The quality and scope of information provided by medical laboratories to patients before laboratory testing: Survey of the Working Group for Patient Preparation of the Croatian Society of Medical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine.

Introduction: The aim of this work was to evaluate to what extent the scope and content of information provided to patients is standardized across medical biochemistry laboratories in Croatia.

Materials And Methods: Two on-line self-report surveys were sent out: Survey A regarding attitudes on importance of patient preparation and Survey B on the contents of patient preparation instructions.

Results: 13/118 laboratories (11%) do not provide written instructions to patients on how to prepare for laboratory testing, and 36 (40%) do not include information about water intake in their instructions.

Occupational exposures in healthcare workers in University Hospital Dubrava--10 year follow-up study.

Occupational hazardous exposure in healthcare workers is any contact with a material that carries the risk of acquiring an infection during their working activities. Among the most frequent viral occupational infections are those transmitted by blood such as hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Therefore, they represent a significant public health problem related to the majority of documented cases of professionally acquired infections.

Endothelins -- clinical perspectives.

Endothelins (ET) are a group of endogenous peptides, which have a strong and long-lasting vasoconstrictive effect. Three isoforms of endothelins coded by three different genes have been identified to date. Endothelin-1 (ET-1) is the most potent vasoconstrictive agent currently identified, and it was originally isolated and characterized from the culture media of aortic endothelial cells.

Anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide and rheumatoid factor in HIV positive patients.

The aim of this study was to determine the difference of anti-CCP and RF between HIV positive patients and a healthy control group. The rheumatological complications in HIV positive patients are rather common and are recognized as a serious problem that requires more attention. Anti-CCP and RF are the only laboratory tools for rheumatoid disorder diagnostics and predictors of the course of the disease.