The value of ultrasound in staging the severity of acute pancreatitis.

The authors asses the accuracy and role of early ultrasound examination in staging the severity of acute pancreatitis. A total of 110 consecutive patients with acute pancreatitis were included into the study. The ultrasound findings were categorized into six categories and compared with a modification of multiple prognostic criteria, computerized tomography, operative findings (when available) and clinical outcome.

Premature mortality in former Yugoslavia.

To evaluate the level of health attained before the war started, premature mortality from all causes in the former Yugoslavia was analyzed by republics and provinces in two respective periods. Premature mortality, measured by the crude rate of years of potential life lost, fell from 12,762.6 in 1970 to 6,320.

Case-control study of congenital malformations.

To determine potentially teratogenic influences in Belgrade, a group of 113 mothers who gave birth to severely malformed infants and a control group of 195 mothers with normal infants were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Statistically significant differences between the two groups were found in the mother's family history of congenital malformations (P < 0.05) and the mother's diseases during the pregnancy (P < 0.

Myocardial infarction in young women with reference to oral contraceptive use.

A hospital-based case-control study of myocardial infarction in young women conducted in Belgrade from January 1983 to December 1986 is presented. A total of 58 women with infarction, aged 30 to 50 years were compared with 174 age-matched controls. Smoking of 15 or more cigarettes per day, diabetes, hypertension, angina pectoris and hypercholesterolaemia, all significantly elevated the risk of myocardial infarction.

[A structural approach to the evaluation of the quality of contraception services].

The quality assessment of the contraceptive service in Belgrade in 1983 was conducted by a structural approach (investigation of the knowledge and attitudes of service providers and the availability of contraceptives). The summaries of the cited publications were used as the standard of knowledge and attitudes. A sample of 42 gynaecologists (16.