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: The main purpose of this study is to find if there is any correlation between the level of C-reactive protein (CRP) in gingival crevicular fluid with its serum level in chronic periodontitis patients and to explore the differences between them according to the probing depth. Materials and methods: Forty seven male subjects enrolled in this study. Thirty males with chronic periodontitis considered as study group whom further subdivided according to probing depth into subgroup 1 with pocket depth ≤6mm, subgroup 2 with pocket depth >6mm. The other 17 subjects considered as controls. For all subjects, clinical examination where done for periodontal parameters plaque index (PLI), gingival index (GI), bleeding on probing (BOP),
... Show MoreDue to high blood sugar over long periods, the incidence and prevalence of type 2 diabetes are increasing throughout the world. Diabetic complications include microvascular and macrovascular complications that target the kidneys, nerves, eyes, and heart. Hence, the current study aimed to investigate the levels of (CTGF) and (TGF-β1) for both men and women and to demonstrate the effect of sex on it. In addition, some related biochemical factors in patients with diabetes and diabetic nephropathy are compared with those in healthy controls. The study included 120 males and females with an age range of (30-65) years old. Ninety patients with type 2 diabetes were subdivided into three groups on the basis of ACR criteria. All the individ
... Show MoreBackground: Masseter muscle is one of the most obvious muscles of mastication and considered as one indicator of jaw muscle activity. It has a major influence on the transverse growth of the midface and the vertical growth of the mandible. This study undertaken to determine the role of cephalometric analysis for discrimination between Cl I and Cl III skeletal relationships, determine the role of ultrasonography in determination of masseter muscle thickness, compare masseter muscle thickness between Cl I and Cl III skeletal relationships, and determine the effect of gender on masseter muscle thickness. Material and Method: The sample of the current study consisted of 70 Iraqi subjects 40 males and 30 females with age ranging 18-25 years. The
... Show MoreThis work describes an experimental setup to evaluate the photodynamictoxicity of 650 nm diode laser and 532 nm Frequency-doubled Q-Switched Nd:YAG laser on the growth of Candida albicans as well as the potential fungicidal effect when combining the laser irradiation with specific photosensitizers namely methylene blue, toluidine blue, acridine orange and safranin O. In this study the findings showed that the number of colony-forming units per millilitre (CFU/ml) of C. albicans decreased with increasing exposure time. In particular in the case of the frequency doubled Nd:YAG laser combined with safranin O, the best lethal effect occurred at 11 minutes exposure time with 2.26 J/cm² energy density (89.18% reduction) in comparison with the
... Show MoreObjective To evaluate recently developed acidic calcium-phosphate (CaP) pastes as conservative enamel-conditioning systems for bracket bonding and investigate their effects on the shear bond strength, adhesive residues, and enamel damage in comparison to a conventional 37 % phosphoric acid (PA) gel. Materials and methods Two experimental etchant pastes consisting of hydroxyapatite and monocalcium phosphate monohydrate were prepared by mixing them with 37 % and 10 % PA solutions, respectively. These were characterized using X-ray diffraction. Metal brackets were bonded to 90 freshly extracted human premolars and assigned to three groups, depending on etchant type: 37 % PA-gel (control) and the two experimental (HPA and MPA) pastes. Shear bon
... Show MoreThe current study aimed to isolate and diagnose the fungi associated with the inflammatory bowel disease patients with 150 samples distributed between 50 samples from Crohn's patients and 50 samples from ulcerative colitis patients, 50 control from Al-Kindy Al Teaching Hospital in Baghdad, Baghdad. Five types of yeast were isolated and identified, namely C. albicans, C.glabarta, Tropicales, C. parapsilosis, C. and C., krusi C. parapsilosis and.and Aspergillus, Penicillium, Muocer, Rhizopous, Saccharomycosis, and Cryptococcus, The results indicated the dominance of Candida spp. In crohn’s disease, the frequency of isolated Candida albicans was 24 (58.54%), Candida glabrata 11 (26.86%), Candida tropicalis 5 (12.2%) and Candida krusi was 1 (
... Show MoreThe aim of the present study was to demonstrate the possible role of statins on the inflammatory biomarkers in patients with periodontal disease (PD) This cross-sectional study involved 74 patients with PD and/or dyslipidemia divided into Group A: 34 patients with PD (nonstatins users); Group B: 40 patients with PD (statins users); and Group C: 30 healthy controls. Total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG) and high-density lipoprotein, C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), and malondialdehyde (MDA) were measured . Blood pressure prolife and indices of PD were evaluated in each group. Statistical analysis was conducted by using SPSS version 20.0.
ABSTRACT : Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is one of the most common inflammatory neurodegenerative diseases linked with dementia, it is characterized by the deposition of amyloid beta-peptide (Ab) in the brain. The present study aims to innovate a biochemical relationship between AD and interleukin 38 (IL-38) as an anti-inflammatory cytokine, expose novel mechanisms and concepts regarding other biochemical parameters studied previously or recently in AD patients and also examine the biochemical action of memantine (10 mg daily) on AD patients. Sixty (60) diagnosed AD patients participated in the present study and classified into four (4) groups: G3 were composed of (15) newly diagnosed males (52-78) years / without treatment, G4 composed of (15
... Show MoreObjective(s): to assess the effectiveness of educational program on nurses' knowledge concerning the side
effects of chemotherapy among children with leukemia.
Methodology: A descriptive analytic (quasi – experimental) design study was carried out at Baghdad City from
2
nd of October to 27th of June 2015. Non-probability sample of (35) male and female nurses was selected from
the Oncology Wards in Children Welfare, Child's Central and Baghdad Teaching Hospital. The study
instruments consisted of two major parts to meet the purposes of study. The first part is related to nurses'
demographic characteristics and the second part (four domains) is related to nurses' knowledge concerning the
side effects of chemothera
A series of experiments were conducted for the first time in Iraq to evaluate the efficiency of five plant leaves extracts (Ibicella lutea, Nerium oleander, Clerodendron inerme, Allium cepa and Eucalyptus spp.) in treating the common carp (Cyprinus carpio) infected with monogenetic trematodes of genera Dactylogyrus. Five different concentrations of such extracts were used to bathe fishes for 5,10,15,20 and 25 minutes. A concentration of 15% A. cepa for 25 minutes of bath exposure was affective in trematode eradication. Extracts of both Eucalyptus and N. oleander at a concentration of 10% each were also affective for ten minutes exposure. Extracts of C. inerme had no any effect on such parasites. On the otherhand, extracts of 1. hitea caused
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