The development of nuclear medicine in Slovenia and Ljubljana; half a century of nuclear medicine in Slovenia.

Background: Nuclear medicine began to be developed in the USA after 1938 when radionuclides were introduced into medicine and in Europe after radionuclides began to be produced at the Harwell reactor (England, 1947). Slovenia began its first investigations in the 1950s. This article describes the development of nuclear medicine in Slovenia and Ljubljana.

Valdoltra and osteoarticular tuberculosis among Slovenians--the 100th anniversary of the Valdoltra Hospital.

The 100th anniversary of the hospital in Valdoltra, Slovenia, on the northeastern Adriatic coast near the Italian frontier--where borders have frequently changed (the town has belonged to Austria-Hungary, Italy, Yugoslavia, and Slovenia) and which experienced military occupation in the interwar period--offers an opportunity to review the professional path of this institution. The hospital was established in 1909 as an act of charity by the Trieste Friends of Children Society due to the high incidence of scrofula as well as bone and extrapulmonary tuberculosis among Trieste children. With 270 beds, it provided medical assistance to sick children and also later to adults.

The development of Slovenian Heart Surgery: celebrating 50 years (1958-2008).

Background: The beginnings of Slovenian cardiac surgery reach back to 1958, when the first heart surgery using extracorporeal circulation (ECC) was performed. The 50th anniversary of this event was the impetus for reviewing its developmental path.

Methods: History of medicine methodology, including analysis of archival materials, documents, and various publications of the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Ljubljana University Medical Center, Slovenia.

Indications for caesarean delivery between 1955 and 2005.

Introduction: We wished to evaluate the changes in the indications and rates of caesarean delivery over the past 50 years (1955-2005) at the Ljubljana Maternity Hospital, the largest maternity hospital in Slovenia and a tertiary center.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed data obtained from delivery records, archived at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Medical Center Ljubljana, for the selected years 1955, 1965, 1975, 1985, 1995 and 2005. The records were archived in bound books (1955), folders (1965 and 1975), on microfilm (1985) and in the national perinatal information system (1995 and 2005).

Identification of family relationships by epigenetic traits.

In analyzing family burials, it is often necessary to establish the nature of the family relationship. This study examines 18 skulls from the 14th and 15th century, presumptively assigned to the family of the Counts of Celje from the territory of present-day Slovenia. Though DNA analysis is the identification method of choice, it is not always possible to apply it.