Two spent dialysate samples are sufficient for hemodialysis efficacy assessment.

Introduction: The measure of dialysis efficacy is expressed as Kt/V value (calculated from predialysis and postdialysis blood urea concentration). The aim of this study was to assess the possibility of direct calculation of Kt/V value from two spent dialysate samples by using the regular blood-based Kt/V calculation formula with dialysate samples used as surrogates for blood samples, and to detect the most appropriate couple of dialysate samples for Kt/V estimation.

Patients And Methods: Fifty-two single hemodialysis treatments in 34 anuric patients on chronic bicarbonate low-flux hemodialysis were observed.

Concomitant chemobrachyradiotherapy with ifosfamide and cisplatin followed by consolidation chemotherapy in locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix: results of a phase II study.

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of ifosfamide and cisplatin administered concomitantly with low-dose-rate brachytherapy followed by consolidation chemotherapy in the treatment of locally advanced squamous cell cervical carcinoma (LASCC).

Methods And Materials: Forty-four patients with biopsy-proven LASCC were enrolled. FIGO Stages IB2 bulky to IVA were entered into this study.

Sclerosing epitheloid fibrosarcoma. A report of two cases.

Sclerosing epitheloid fibrosarcoma is a rare, histologically well-defined member of adult fibrosarcoma group of soft tissue tumors. Its main histological features are nests and cords of rounded tumor cells surrounded by hyalinized collagenous stroma. Epitheloid appearance with marked sclerosis and infiltrating growth pattern, along with occasional immunohistochemical positivity for epithelial markers may be highly suggestive of infiltrating carcinoma.

Uterine artery embolization for the treatment of uterine fibroids.

Uterine artery embolization can be regarded as a less invasive procedure for the treatment of fibroids compared with myomectomy, hysterectomy, and laparoscopic myolysis. The aim of this study was the evaluation of safety and efficacy of uterine artery embolization and of womens' opinion about this treatment. After gynecological examination sixty-nine premenopausal women underwent uterine artery embolization.

Colonic lipoma intussusception: a case report.

Lipomas are the most common mesenchymal benign tumor of the colon. They are usually asymptomatic but may cause bleeding, obstruction, intussusception, or abdominal pain. The diagnosis can be made by colonoscopy, barium enema examination, and by computed tomography (CT).

Disseminated BCG infection resembling langerhans cell histiocytosis in an infant with severe combined immunodeficiency: a case report.

We present a very rare congenital immunologic disease, severe combined immunodeficiency syndrome (SCID) in 6-months-old-boy with prolonged mucocutaneous candidiasis, severe anaemia, skin rash similar to the infiltrative eczema of Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) and subcutaneous nodules with histiocytic infiltration. Laboratory findings show profound absence of humoral and cell-mediated immunity. Pathology specimens analysis of subcutaneous nodule revealed numerous S-100 protein and Cd1a negative histiocytes, occupied by BCG intracellular growth.

Mine clearance injuries in South Croatia.

Objective: The purpose of this retrospective study was to describe and analyze casualties in mine-clearance operations in South Croatia from 1991 to 1995. During the war in Croatia, the laying of mines by both sides was largely unplanned, without mapping or documentation, making demining, an already expensive, complicated task, even more dangerous.

Methods: The study comprised all those injured in mine-clearance operations treated at Clinical Hospital Split.

Effect of hyperbaric oxygenation on the regeneration of the liver after partial hepatectomy in rats.

The aim of the present study was to assess the influence of hyperbaric oxygenation (HBO) on rat liver regeneration before and after partial hepatectomy. Rats were sacrificed 54 h after 15% hepatectomy, liver and body weights were measured, and serum alanine transaminase (ALT) and aspartate transaminase (AST) activity and albumin levels were determined. The lipid peroxide level, as indicated by malondialdehyde production in the remnant liver was measured, and liver sections were analyzed by light microscopy.

Injuries from Antitank mines in Southern Croatia.

Objective: Antitank mines inflict devastating injuries that are usually fatal. The objective of this retrospective study was to analyze antitank mine casualties in South Croatia during the period from 1991 to 1995.

Methods: Mechanism, degree of injury according to Abbreviated Injury Scale and Injury Severity Score, as well as surgical treatment were analyzed.

Antipersonnel mine injuries in Southern Croatia.

Objectives: In this retrospective study, antipersonnel mine casualties in Southern Croatia from 1991 to 1995 are analyzed and treatment options are discussed.

Methods: Mechanism, degree of injury according to Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) and Injury Severity Score (ISS), as well as surgical treatment were analyzed.

Results: Of a 2,693 war trauma population, 422 (15.

The role of arterial hypertension in the progression of non-diabetic glomerular diseases.

Arterial hypertension (AH) per se is, together with diabetes mellitus, the most important cause of renal failure and of dialysis in the western world. AH is also a well known consequence of chronic renal disease, and at the same time one of the main factors which causes diabetic and/or non-diabetic chronic renal failure progression. AH is mostly registered in patients with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis and with membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis.

Anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody (Rituximab) for therapy of mediastinal CD20-positive large B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma with a local tumor extension into the lung of a 10-year-old girl.

Intravenous therapy with the anti-CD20 antibody Rituximab has been recently approved for the treatment of CD20 positive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) in adults but not in children. The authors present the benefits of its application for mediastinal NHL CD 20+ with a local extension into the lung of a 10-year-old-girl. Receiving the chemotherapy according to study NHL-BFM-95 for high-risk lymphoma the girl did not reach complete remission.

Incidence of rheumatoid nodule in Dalmatia: similarities and differences among populations.

Background: The specific aim of our study was neither prognosis nor long-term evaluation but focus on determining incidence of rheumatoid nodules (RN) in a large population of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) on the coastline of Croatia (Dalmatia) within a certain range. We compared our data with those published previously in the literature.

Methods: Our study was focused on determining incidence of RN occurrence in patients with rheumatoid arthritis in Dalmatia, Croatia by comparing these figures with data reported elsewhere and evaluating its importance in the process of diagnosing RA.

Collagenous spherulosis of the breast in association with in situ carcinoma.

Collagenous spherulosis of the breast is distinctive breast histological finding characterised by the accumulation of basement membrane material in form of eosinophilic or rarely basophilic spherules that exhibit concentric and radiating fibrillar patterns. It is usually an incidental microscopic uni- or multifocal finding that occurs adjacent to benign proliferative lesions, but it can be also coexistent with malignant breast processes. Its occurrence within a malignant process is exceptional.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy in two patients with non-arteritic anterior optic neuropathy who did not respond to prednisone.

Recent advances in understanding the effects of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) on retinal anoxia gave rise to new interest in the possibility of using it as therapeutic treatment for ischemic conditions of the retina and optic nerve. Two patients with non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy due to a high-grade ophthalmic artery stenosis were treated with HBO at 2 atm abs in an effort to increase oxygen delivery for the eye. Both patients showed marked improvements of visual acuity and visual field 3-5 months following the event.

Symptom presentation of acute myocardial infarction: influence of sex, age, and risk factors.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the symptomatology of onset of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in patients according to sex, age, and existence of conventional risk factors.

Background: Some studies have suggested that sex and other patient characteristics may influence symptoms in AMI, but data were limited and conflicting.

Methods: This was a prospective, observational study of a large number of symptoms in 1996 patients admitted to Clinical Hospital Split between January 1990 and July 1995 as the result of a first AMI.

Vitamin D receptor polymorphism and susceptibility to type 1 diabetes in the Dalmatian population.

Several studies have found a relationship between polymorphisms of the vitamin D receptor gene (VDR) and development of type 1 diabetes (T1DM). The meaning of this observation remains unclear and its relevance must be checked in different population samples. To examine the association of VDR polymorphisms and susceptibility to T1DM in the Dalmatian population of South Croatia we studied 134 individuals with type 1 diabetes and 132 control subjects.

A nephron-sparing surgical procedure for Fraley's syndrome. A case report.

A 14.5-year-old girl with Fraley's syndrome, which caused left flank pain and massive haematuria with anaemia underwent left renal surgery. The infundibulum for the left upper calyx group was entrapped between the lower segmental renal artery and one branch of the renal vein.

Fetal reduction in multifetal pregnancy--ethical dilemmas.

As a result of the increased use of drugs that enhance fertility, and the advent of in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer over the last 2 decades, the incidence of multifetal pregnancies has increased exponentially. In parallel with this increase methods of care for women carrying multiple fetuses have become more complex and well developed. Importantly, it has become obvious that in the case of such pregnancies the rates of mortality and morbidity of both fetuses and mothers, particularly in cases where four or more fetuses are involved, are extremely high.

Hyperbaric oxygen as a method of therapy of sudden sensorineural hearing loss.

Sudden hearing loss is a sensorineural hearing impairment, which develops over a period of few hours to a few days. Several theories have been proposed regarding the development of sudden sensorineural hearing loss. The incidence of sudden sensorineural hearing loss has been reported to range from 5 to 20 per 100,000 persons per year.

Hypertensive retinopathy and pre-eclampsia.

The aim of the study was to determine the relationship between hypertensive retinopathy and the severity of pre-eclampsia. Forty women with pre-eclampsia, mean age 29.1 (+/- 7.

Acute angle-closed glaucoma and meteorological factors in Split, Croatia.

This study is a retrospective analysis of medical findings of patients treated at the Department of Ophthalmology, Clinical Hospital Split, Croatia in the period of 1995-1999. Seventy-three cases of acute closed-angle glaucoma were analyzed and compared in relation to the meteorological factors--hours of sunshine, air temperature and atmospheric pressure. No significant statistical correlation was found between the development of acute closed-angle glaucoma and air temperature, atmospheric pressure and mean sunshine hours in all months, except in November (z = 2.