Management of coeliac disease patients after the confirmation of diagnosis in Central Europe.

Background: Recently published paediatric guidelines for diagnosing coeliac disease do not include recommendations on the follow-up of coeliac disease patients.

Goal: The aim of this study was to assess the management practices and experience of coeliac disease patients with their follow-up appointments in Central Europe.

Study: Gastroenterologists and coeliac disease patients in five Central European countries were asked to complete the web-based questionnaire focusing on coeliac disease management practices.

The Knowledge About Celiac Disease Among Healthcare Professionals and Patients in Central Europe.

Objectives: Celiac disease (CD) remains undiagnosed for a long time in many adult and pediatric patients. We assessed the knowledge about CD among healthcare professionals (HCPs) and CD patients in Central Europe (CE).

Methods: HCPs and CD patients from 5 CE countries were asked to complete the web-based questionnaire about CD.

Clinical Presentation in Children With Coeliac Disease in Central Europe.

Objectives: During the past decades, there has been a shift in the clinical presentation of coeliac disease (CD) to nonclassical, oligosymptomatic, and asymptomatic forms. We assessed clinical presentation of CD in children and adolescents in Central Europe.

Methods: Paediatric gastroenterologists in 5 countries retrospectively reported data of their patients diagnosed with CD.

Incidence and Geographical Variability of Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Croatia: Data From the Croatian National Registry for Children With Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

The aim of this study was to determine the annual incidence and geographic distribution of pediatric inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in Croatia. This is a prospective, cohort, multicenter observational study based on the data obtained from the Croatian national registry for children with IBD. Children and adolescents younger than 18 years diagnosed with IBD, in time period between June 1, 2016, and May 31, 2017, were recruited.

IBD phenotype at diagnosis, and early disease-course in pediatric patients in Croatia: data from the Croatian national registry.

Background: Pediatric inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) presents with extensive phenotype. The aim of this study was to determine the phenotype of pediatric IBD patients in Croatia at diagnosis and follow-up.

Methods: Children were prospectively recruited into Croatian IBD national registry.

Is There a Role of Using a Rapid Finger Prick Antibody Test in Screening for Celiac Disease in Children?

Introduction: Celiac disease (CD) is an autoimmune disease triggered by gluten in genetically predisposed individuals. Despite the increasing prevalence of CD, many patients remain undiagnosed. Standard serology tests are expensive and invasive, so several point-of-care tests (POC) for CD have been developed.

Diagnostic Delays in Children With Coeliac Disease in the Central European Region.

Objectives: Coeliac disease (CD) is a systemic autoimmune disorder affecting about 1% of the population. Many patients remain undiagnosed or are diagnosed with substantial delay. We assessed diagnostic delays in symptomatic CD children in Central Europe (CE).

Advances in diagnosis of chronic liver diseases in pediatric patients.

Background: Chronic liver diseases (CLD) present important clinical problem in children with various age-dependent causes. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) with its increasing prevalence is a major problem with regard to its timely recognition and the need for long-term disease monitoring. At present, a perfect non-invasive method for the evaluation of liver fibrosis is not available.

An Infant With Unusually High Unconjugated Hyperbilirubinemia Due to Coexistence of Hereditary Spherocytosis and Gilbert Syndrome.

Hereditary spherocytosis is the most frequent congenital hemolytic anemia and is characterized with variable degree of anemia, jaundice, and splenomegaly. In the case of severe hyperbilirubinemia out of proportion with hemolysis, other causes of hyperbilirubinemia must be considered. Gilbert syndrome (GS) is an autosomal dominant disorder characterized with intermittent hyperbilirubinemia without any other sign and symptom of liver disease as a result of reduced activity of uridine diphosphate-glucuronyl transferase 1A1.

Unlicensed and off-label drug use in hospitalized children in Croatia: a cross-sectional survey.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and pattern of unlicensed and off-label drugs prescribed to hospitalized children at the Department of Paediatrics, University Hospital Rijeka, Croatia.

Methods: A prospective cross-sectional study was performed on 1 day each month during a 12 month period and included all hospitalized children and adolescents.

Results: A total of 1,643 prescriptions for 198 different drugs were prescribed to 531 out of 691 (77%) hospitalized patients.

Chronic intussusception in children caused by Ascaris lumbricoides.

Chronic intussusception (CI) is defined as an intussusception lasting for 14 days or more. Because the clinical manifestations are non-specific, the diagnosis is usually delayed. Symptoms include intermittent abdominal pain, sometimes an abdominal mass is palpable and there is a marked weight loss.

Coping with changes in the Defined Daily Dose in a longitudinal drug consumption database.

Objective: To illustrate the best approach to accurate representation of temporal evolution of drug consumption, when confronted with changes over time in the Defined Daily Dose (DDD) measurement unit.

Method: As an example, drug consumption (2001-2005) at the University Hospital Rijeka was expressed with the corresponding DDD in each year; and with the DDD value of the last year of the observation time window. By visual appraisal, results with both methods were compared with the graph of drug consumption trends expressed in physical units (mg, IU, etc.

[Electrogastrography in diagnosis of gastric motility disorder in children].

Gastrointestinal (GI) motility disorders are common in children. Modern technology has enabled better understanding, monitoring and treatment of these disorders. While gastric anatomic structures are developed prenatally, myoelectric activity and motility develop after the birth.

