Do Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis Have an (In)Adequate Level of Physical Activity? A Latent Class Analysis Approach.

Introduction: Regular physical activity (PA) has a beneficial effect on joint pain, stiffness, strength, flexibility, and aerobic capacity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the level of PA in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and to identify potential barriers to this activity.

Material And Methods: The study involved 132 patients with RA.

Oral lichen planus - case report.

This paper presents the case of a 58-year-old heavy smoker female who came to our clinic with acute pain, as well as mastication and feeding difficulties. The macroscopic examination revealed oral erosive lesions and ulcerations. The polymorphic aspect of the lesions required the differential diagnosis of oral erythroplakia or carcinoma, which were excluded by biopsy.

The efficacy and safety of autologous conditioned serum (ACS) injections compared with betamethasone and placebo injections in the treatment of chronic shoulder joint pain due to supraspinatus tendinopathy: a prospective, randomized, double-blind, controlled study.

Aims: Autologous conditioned serum (ACS; marketed as Orthokine®) is an autologous blood product that has previously shown efficacy in treatment of joint osteoarthritis, spinal radiculopathy, tendon and muscle injuries in randomized controlled trials. In this 24-week, randomized, double-blind study, we compared the efficacy and safety of ACS with glucocorticoid (betamethasone) injections in chronic supraspinatus tendinopathy patients.

Material And Methods: Thirty-two patients with chronic supraspinatus tendinopathy were enrolled in the study.

SIX DECADES OF THE PULA NEUROPSYCHIATRIC MEETINGS--FROM NEUROPSYCHIATRY TO BORDERLANDS OF NEUROLOGY AND PSYCHIATRY BRAIN AND MIND.

In 2010, the International Neuropsychiatric Pula Symposia, from 2005 Congresses (INPS/INPC), founded in 1961 by Zagreb and Graz University Neuropsychiatry Departments, celebrated their 50th anniversary of successful development. The co-author of the paper, Bosko Barac, witnessed their growth from 1966, collaborating in their organization from 1974 with the first Secretary General Gerald Grinschgl; elected for his successor after his unexpected death in 1985, he was leading the Kuratorium (Scientific Board) as Secretary General for 23 years, collaborating in this period with his Austrian partner and friend Helmut Lechner. In 2007, Barac handed over this responsible function to the co-author Vida Demarin.

Finger length ratios in Serbian transsexuals.

Atypical prenatal hormone exposure could be a factor in the development of transsexualism. There is evidence that the 2nd and 4th digit ratio (2D:4D) associates negatively with prenatal testosterone and positively with estrogens. The aim was to assess the difference in 2D:4D between female to male transsexuals (FMT) and male to female transsexuals (MFT) and controls.

[40 years of neurological intensive care in Croatia].

On the 40 year anniversary of the foundation of the first Neurological intensive therapy unit (ICU) in Zagreb, Croatia and in the region, the author recalls circumstances which stipulated its realization. The process lasted several years, from the proposal in 1968, starting working in provisional conditions in 1971--acquiring experience, and normal functioning in the newly adapted rooms in 1974. Paying tribute to personalities who supported and participated in the advances of this process, the author informs that at the First Congress of Intensive Care (London, 1974) his report on Zagreb Neurological intensive therapy unit was the only one in neurology.

Hindpaw withdrawal from a painful thermal stimulus after sciatic nerve compression and decompression in the diabetic rat.

Introduction: Although the effect of chronic compression and surgical decompression of the diabetic rat sciatic nerve has been evaluated by walking track analysis, the measurement of sensory function by response to thermal nociceptive stimulation has not been investigated.

Methods: Fifteen male Wistar rats with streptozotocin-induced diabetes underwent sciatic nerve compression through a 10-mm silicone band. Five rats had histology done 60 days after confirming chronic nerve compression.

Evolution of management and investigations of cerebrovascular diseases in Croatia.

