Publications by authors named "Ira Pavlovic Ruzic"

Objectives: Unrelieved pain is present in a majority of terminal cancer patients. However, the treatment of pain in palliative and hospice care is affected by the lack of validated pain assessment. The goal of this study was to evaluate differences in pain evaluation between terminal cancer patients and physicians and evaluate the pain levels as a survival biomarker.

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Purpose: Quality of life is the cornerstone of palliative care, and assessing it requires validated and standardized questionnaires. However, the majority of questionnaires are not tested in a hospice setting. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the quality of life in a hospice using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 15 for Palliative Care (PAL) (EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL) questionnaire and validating it in Croatian language.

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Since there are no standardized protocols regarding the detection of microscopic melanoma deposits in sentinel lymph nodes (SLN), the aim of this study was to present our experience with intraoperative cytological evaluation of SLN in patients with melanoma. The study included 475 SLN biopsies (SLNB) from 201 patients with primary cutaneous melanoma of intermediate thickness. Each lymph node was cut in half; touch imprint cytology (TIC) preparations of all cut surfaces were performed and stained according to a modified May-Grünwald-Giemsa method.

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Gliomas of the central nervous system are glial cell tumors that are divided in low and high grade group. Multidisciplinary approach to treatment consists of surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. The type and order of treatment depend on the characteristics of the tumor and the patient.

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Urothelial cancer is the most common bladder cancer. Hematuria is the most common presenting symptom in patients with bladder cancer. The most common diagnostics of bladder cancer is performed by transurethral resection of bladder after which pathohistological diagnosis is set.

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There is a global rising incidence of melanoma. For different reasons, the patterns of the incidence, appearance, gender, anatomical distribution and outcome vary among different geographic areas. Screening programs have led to better early detection of melanoma in Australia and some world areas.

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Angiogenesis, the growth and proliferation of new blood vessels, is important in a variety of pathophysiological processes. However the role of angiogenesis in allergic rhinitis has not been well studied. Hence, the aim of this study was to compare the vascularisation of the nasal mucous membrane of non-allergic, non-treated allergic and allergic patients treated with mometasone furoate.

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Clear cell renal carcinoma is the most common kidney cancer. It is generally asymptomatic. A small percentage of patients present with hematuria, flank pain and abdominal mass.

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