Abstract | Full Text PDF

Abstract | Full Text PDF

As one of the face’s prominent features, the lips help to eat, drink, suck, speak, and kiss, and their functions show certain emotional expressions while communicating with people. Although the lips are without bone and very flexible, they have very close relationships with the upper jaw. Furthermore, the two lips together make the oral sphincter, and none of them has superiority over the other on behalf of the sphincteric functions. A total of 36 cases of upper lip reconstruction were reviewed retrospectively. Melanocytic nevi and tumors in the vascular origin were excluded from the study. All cases were performed sequentially over 25 years by the author. Indications, techniques, postoperative care, complications, and patient characteristics were taken into consideration for each case.
Most of the defects resulted from malignant tumor excisions. The procedures used for the upper lip reconstruction included direct closure (n: 5 ), cheek bilobed flap (n: 4), perialar crescentic advancement flaps (n: 8), full-thickness skin grafting (n: 1), Estlander flap (n: 1), V-Y advancement flaps (n: 3), superiorly based nasolabial peninsular flap (n: 3), perforator-based island flap (n: 6), bilateral depressor anguli oris flaps (n: 1), and musculocutaneous flap combined with local skin flaps (n: 3). No hematomas, infections, or flap necrosis were reported. One patient died of myocardial infarction during early postoperative days. Most of the defects located on the upper lip can be treated with certain type of perforator-based flaps or perialar crescentic advancement flaps. Since most of the tumors are small or medium sized, an adequate knowledge about these two flaps must be acquired.

Abstract | Full Text PDF

To determine autoantibodies and antioxidant enzymes as well as the correlation between them.
This study included 80 individuals, 40 patients with type 1 diabetes and 40 healthy individuals without diabetes (as a control group). The study was carried out during the period from December 2010 to the end of December 2012 at Al-Tahreer General Hospital, Al-Basra Maternity and Pediatric Hospital, and Al-Sader Teaching Hospital. Laboratory investigations were performed to estimate glutamic acid decarboxylase antibody (GADA) and islet cell antigen-2 antibody (IA-2A) by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), antioxidant enzymes (glutathione peroxidase [GPX] and superoxide dismutase [SOD]), and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) (as a marker of glycemic control) for these patient and control groups.
The high prevalence of GADA and IA-2A had been demonstrated among patients with type 1 diabetes, which was significantly higher (P < 0.001) (72.5%) in comparison to 0% in the control group. These results are suggestive of the autoimmune characteristic of type 1 diabetes.
The age of onset of type 1 diabetes is found to affect the frequency of these autoantibodies. The frequency was significantly higher in patients who developed the disease in early childhood (91.7% for GADA and 58.3% for IA-2A) in comparison with those who developed the disease later on (40% for GADA and 20% for IA-2A); this probably occurred due to genetic and non-genetic factors.
Although the statistical analysis of the correlation between gender and autoantibodies showed no significant difference, female patients with type 1 diabetes were found to be more affected than male patients.
The frequency of these autoantibodies was found to decrease as the duration of type 1 diabetes increased. The prevalence of GADA and IA-2A in patients with duration of disease less than 5 years was 78.3% and 43.5%, respectively, and began to decrease to 0% for GADA and IA-2A in those with disease duration more than 12 years. These results are attributed to the depletion of islet cell autoantibodies with time.
Additionally, HbA1c levels were significantly higher in islet cell autoantibodies–positive patients than in islet cell autoantibodies–negative patients (P < 0.001). The difficulty in achieving glycemic control despite oral hypoglycemic drug and insulin therapy is attributed to the fact that the pathogenesis of disease in developing type 1 diabetes and latent autoimmune diabetes (LADA) in adults is due to -cell destruction rather than insulin resistance as in classical type 2 diabetes.
The mean activity of both antioxidant enzymes (SOD and GPX) in red blood cells (RBCs) was significantly lower than the control (P < 0.001). Also the lower mean activity of both antioxidant enzymes (SOD and GPX) in RBCs showed a higher significant value in patients who had uncontrolled diabetes (HbA1c level > 8%) (P < 0.001).
Patients with LADA who were tested positive for GAD and IA-2A showed a significant decrease in the mean activity of SOD and GPX in comparison to patients with type 2 diabetes who were tested negative to autoantibodies; most of the patients with LADA also had a higher HbA1c level > 8% (P< 0.001).
There is a strong evidence of the role of autoimmunity in the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes. The oxidative stress SOD and GPX are depleted as well. The correlation reflects the more oxidative stress with poor diabetic patients may progress the complications.

Abstract | Full Text PDF

Comparative studies of coagulation factors in arterial and venous blood were made in 14 normal subjects and in 4 patients with arterial or ventricular septal defect. No difference was found at the level of prothrombin, factor V, factor VII/X, retraction, factor XIII, and platelet count. Fibrinogen and factor VIII were significantly low in the venous blood. The platelet count was higher in the capillaries than in the arterial and venous blood.

Abstract | Full Text PDF

Platelet and factor VIII (F-VIII) storage and phagocytic functions of the spleen were studied in 15 patients with -thalassemia major who were not splenectomized and in 7 patients with Hb-S-b-thalassemia. Eight splenectomized patients, 4 patients with b-thalassemia major, and 11 healthy children served as controls. F-VIII elevation following adrenalin was not found to be a sensitive index in the evaluation of “functional hyposplenia.” No fuctional derangement of the organ was shown in the patients with b-thalassemia major. However, one of the tests showed that at least 30% of the patients had functional hyposplenism. Higher platelet counts were observed in the patients without palpable spleen, and the independence of the splenic functions were shown.

Abstract | Full Text PDF

Abstract | Full Text PDF

Abstract | Full Text PDF