Antimicrobial use at a university hospital: appropriate or misused? A qualitative study.

Objective: To evaluate the quality of antimicrobial drug use in a university hospital medical department (Department of Medicine, University Hospital Rijeka, Croatia) with 279 hospital-beds in wards containing patients from endocrinology, gastroenterology, hematology, clinical immunology, cardiology and coronary care unit, nephrology and pulmonology sections of the hospital.

Methods: The appropriateness of antimicrobial treatment for all in-patients in the Department of Medicine was assessed in a prospective, longitudinal survey carried out during a 21-week period using Kunin's criteria where Categories I and II indicate "appropriate therapy", Categories III and IV indicate major deficiency in the choice or use of antimicrobials. Category V indicates unjustified antimicrobial administration.

Benchmarking antimicrobial drug use at university hospitals in five European countries.

A point-prevalence survey of five European university hospitals was performed to benchmark antimicrobial drug use in order to identify potential problem areas in prescribing practice and to aid in establishing appropriate and attainable goals. All inpatients at the university hospitals of Rijeka (Croatia), Tartu (Estonia), Riga (Latvia), Vilnius (Lithuania) and Karolinska-Huddinge (Sweden) were surveyed for antimicrobial drug use during a single day. The frequency of antimicrobial drug use was 24% in Rijeka, 30% in Tartu, 26% in Riga, 14% in Vilnius and 32% in Huddinge.

Analysis of antiepileptic drugs use at a university hospital in Croatia.

To analyse the consumption rate of new generation antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) compared with traditional AEDs at a university hospital in Croatia. Antiepileptic drugs use was analysed retrospectively for two consecutive years, 2001 and 2002 at Departments of Neurology, Paediatrics, Psychiatry and Neurosurgery at the University Hospital Centre (UHC) Rijeka. The results obtained are expressed as number of defined daily doses (DDDs) per 100 bed days, as proposed by the WHO.

Antimicrobial drug use in hospitalised paediatric patients: a cross-national comparison between Germany and Croatia.

Purpose: To compare the utilisation of systemic antimicrobials at the paediatric units of the university hospitals in Marburg (Germany) and Rijeka (Croatia).

Methods: A prospective, observational analysis of hospital records from 300 incident users of antimicrobials in each study centre that were younger than 19 years. Antimicrobial utilisation was analysed in six gender-specific age groups with respect to drug choice, duration of treatment and hospital stay, indication and route of administration.

Antimicrobial prescribing at a university hospital: justified or 'just in case': testing a new scoring system as a key quality indicator.

Objective: To evaluate the quality of antimicrobial drug prescribing at a university hospital in the Department of Medicine, by using a new scoring system as a quality indicator.

Design: a prospective, longitudinal survey, during a 21-week period. The necessity of antimicrobial treatment of all in-patients at the Department of Medicine, to whom new antimicrobials were prescribed, was assessed by using a scoring system based on the presence of signs and symptoms of an infection.

Antibiotic use profile at paediatric clinics in two transitional countries.

Purpose: In this study, we evaluated antibiotic utilisation pattern at two paediatric clinics in different European (transitional) countries: Croatia (Rijeka) and Russia (Smolensk).

Methods: Antibiotic utilisation during the year 2000 was observed using the ATC/defined daily doses (DDD) methodology (ATC code-J01). Drug-usage data was expressed in numbers of DDD/100 bed-days and the DU90% profile.

Utilization of antimicrobials in Rijeka (Croatia).

Purpose: In this study, the extent and pattern of inpatient and outpatient antimicrobial drug use was investigated in Rijeka, Croatia, and the impact of control measures was evaluated.

Methods: Consumption of antibacterials for the years 2000 and 2001 was monitored using the ATC/DDD methodology.

Results: During the investigation period, the antimicrobial utilization at the University Hospital Center (UHC) Rijeka has decreased by 14%.

Factors influencing antimicrobial utilization at a university hospital during a period of 11 years.

Objective: A number of factors may influence antibiotic prescribing. The objective of this study was to identify trends in antimicrobial prescribing during a period of 1 years at the University Hospital Center Rijeka (UHC), Croatia, and to identify possible factors that might have influenced changes in prescribing patterns. This may help in establishing criteria for future intervention.

Antimicrobial utilization and bacterial resistance at three different hospitals.

It has been generally recognized that the prevalence of bacterial resistance among bacteria is an unavoidable consequence of antibiotic use and is positively linked to the overall use of antibacterial drugs. The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent of antimicrobial usage and to evaluate the antimicrobial resistance at three different hospital settings in Croatia: a clinical hospital, a general hospital and a specialized clinic for infectious diseases. In this survey the antimicrobial drug consumption and antimicrobial susceptibility test results were analyzed for the first 6 months of 1997 in three different hospitals in Croatia: the University Hospital Center (UHC), Rijeka, the Clinic for Infectious Diseases 'Dr Fran Mihaljević', Zagreb and the Dubrovnik General Hospital.

Antibiotic utilization at the university hospital after introducing an antibiotic policy.

Objective: Antibiotic formulary restrictions are among the most popular methods to control antibiotic utilization in hospitals. The aim of the present survey was to investigate the influence of "reserve antibiotic" on antimicrobial utilization at the University Hospital Center (UHC) Rijeka.

Methods: At the UHC Rijeka, reserve antibiotic was implemented in July 1997.