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.