Pompe disease is a progressive, multisystemic, debilitating, often fatal neuromuscular disease caused by a pathogenic variant in the acid α-glucosidase gene leading to GAA enzyme deficiency and lysosomal glycogen accumulation. Objectives: This study aimed to determine the prevalence of early onset Pompe disease in Basra, using the dried blood spot (DBS) as a screening tool, also to determine the spectrum of presentation. Materials and Methods: In a prospective study conducted in Basrah, Iraq, from October 2021 to September 2023, all infants with a family member diagnosed as a case of Pompe disease, hypotonia, or ventricular hypertrophy referred to the pediatric cardiology unit in Basra Cardiac Hospital were subjected to echocardiographic examination and assessment of GAA enzyme level, and genetic study by dried blood spot. Results: Thirty patients with confirmed Pompe disease were evaluated (12 males and 18 females), and the mean age of presentation was 3.7 months. The level of CK raged from 123 to 1471 (mean 614.3 ± 247), and the level of GAA activity ranged from 0.0 to 0.3 (mean 0.123 ± 0.07). All infants were homozygous for mutations in GAA. The most commonly encountered mutation was c.1314C>A. Conclusion: Pompe disease is an underestimated disease in Iraq, and the delay in the diagnosis results in established, irreversible myopathic changes even with enzyme replacement therapy and results in high mortality, so a high index of suspicion and early diagnosis will help to provide proper therapy and will help to provide a better quality of life for such patients
The deficit of the federal budget and the structural imbalances suffered by the Iraqi economy has affected the direction of research towards suggesting steps and mechanisms can be relied upon in the near term to form a broader base of non-oil revenues aimed at achieving a balanced budget, and to proceed to reform the financial situation, In reducing their financial dictates, whether capital or operational, which lead to significant financial and economic consequences. This also requires that the Iraqi political elite have the real will, strategic vision and full awareness that the implementation of these reforms has potential social and economic effects, with long-term measures to be taken. The aim is not only to reform the finan
... Show MoreCosmochthonius reticulatus Grandjean, 1947 (Acari: Oribatei: Cosmochthoniidae) and Rhysotritia ardua ardua C. L. Koch, 1841 ( Acari : Oribate : Euphthiracari¬dae), are two species of oribatids mites first recorded in Iraq from a woodland in the central part of Iraq. The two species are described and illustrated.
Background: War represents a major human crisis; it destroys communities and results in ingrained consequences for public health and well-being
Objective: We set this study to shed light on the public health status in Iraq after the successive wars, sanctions, sectarian conflicts, and terrorism, in light of certain health indicators.
Design: The primary source of data for this analysis comes from the Iraqi Ministry of Health, and The World Health Organization disease surveillance.
Results: Most of the morbidity indicators are high, even those that are relatively declining recently, are still higher than those repor
... Show MoreIntroduction/Aim. Roughly six percent of all malignancies diagnosed in children are malignant bone tumors. They have a dramatic effect on psychological status of children and their families. The aim of the study was to analyze the clinico-pathological features of bone tumors in Iraqi children and to assess response to treatment, outcome, and survival. Patients and methods. Over an eleven-year period, a retrospective study was done for children with bone tumors conducted on patients data that included a battery of pre-treatment investigations including a complete blood count, serum electrolyte, hepatic, and renal profile, bone marrow aspirate and biopsy, fine-needle aspiration, and imaging studies. Results. Data of 41 children with b
... Show MoreSocial variables have a tremendous impact on the language spoken by the male and female genders, particularly in Eastern cultures. Because men and women in Arabic cultures are typically raised separately, they speak somewhat differently depending on their gender. Arabic is used exclusively in educational institutions in the Arab world. The objective of the present study was to examine certain social and linguistic aspects of the language spoken by females and males in mixed academic organisations from the point of view of female academics. It also examined some noted gender differences in previous gender studies of the interactional styles of the two genders in higher education institutions in Iraq from the perspective of f
... Show MoreIn this study, the concentration of radium and uranium in the samples radish leaves, radish stalk, onion leaves, onion stalk and garlic fruits were grown in arable soil in the Botanical Garden in the College of Science for women, and garlic in special plates, the soil was taken from the above at the beginning of November 2016 was studied by using CR-39 nuclear track detectors. The radium and uranium concentration varied from 0.023 to 0.052 and from 23.13 to 52.68 Bq/kg with an average value of 0.037 and 37.58 Bq/kg respectively. The maximum value of radon concentration was 0.052 Bq/kg in fruits of garlic sample, while the minimum value was 0.023 Bq/kg in radish leaves. The values of the radium and uranium concentrations obtained from this s
... Show MoreThe Mauddud Formation was one of the important and widespread Lower Cretaceous period formations in Iraq. It has been studied in three wells (EB. 55, EB. 58, and EB. 59) within the East Baghdad Oil Field, Baghdad, central Iraq. 280 thin sections were studied by microscope to determine fauna, the formation composed of limestone and dolomitized limestone in some parts which tends to be marl in some parts, forty species and genus of benthic foraminifera have been identified beside algae and other fossils, three biozones have been identified in the range which is: Orbitolina qatarica range zone (Late Albian), Orbitolina sefini range zone (Late Albian – Early Cenomanian) and Orbitolina concava range zone (Early Cenomanian), The age of
... Show MoreThe type of groundwater in the studied area is slightly brackish. In general, the dominant water type is calcium-sulfate. The reasons behind these different chemical groundwater types can be referred to the active ion exchange between the groundwater of the Dammam aquifer and Rus Formation. The groundwater of the Dammam unconfined aquifer is not suitable for human drinking in all the parameters properties. The groundwater class is fair in the Qasir Al-Ukhaider area, while the Shebcha area and Al-Salman area are poor class except the eastern part of Al-Salman area is very poor.