Dynamometric outcomes of the donor site leg after vastus lateralis free flap harvest.

The vastus lateralis muscle is one of the four muscles that make up the quadriceps femoris muscle, and it is also the largest of them. Some studies have shown that patients experience lower quality of life and muscle weakness after surgical treatment of thigh muscles in order to perform reconstructive surgery of the head and neck. The aim of our study was to assess the quantitative and qualitative function of the lower extremities using an isokinetic dynamometer and a validated questionnaire on subjective difficulties in patients who underwent reconstructive surgery with the vastus lateralis free flap.

Brachial flow-mediated dilation and carotid intima-media thickness in glaucoma patients.

Background: The purpose of the study was to assess the ultrasound measurements of the brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (FMD) and carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT) and their relationship in glaucoma patients.

Methods: Thirty-seven patients with glaucoma and thirty-one healthy controls were included in the study. All glaucoma patients and controls underwent ultrasound measurement of FMD of the brachial artery and ultrasound measurement of IMT of the carotid artery.

Cannabinoids for the treatment of dementia.

Background: Dementia is a common chronic condition, mainly affecting older adults, characterised by a progressive decline in cognitive and functional abilities. Medical treatments for dementia are limited. Cannabinoids are being investigated for the treatment of dementia.

Violence without a Face: the Analysis of Testimonies of Women Who Were Sexually Assaulted During the War in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Background: This study examined testimonies of women who were sexually assaulted multiple times by multiple unknown offenders. In these testimonial narratives, it is possible to detect specific modalities of traumatic event expression. This expression lacks any spatial, temporal, auditory or emotional determinants of the event.

Effects of carvedilol therapy in patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction - Results from the Croatian heart failure (CRO-HF) registry.

Background And Objective: According to recent guidelines, the best approach for treatment of heart failure patients with preserved ejection function is still not defined. The aim of this study was to investigate how carvedilol therapy influences the survival rate, ejection fraction and NYHA class in these patients.

Patients And Methods: We conducted study on heart failure patients with preserved systolic function from the Croatian heart failure registry who were hospitalized in the period between 2005 and 2010.

The association between high-density lipoproteins and estimated glomerular filtration rate in patients without severe kidney disease.

Purpose: Several studies investigated the association between the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and the concentration of high-density lipoproteins (HDL) in patients without severely damaged kidney function. As results of those studies were inconclusive and contradictory, we wanted to investigate this association in multiple cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk patients without severe kidney disease or renal failure.

Methods: We enrolled a cohort of 187 patients with intermediate and high CVD risk without severe renal disease.

Efficacy and Safety Outcome Domains and Outcome Measures in Systematic Reviews of Neuropathic Pain Conditions.

Objectives: Heterogeneity of outcome domains, used in interventional trials and systematic reviews (SRs) for neuropathic pain (NeuP), makes decisions on the comparative effectiveness of available treatments difficult. This study analyzed outcome domains and measures used in SRs of randomized controlled trials on efficacy and safety of interventions for NeuP and compared them with the core outcome set (COS) and core outcome measures (COMs) for chronic pain recommended by the Initiative on Methods, Measurement, and Pain Assessment in Clinical Trials (IMMPACT).

Methods: Five electronic databases were searched to find SRs of interventions for NeuP.

Perceptions of Ethical Climate and Research Pressures in Different Faculties of a University: Cross-Sectional Study at the University of Split, Croatia.

We determined the prevailing ethical climate at three different schools of a single university, in order to explore possible differences in the ethical climate related to different research fields: the School of Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Naval Architecture; the School of Humanities and Social Sciences; and the School of Medicine. We used the Ethical Climate Questionnaire to survey the staff (teachers and administration) at the three schools, and used the research integrity and organizational climate (RIOC) survey for early-stage researchers at the three schools. The dominant ethical climate type perceived collectively at the three university schools (response rate 49%, n = 294) was Laws and professional codes, which is associated with the cosmopolitan level of analysis and the ethical construct of principle.

Students' and parents' attitudes toward basic life support training in primary schools.

Aim: To assess attitudes of students and their parents toward basic life support (BLS) training in primary schools, along with their perceptions of students' fears toward applying and training BLS.

Methods: In October 2011, a specifically designed, voluntary and anonymous questionnaire was distributed to 7th and 8th grade students and to their parents in two primary schools in Split, Croatia. Completed questionnaires were analyzed to determine the validity of the scale, and to determine sex and group differences in individual items and the whole scale.