Blood pressure dipping and salivary cortisol as markers of fatigue and sleep deprivation in staff anesthesiologists.

Anesthesiologists often work extended duty shifts that result in acute and chronic sleep loss and circadian disruption. Stress caused by sleep deprivation, together with excessive workload could contribute to acute increases in blood pressure (BP) and sympathetic nervous system activity. Non-dipping pattern of BP is considered an additional risk factor for cardiovascular events and target organ damage.

The impact of hormone replacement therapy on metabolic syndrome components in perimenopausal women.

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is in use for more than a half of century, but the question of indications and ideal candidates for HRT remains unclear. Postmenopausal women are a population with the increasing risks for cardiovascular diseases which are the main cause of death in this group. Decline in oestrogen concentrations is linked to a number of changes in peri and postmenopause: increased total cholesterol, triglycerides, and low density lipoprotein, increased insulin resistance and impaired fibrinolysis.

[ISKRA guidelines on antimicrobial treatment and prophylaxis of urinary tract infections--Croatian national guidelines].

These guidelines refer to diagnosis, antimicrobial treatment and prophylaxis of urinary tract infections in adults and children older than 12 years of age and cover lower urinary tract in females, uncomplicated pyelonephritis, complicated UTI with or without pyelonephritis, asymptomatic bacteriuria and recurrent UTI. These guidelines do not cover sexually transmitted diseases. The guidelines are primarily intended for use by general practitioners and specialists working in primary health care and hospitals.

Comparison between continuous ambulatory arterial blood pressure monitoring and standard blood pressure measurements among patients of younger and older age group.

The purpose of the study was to evaluate whether there is a difference between blood pressure measured in a physician's office and the average 24 hr continuous blood pressure monitored by hypertensive patients at home. If there is a difference between these two situations then is it possibly the result of a blood pressure response by the patient to the physician which is known as "white coat effect" or "white coat hypertension". We studied 80 hypertensive outpatients which were divided into two groups of 40 patients each--a younger patient group, with a mean age of 22.

In-hospital cardiac arrest and resuscitation outcomes: rationale for sudden cardiac death approach.

Aim: To assess the frequency of cardiac arrest and outcomes and predictors of survival after cardiopulmonary resuscitation in hospitalized patients.

Methods: We prospectively analyzed the data on all patients who experienced cardiac arrest while hospitalized at the Split University Hospital between January and December 2003. Data were collected on patients' demographic characteristics, etiology and presentation of cardiac arrest, time, site, methods, and outcomes of cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Effects of atenolol and propranolol on platelet aggregation in moderate essential hypertension: randomized crossover trial.

Aim: To compare the effects of a selective beta-blocker atenolol and a nonselective beta-blocker propranolol on platelet aggregation.

Methods: Twenty successive outpatients with moderate essential hypertension (6 women and 14 men, mean age-/+standard deviation 42.6-/+8.

Effects of four antihypertensive monotherapies on cardiac mass and function in hypertensive patients with left ventricular hypertrophy: randomized prospective study.

Aim: To compare the effects of four antihypertensive drugs, which have reportedly different effectiveness in reducing myocardial mass.

Methods: A randomized, double-blind, prospective study included 80 hypertensive patients with left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy confirmed both electrocardiographically and echocardiographically. We investigated the effects of indapamide, nicardipine, propranolol, and chlorthalidone on arterial blood pressure and LV mass and function.

Prospective controlled trial of two nifedipine extended release formulations in the treatment of essential hypertension.

The aim of this study was to assess the pharmacodynamic equivalence of two different slow-release formulations of nifedipine (CAS-21829-25-4). In a prospective, controlled, double-blind clinical trial, 42 patients with essential hypertension (sitting diastolic blood pressure (DBP) 95-114 mmHg) underwent an initial washout, drug free period of 2 weeks, after which they were randomized to receive either 30 mg of nifedipine in the test preparation "XL" (Nifecard) or 30 mg of nifedipine in a reference formulation, "LA", during six weeks. The response to treatment was assessed by measuring the blood pressure (BP) every two weeks (standard office mercury sphygmomanometry) and by 24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM).

Comparison of ondansetron with metoclopramide in the symptomatic relief of uremia-induced nausea and vomiting.

Background: Nausea and vomiting are well-known gastrointestinal complications in chronic renal failure and are frequent indications for the commencement of dialysis. Although the administration of antiemetic drugs (metoclopramide and, recently, ondansetron) is usually mentioned, there are scanty data on their effects.

Methods: A double-blind crossover study was done in 10 uremic patients.

Influence of betaxolol and timolol on the venous tone in glaucoma patients.

The aim of this study was the assessment of physiological venous reflexes in 40 glaucoma patients treated with topically applied timolol maleate 0.50% and betaxolol HCL 0.50%.

Diuretic effects of furosemide infusion versus bolus injection in congestive heart failure.

In a randomized, single-blind, crossover clinical trial, the diuretic efficacy of the same total dose of furosemide (2 x 40 mg) administered in either conventional intravenous bolus injection or continuous infusion was studied in 20 patients (nine males and 11 females), aged 37-75 years, with congestive heart failure. Furosemide infusion, administered first, produced a significantly greater diuresis than the bolus when compared with baseline (86%: 29.6%; p = 0.

