnosis of chronic rhinosinusitis. We tested for correlations of IL-33, periostin, ARGE and sST2 between acute and chronic rhinosinusitis in compare to healthy people. This study aimed to Measure serum levels of periostin, IL-33, sST2, and ARGE biomarkers in patients ARS and CRS. Materials and Methods: We collected serum of 30 patients with acute rhinosinusitis, 30 with chronic rhinosinusitis, and 30 controls to examine serum levels of IL-3
... Show MoreTo study the effect of iron overload due to continuous blood transfusions on peroxidation products, such as malondialdehyde (MDA) and peroxynitrite, with evaluation of some antioxidants like, glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD), vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamine E, Ceruloplasmin, uric acid and albumin in thalassemia patients. Forty patients with thalassemia major, aged 5 to 15 years, were carried out in Abn-Alatheer Teaching Hospital in Mosul city, during the period from October 2007 to April 2008. They were on Chelation therapy with desferÂrioxamine. They were divided into two groups, the first one without iron overload (90,97±12.92), and the second one with iron overload (157.75±7.57). All the patien
... Show MoreBeta thalassemia major (BTM) is a genetic disorder that has been linked to an increased risk of contracting blood-borne viral infections, primarily due to the frequent blood transfusions required to manage the condition. One such virus that can be transmitted through blood is the Human Parvovirus B19 (B19V). The aim of this study was to investigate the frequency and molecular detection of B19V. This study included 60 blood donors as controls and 120 BTM patients. B19V was identified by serology, which measured B19-IgG and B19-IgM antibodies. Nested Polymerase Chain Reaction (nPCR) was employed to target the VP1/VP2 structural proteins. The results showed that B19V seropositivity represents 27.5% (33 out of 120) in BTM patients, and
... Show MoreBackground: Infection with sexually
transmitted diseases is broad and includes
bacterial, viral and protozoa infection.
Large number of infected people goes
untreated because of symptomatic or
unrecognized infections.
Patients and methods: Forty five
patients was complaining from infertility
(primary or secondary), consulting
Kammal El-Sammari Hospital for
infertility from May - 2008 to February -
2009. Control group consisted of twenty
fertile women that consulting private clinic
for checking. Four swabs were taken from
each woman in two groups. Two swabs
were taken from posterior fornix of the
vagina (High vaginal swab) and the last
two were taken from endocervical canal.
First swab
Background: Behçet’s disease (BD) is a disorder of systemic inflammatory condition. Its important features are represented by recurrent oral, genital ulcerations and eye lesions. Aims. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate and compare cytological changes using morphometric analysis of the exfoliated buccal mucosal cells in Behçet’s disease patients and healthy controls, and to evaluate the clinical characteristics of Behçet’s disease. Methods. Twenty five Behçet’s disease patients have been compared to 25 healthy volunteers as a control group. Papanicolaou stain was used for staining the smears taken from buccal epithelial cells to be analyzed cytomorphometrically. The image analysis software has been used to
... Show MoreThis study investigates the phonotactics of English obstruent clusters in the word-final position from a markedness theory perspective among Iraqi EFL College Students whose native language, Arabic, prefers only two-member word-final obstruent cluster as a maximum. The markedness of clusters is measured depending on Iraqi EFL College Students’ utilization of the simplification strategies. This study tries to answer whether or not word-final obstruent clusters are marked or unmarked for Iraqi EFL College Students, and whether or not the markedness of the obstruent cluster increases as to its length. In order to answer these questions, a test has been distributed among 60 Iraqi EFL Fourth-Year College students, Department of English, Colleg
... Show More This study includes Estimating scale parameter, location parameter and reliability function for Extreme Value (EXV) distribution by two methods, namely: -
- Maximum Likelihood Method (MLE).
- Probability Weighted Moments Method (PWM).
Used simulations to generate the required samples to estimate the parameters and reliability function of different sizes(n=10,25,50,100) , and give real values for the parameters are and , replicate the simulation experiments (RP=1000)
... Show More