Breast cancer is the most diagnosed form of malignant tumour in Iraqi women. Tamoxifen and trastuzumab are highly effective adjuvant therapy for breast cancer. This study's objectives were to define the patient's belief in tamoxifen or trastuzumab when used as adjuvant therapy and to determine the variation in belief between the two medications in a sample of Iraqi breast cancer patients. The cross-section survey was conducted using the BMQ-Specific questionnaire. Ninety-seven participants (sixty-seven tamoxifen, thirty trastuzumab) participated in this study. The mean of specific-necessity scale for tamoxifen was (3.7) and for trastuzumab (4). The findings showed a high necessity for both medicines, and there were no significant differences in the scale of necessity between the two treatments. Regarding the scale of concern, the trastuzumab group's values are higher (3.35) than tamoxifen (3). Most participants who use tamoxifen or trastuzumab strongly agree with or agree with all the questions on the necessity scale with higher percentages for trastuzumab. Besides, the concern scale results showed the percentage of patients who agree / strongly agree is higher in the trastuzumab group. For the correlation between the need or concern score, the result showed only one significant negative correlation (R=-0.366, P-value=0.011) between the necessity score and the age of the participants for tamoxifen users. In Conclusion, this survey clearly showed a high level of necessity and a high level of concern regarding the use of two effective adjuvant therapy for women with breast cancer, tamoxifen and trastuzumab. Furthermore, this study shows that while the level of need for tamoxifen is higher than for trastuzumab, there were no significant variations between them.
CO2 Laser (10600nm) is the recent method in the management of challenging skin scar resulting from trauma, burn and surgical wound. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy & safety of fractional CO2 laser (10600nm) in treatment of skin scar. Materials and Methods:Twenty patients with different types of scars treated with fractional CO2 (10600nm) laser, (10 patients) were given additional intralesional Triamcinolone. Results: All of the twenty patients included in this study showed some sort of improvements in scar texture, height and pliability and all of the ten patients who received intralesional Triamcinolone after laser show complete satisfaction. Conclusion:Fractional CO2 (10600nm) laser can be used as alternative, ef
... Show MoreTooth restoration one of the most common procedures in dental practice. The replacement of the entire restoration leads to loss of tooth structure and increase risk of pulp injury; replacement is also time consuming and costly. According to the minimally invasive approach when minimal defects, repair is the better choice than the total replacement of the restoration. This study aims to evaluate repair rating versus replacement treatment procedure for defective composite fillings among Iraqi dentists. Material and methodology: A questionnaire survey were designed and distributed to 184 post-graduate dentists in Iraq. The inquiry pertained general information; including their clinical experience in years, their preference in terms of direct c
... Show MoreIn this study 737 stool specimens were collected from people attending some primary health care centres and hospitals in North of Baghdad, during the period from beginning of April 2009 till the end of March 2010. Different factors were examined to be related with the prevalence of Cryptosporidiosis which were (number of family member, travelling history, source of drinking water and domestic animal present). Significant relations (p≤0.05) were observed between infection rate and the following factor: -Number of family member: The high percentage of Cryptosporidium spp positive cases were seen in families composed of (15-19) and (more than 20) individual which were 28.32% and 16.37% respectively when compared with other family clusters -T
... Show MoreMultiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, inflammatory, immune mediated disease of the central nervous system, mostly affecting young adults with mean age of 30 years, twice as high in women compared to men. The etiology of MS is not fully elucidated. MS symptoms are directly related to demyelination and axonal loss, along with other psychological symptoms, can result in functional limitations, disability and reduced quality of life (QoL). The QoL assessments in patients with a chronic disease may contribute to improving treatment and could even be of prognostic value. The goals of this study were to compare the QoL of Iraqi patients with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS),using three different diseas
... Show MoreZinc, Copper, Selenium, Magnesium, Manganese, Chromium, Iron, Nickel, Cobalt, Vanadium and Germanium were determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS) in blood serum of patients with rheumatoid arthritis, (30) patients (14male and 16female) with age range (37-60) years compared with normal tensive control. The analysis of results showed that the mean value of concentration (Magnesium, Manganese and Nickel) were significantly higher in patients with rheumatoid arthritis compared to that of healthy, while the mean levels of serum (Zinc, Copper, Selenium, Chromium, Iron, Cobalt and Germanium) were significantly lower than controls. There were no significant changes in overall mean concentration of serum Vanadium in patients
... Show MoreBackground: COVID-19 has caused a considerable number of hospital admissions in China since December 2019. Many COVID-19 patients experience signs of acute respiratory distress syndrome, and some are even in danger of dying. Objective: to measure the serum levels of D-dimer, Neutrophil-Lymphocyte count ratio (NLR), and neopterin in patients hospitalized with severe COVID-19 in Baghdad, Iraq. And to determine the cut-off values (critical values) of these markers for the distinction between the severe patients diagnosed with COVID‐19 and the controls. Materials and methods: In this case-control study, we collect blood from 89 subjects, 45 were severe patients hospitalized in many Baghdad medical centers who were diagnosed with COVID
... Show MoreBackground: The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression of fibroblast growth factor-2 and Heparanase in salivary pleomorphic adenoma, and to correlate the two studied markers with each other and with clinicopathological parameters including: age, sex, tumor site and histopathological presentation. Methods: Sections of twenty five formalin-fixed paraffin embedded tissue blocks specimens of salivary pleomorphic adenoma were immunostained using monoclonal antibodies (Fibroblast growth factor-2 and Heparanase) to assess their expression in this tumor. Results: The expression of fibroblast growth factor-2 and Heparanase were positive in all pleomorphic adenoma cases (100%). The positive expression of fibroblast growth factor-2 was signi
... Show MoreObjective(s): To assess nurses' practices for neurological unconscious patients in intensive care units.
Methodology: A descriptive study was conducted that included (50) nurse who are working in intensive care
units in hospitals and departments of the nervous system in (4) hospitals (neuroscience hospital, teaching
neurosurgical hospital, surgical specialist hospital, and sheck zaied hospital) in Baghdad city from March, 30th
,
2009 to July, 30th 2009 for the purpose of assessing their skills towards unconscious patients. A purposive "nonprobability
sample" was selected that consisted of (50) nurse who are working in intensive care units. A
questionnaire format and observational checklist were used which consist of
Introduction and Aim: The pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-39, a member of the IL-12 family plays a key role in the inflammatory response by modulating immune cell activity and inflammation. A literature search shows no study undertaken for the effect of IL-39's on arthritis so far. Hence, the purpose of this study was to investigate the role of IL-39 in rheumatoid arthritis. Materials and Methods: This study involved 80 patients with rheumatoid arthritis registered at the Rheumatology Clinic at Baghdad teaching hospital. The patients were divided into three groups based on treatments received. Group 1 included patients who were not on any treatment for arthritis, Group 2 with patients on hydroxychloroquine and or prednisone treatment,
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