Perioperative Management of Valvular Heart Disease in Patients Undergoing Non-Cardiac Surgery.

Postoperative cardiovascular complications (either in a hospital or within 30 days after the operation) are among the most common problems with non-cardiac surgeries (NCSs). Pre-existing cardiac comorbidities add significant risk to the development of such complications. Valvular heart disease (VHD), a rather frequent cardiac comorbidity (especially in the elderly population), can pose serious life-threatening peri-/postoperative complications.

Risk of bleeding after ground-level falls in elderly patients with atrial fibrillation and warfarin therapy.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate bleeding risk in patients treated with VKAs after ground-level falls, considering the type and severity of bleeding.

Methods: The study was designed as a retrospective cohort study and included a total of 204 elderly patients aged > 65 years treated for AF continuously with warfarin for more than 3 years. Data were obtained from hospital registries in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Decision and cost analysis of empirical antibiotic therapy of acute sinusitis in the era of increasing antimicrobial resistance: do we have an additional tool for antibiotic policy decisions?

Objective: No previous analyses have attempted to determine optimal therapy for upper respiratory tract infections on the basis of cost-minimization models and the prevalence of antimicrobial resistance among respiratory pathogens in Slovakia. This investigation compares macrolides and cephalosporines for empirical therapy and look at this new tool from the aspect of potential antibiotic policy decision-making process.

Methods: We employed a decision tree model to determine the threshold level of macrolides and cephalosporines resistance among community respiratory pathogens that would make cephalosporines or macrolides cost-minimising.