The New Iraqi Journal of Medicine The official peer review medical journal of the Iraqi Ministry of Health

Background: The thyroid gland is known to exhibit various congenital malformations with regard to its lobes, isthmus and ectopic sites. Knowledge of variations in topographical anatomy of thyroid gland is essential for safe surgery and logical interpretation of scintiographs. Objective: To study the anomalous isthmus and accessory lobe of the thyroid gland. Materials and methods : The thyroid gland was studied for presence of any accessory lobe and abnormal isthmus in 40 cadavers over a period of five years. Results: We observed a single case of accessory lobe of thyroid gland with unusual isthmus. Conclusion: Although an accessory lobe of thyroid gland may not manifest clinically, its clinical and academic importance cannot be undermined. Presence of such anomalies may also be important for clinicians, radiologists and other medical professionals in day to day clinical practice . Abstract Objective: To make a systematic survey of depressive symptoms in relation to rheumatoid arthritis (RA) as well as to determine the severity of these symptoms in comparison with other chronic medical patients. Design: Beck depression inventory, the Arabic version. Setting: Baghdad Medical City hospital. Participants: A hundred RA patients were screened. An equal number of patients with chronic medical disorders were taken as a compare group. Results : 38 patients with RA (38%) met the predetermined criteria for depression, while 33 patients (33%) with chronic medical disorders, reached these criteria. It was found that 23 patients (60.5%) with mild depression, 11 patients (28.9%) with moderated depression ad 4 patients (10.5%) with severe depression in patients with R.A. Conclusions: depression is not significantly differing in distribution among RA patients as compared with chronic medical patients. Most of the depressive cases appeared to be of mild severity and more often showed symptoms of fatigability, work retardation, sadness and less suicidal feeling. Abstract Background: SARS is the first major new infectious disease of this century. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) was first recognized in mid-March 2003 and successfully contained in less than four months. On 5 July 2003, WHO reported that the last human chain of transmission of SARS had been broken? During this period more than 8,000 persons with probable SARS have been diagnosed; 812 patients have died. SARS is due to an infection with a novel coronavirus which was first identified by researchers in Hong Kong, the United States, and German, termed SARS-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV). The epidemic of severe atypical pneumonia which was observed in the Chinese province of Guangdong and reported internationally on February 11, 2003, was initially suspected to be linked to a newly emerging influenza virus. The etiologic agent of SARS was identified in late March 2003, when laboratories in Hong Kong, the United States, and Germany found evidence of a novel coronavirus in patients with SARS. This evidence included isolation on cell culture, demonstration by specific genomic sequences by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and by micro array test as well as indirect immunofluorescent test. weeks on April 16, 2003, following that this new coronavirus,