Introduction: Breast cancer is the most common cancer and the major cause of cancer related deaths among Iraqi women. Due to the relatively late detection of breast cancer, the majority of the patients are still treated by modified radicle mastectomy. Aim: To assess the time lag between diagnosis of breast cancer and mastectomy among Iraqi patients; correlating the findings with other clinicopathological characteristics of the disease. Patients and methods: This retrospective study enrolled 226 Iraqi female patients who were diagnosed with breast cancer. Data were registered on the exact time period between signing the histopathological report and the surgical treatment. Other recorded variables included the age of the patients, their level

Introduction: Breast cancer is the most common cancer and the major cause of cancer related deaths among Iraqi women. Due to the relatively late detection of breast cancer, the majority of the patients are still treated by modified radicle mastectomy. Aim: To assess the time lag between diagnosis of breast cancer and mastectomy among Iraqi patients; correlating the findings with other clinicopathological characteristics of the disease. Patients and methods: This retrospective study enrolled 226 Iraqi female patients who were diagnosed with breast cancer. Data were registered on the exact time period between signing the histopathological report and the surgical treatment. Other recorded variables included the age of the patients, their level

leishmaniasis is a disease of global concern, Leishmania types and  distribution rates vary from country to another. For visceral leishmaniasis serum samples were examined by the kala-azar dipstick rapid test. Meanwhile smears were taken from lesions, air dried, fixed and Leishman stained then microscopically examined for amstigote stage in cutaneous leishmaniasis. From April 2014 to April 2015, 150 samples for cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) and 108 serum sample for visceral leishmaniasis (VL) from in and out patients in Pediatric, Azadi Teaching and Kirkuk General Hospitals were examined. The incidence of visceral leishmaniasis was very low (2.7%) comparing to that in cutaneous leishmaniasis (64.6%). No significant differenc

    Glaucoma is one of the most dangerous eye diseases. It occurs as a result of an imbalance in the drainage and flow of the retinal fluid. Consequently, intraocular pressure is generated, which is a significant risk factor for glaucoma. Intraocular pressure causes progressive damage to the optic nerve head, thus leading to vision loss in the advanced stages. Glaucoma does not give any signs of disease in the early stages, so it is called "the Silent Thief of Sight". Therefore, early diagnosis and treatment of retinal eye disease is extremely important to prevent vision loss. Many articles aim to analyze fundus retinal images and diagnose glaucoma. This review can be used as a guideline to help diagnose glaucoma. It presents 63 artic

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a flu-like infection caused by a novel virus known as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). After the widespread around the world, it was announced by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a global pandemic. The symptoms of COVID-19 may arise within 2 weeks and the severity ranged from mild with signs of respiratory infection to severe cases of organ failure and even death. Management of COVID-19 patients includes supportive treatment and pharmacological medications expected to be effective with no definitive cure of the disease. The aims of this study are highlighting the management protocol and supportive therapy especially vitamin D and manifesting the clinical symptoms b

    COVID-19 is an infectious pandemic disease which is caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). Up to date, scientists are trying to identify a new specific antiviral drug to overcome this disease. Different methods are under study and evaluation in the entire world to control the virus, including blood plasma, blood purification, and antimicrobial and antiviral agents; however, there are no approved drugs yet. This review is focused on the conducted clinical trials worldwide, including the Iraq- Kurdistan region, China, USA, and Europe, to fi

This study illustrates in vitro effect of cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) on the treatment of Leishmania. In addition, the study evaluated the effect of drug treatment (pentostam) and the combination treatment of pentostan and CAP at different doses and incubation time 24 h in order to assess the most effective treatment. The duration of the cold plasma doses was 1 min, 2 min and 3 min, while the pentostam doses were 2.5 µg/ml and 5 µg/ml. The combinations therapies included combining the three cold plasma doses with the pentostam doses to test 6 combinations of treated in vitro. The maximum growth inhibition was given by combination treated 46% and 44% for donovani and tropica leishamnia respectively; these results give an indi

Wastewater recycling for non-potable uses has gained significant attention to mitigate the high pressure on freshwater resources. This requires using a sustainable technique to treat natural municipal wastewater as an alternative to conventional methods, especially in arid and semi-arid rural areas. One of the promising techniques applied to satisfy the objective of wastewater reuse is the constructed wetlands (CWs) which have been used extensively in most countries worldwide through the last decades. The present study introduces a significant review of the definition, classification, and components of CWs, identifying the mechanisms controlling the removal process within such units. Vertical, horizontal, and hybrid CWs

AbstractBackgroundLeishmaniasis is endemic in Iraq, where both cutaneous and visceral forms of the disease are reported.ObjectivesTo determine the prevalence of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) and to identify associations of CL with age, sex, season, and provinces depending on some demographic and climatic aspects.MethodsThis study is retrospective and includes reported cases of infections using the available surveillance database taken from the Iraqi Ministry of Health for the years 2011, 2012, and 2013 for all provinces of Iraq.ResultsMen and boys were found to be at higher risk for CL compared with women and girls. The majority of cases were recorded among those in age groups 5–14 and 15–45 years old. Most cases were recorded from lowla

The objective of this study was to compare the sensitivity and specificity of rK39,
ELISA and IFA tests for the diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis using blood
samples. Samples were collected from 146 suspected patients and 30 healthy
individual as control. The results showed 52 (35.62%), 58 (39.73%) and 71
(48.64%) positive samples by rK39, ELISA and IFA , respectively. IFA test showed
a higher sensitivity (48.63%) than ELISA and rk39 dip stick (39.72%) and (35.61%)
respectively. The highest sensitivity of agreement (K: 0.912) was found between
rK39 dipstick and ELISA. Therefore, we suggest the application of rK39 dipstick
and ELISA methods in endemic areas of visceral leishmaniasis for early and
accurate diag