The author presents the history of management of cerebrovascular diseases (CVD) in Croatia since the beginning of medical health service in the country in the 19th and its evolution to the end of the 20th century. The foundation of the Zagreb School of Medicine in 1917 had paramount importance for the development of neurology, during the first period within the common specialty of neuropsychiatry. The interest for the CVD in Croatia became evident in the sixties of the past century, particularly when neurology has become a separate specialty in 1974.

The secular trend in the incidence of hemorrhagic stroke in the region of Osijek, Eastern Croatia in the period 1988-2000--a hospital based study.

The purpose of the study was to establish the possible environmental influences in the observed peculiar rising and falling oscillations in the numbers of hemorrhagic stroke (HS) in Eastern Croatia (region of Osijek) during the last thirteen-years' period (1988-2000). In this period 1,222 HS were registered and treated. A constant increase in the incidence of HS was observed, from 60 (in 1988) to 139 (in 1998), with an average annual proportion of 16.

[Status and perspectives in modern neurology. Problems of organization of neurologic services worldwide and in Croatia].

Modern neurology has completely changed in its concepts of science and medical discipline regarding the etiologies and the capabilities in the diagnostics, management, rehabilitation and prevention of neurological diseases. Advances in neurological sciences produced a rapid growth in the number of neurologists, new subspecialties and neurological institutions worldwide, opening questions on their possible application due to financial restrictions in many countries. Neurology in Croatia followed the modern tendencies in the world: in line with its humanistic tradition its orientation to the patient early appeared.

Influence of prolonged stress on cerebral hemodynamics.

The author has investigated the impact of psychological and socio-economic factors on cerebral hemodynamics and development of cerebrovascular disease (CVD). A group of 120 war sufferers with signs of post-traumatic stress disorder and adaptation disturbances, and 120 persons of the control group with no traumatic war experience have been studied. The blood flow velocity and various parameters of spectral frequency analysis have been measured, using the method of transcranial doppler sonography (TCD).

Changes in short-term memory processes in patients with multiple sclerosis.

In this study we compared the performance of 39 multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with 28 age-, sex- and education-matched controls on both the Mini-Mental State Examination, a global cognitive assessment tool, and the Sternberg Short-Term memory scanning task, a standardized test of short-term memory (STM) processes. While the STM span of our MS patients did not differ from that of our controls, STM scanning time of the MS group was reliably slower than that of the controls and a significant correlation was observed between STM scanning time and duration but not severity of illness. Our results suggest that processing stages other than the manipulation of data within the STM buffer are also affected by MS.

Influence of prolonged stress on risk factors for cerebrovascular disease.

The main purpose of this study was to analyze the influence of psychological and socio-economic factors on the frequency and characteristics of risk factors for cerebrovascular disease (CVD) among Croatians. A group of 120 war sufferers with signs of post-traumatic stress disorder and adaptation disturbances have been studied, and compared with a control group of 120 persons with no traumatic war experience. The risk factors for CVD were registered using epidemiological, clinical and functional measures, and level of the risk.

Tick-borne encephalitis in eastern Croatia.

92 patients treated for tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) in the Department for Infectious Diseases, University Hospital Osijek, over a 22-year period (1973-1995) were analysed. The patients were mostly forestry workers. The appearance of the disease followed the biological activity of the tick, with the largest number of affected individuals recorded between April and August.

On the development of Croatian neurology.

The author depicts the roots and the development of modern Croatian neurology. On the ground of cultural and civilizational predispositions it achieved an exceptional development during the last three decades in the period after the World War II. Although clinical neurology may be traced only after the foundation of the first Croatian medical faculty in Zagreb in 1917, until 1971 within the common discipline of neuropsychiatry, a vast medical literature: reports on neurological problems both from literature and from everyday medical praxis were published in Croatian after the foundation of the Croatian medical journal "Lijecnicki vjesnik" in 1877, written by internists or general practitioners interested in neurology.