Comparison of chlorthalidone, propranolol and bopindolol in six-month treatment of arterial hypertension.

The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that prolonged treatment of mild to moderate hypertension with low-dose thiazide diuretics or beta blockers does not induce any of the major untoward biochemical changes, such as hypertriglyceridemia, hypercholesterolemia, hyperuricemia and electrolyte imbalances. The effect of these drugs was analyzed in 100 outpatients (52 males and 48 females) aged 52.0 +/- 7.

QT interval as a marker of venous reactivity in dialysis patients.

Fourteen patients (7 females and 7 males, mean age 51.9 +/- 11.6 years) were studied to find out whether there is a connection between the QTc interval (a diagnostic tool for evaluating autonomic neuropathy) and venous reactivity in uremics on chronic hemodialysis.

[Occurrence of thromboembolic complications in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy. Retrospective-prospective study].

The purpose of the present study was to determine the prevalence of thromboembolic events in patients with primary and secondary (ischemic) dilated cardiomyopathy (DC), with regard to basic rhythm, sinus or atrial fibrillation. Retrospectively, over three years, from January 1, 1989 to December 31, 1991, the case histories of 75 inpatients with DC, mean age 56.2 +/- 14.

[Significance of right ventricular dimensions in the differential diagnosis of primary and secondary dilated cardiomyopathy].

Numerous analyses are used in the differential diagnosis between primary and secondary dilated cardiomyopathy (PDC, SDC). The aim of this study was to assess the dimensions of heart cavities in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DC) by 1-D and 2-D echocardiography. Thirty-six consecutive patients who satisfied the PDC criteria, and 103 patients with criteria of SDC, were followed-up clinically, radiographically, electrocardiographically and by 1-D and 2-D echocardiography, in the period from December 1991 to April 1994, at the Department of Internal Medicine of the Clinical Hospital Split.

Venous reflex testing in glaucoma.

The aim of this study was the assessment of physiological venous reflexes in open angle glaucoma. The study was carried out by a controlled clinical experiment. The experimental group consisted of 17 glaucoma patients with controlled intraocular pressure.

Venous tone in glaucoma and hypertension.

The aim of this study was the assessment of physiological venous reflexes in systemically hypertensive and normotensive subjects with primary open-angle glaucoma. The experimental group consisted of 20 normotensive and 20 untreated systemically hypertensive patients with open-angle glaucoma. The control group consisted of 31 volunteers divided into two subgroups: 16 control normotensives and 15 untreated hypertensives.

[Comparison of auscultation findings using a classic stethoscope (Litmann 2120) and electronically amplified stethoscope (Medmax2)].

Heart auscultation has one of the key roles in beside diagnosis, especially in patients with cardiovascular diseases. Sometimes, because of the human cars' low sensitivity, a problem emerges in the proper evaluation of heart sounds and murmurs of lower frequencies. Our study compared two stethoscopes, the classic acoustic stethoscope (Littmann 2120) and an electronic one with the sound amplifier and the noise filtering system (Medmax2) in 10 patients examined by 10 physicians.

[A controlled clinical trial of methylprednisolone in patients with the cholestatic form of alcoholic liver cirrhosis].

Fourty patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis and refractory hyperbilirubinaemia were included in a prospective, double blind, comparative trial. Twenty of them were randomized to methylprednisolone (1 mg/kg/day i.m.

[Biochemical changes in hypertensive patients during a 1-year cross-over study of treatment with hydrochlorothiazide and propranolol].

A prospective, randomized, cross-over trial comparing the antihypertensive efficacy and biochemical changes during treatment with either hydrochlorothiazide (HTZ: 25 mg o.d.) or propranolol (PRO: 40 mg t.

Vascular effects of chlorthalidone in mild hypertensives.

In a randomized trial with chlorthalidone, 30 hypertensive outpatients of both genders, aged 50.4 +/- 8.6 years, having diastolic blood pressure between 95 and 110 mm HG were divided into 2 groups of 15, after a two-week placebo period.

[The vasodilating effect of chlorthalidone in mild hypertension evaluated by impedance venous plethysmography].

Thirty hypertensive outpatients of both sexes having diastolic blood pressure below 110 mmHg were included in a randomized trial. Their mean age was 50.4 +/- 8.

Q-T interval as predictor of serum calcium level.

To assess whether measurement of the electrocardiograhic (ECG) Q-T interval is a useful predictor of total serum calcium concentration, 15 uraemic patients were studied (10 female, five male; age range, 25-60 years). Resting ECGs were interpreted by three independent observers without knowledge of the patients' identity or serum calcium. Three variants of measurement of the Q-T interval were analysed, of which Q-aTc, the interval from the beginning of the Q-wave to the apex of the T-wave, was the most consistent (coefficient of variation, 2.

[Comparison of amlodipine and the nifedipine retard preparation in the treatment of arterial hypertension].

The efficacy and acceptability of amlodipine (5-10 mg o.d.) and sustained-release nifedipine (20-40 mg b.