High-PEEP Noninvasive Ventilation By Means of Mask as the Respiratory Support in COVID-19 ARDS Patients: Experience From General Hospital Slavonski Brod.

Objective: Despite widespread use of noninvasive ventilation (NIV) in some coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) hypoxemic patients, its clinical application is still subject of debate.

Methods: This is a retrospective, observational study with data collected from 91 consecutive patients treated in COVID intensive care unit (ICU) in our institution between October 2020 and February 2021. Outcomes were represented as ventilation hours, ICU and hospital length of stay, and ICU and hospital mortality.

High platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio may differentiate polycythemia vera from secondary polycythemia.

Discriminating polycythemia vera (PV) from secondary polycythemia (SP) is crucial due to the inherent risk of thrombosis in PV and different treatment approaches. The majority of PV patients have subnormal serum erythropoietin levels and harbor Janus kinase 2 (JAK2) mutations; however, serum erythropoietin levels may be normal in approximately one third of PV patients and mutational analysis is costly and requires access to specialized laboratories. Recently, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte (NLR) and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratios (PLR) emerged as rapidly available biomarkers to identify PV patients under an increased risk of thrombosis and death.

National Guidelines for the Performance of the Sweat Test in Diagnosis of Cystic Fibrosis on behalf of the Croatian Society of Medical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine and the Cystic Fibrosis Centre - Paediatrics and adults, University Hospital Centre Zagreb.

The sweat test (ST) is a cornerstone in the diagnosis of cystic fibrosis (CF), together with newborn screening and genetic testing. However, the performance of the ST can depend on the operator's skill, so several international guidelines have been published to standardise the ST, but inconsistencies remain. The joint Working Group for ST Standardisation (WG STS) of the Croatian Society of Medical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine, in association with cistic fybrosis health professional and the Cistic Fibrosis Centre for Paediatrics and Adults, have issued National Guidelines for the Performance of the Sweat Test in order to ensure consistency in ST performance and accuracy of reported results.

Experiences and attitudes of medical professionals on treatment of end-of-life patients in intensive care units in the Republic of Croatia: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Decisions about limitations of life sustaining treatments (LST) are made for end-of-life patients in intensive care units (ICUs). The aim of this research was to explore the professional and ethical attitudes and experiences of medical professionals on treatment of end-of-life patients in ICUs in the Republic of Croatia.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among physicians and nurses working in surgical, medical, neurological, and multidisciplinary ICUs in the total of 9 hospitals throughout Croatia using a questionnaire with closed and open type questions.

Human pegivirus infection after transplant: Is there an impact?

The microbiome's role in transplantation has received growing interest, but the role of virome remains understudied. Pegiviruses are single-stranded positive-sense RNA viruses, historically associated with liver disease, but their path-ogenicity is controversial. In the transplantation setting, pegivirus infection does not seem to have a negative impact on the outcomes of solid-organ and hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients.

Haemoglobin A1c-based screening for prediabetes and diabetes mellitus: a multi-center study in Croatian adult population.

Introduction: Based on the hypothesis that there is a substantial rate of adults with prediabetes and undiagnosed diabetes mellitus (DM), our aim was to perform haemoglobin A1c (HbA)-based screening in a cohort of Croatian adults and estimate the prevalence of prediabetes and undiagnosed DM according to American Diabetes Association criteria.

Materials And Methods: This multi-center, cross-sectional study performed in six Croatian hospitals included 5527 patients aged 40 to 70 years admitted to the Emergency Department or undergoing a primary care check-up. Haemoglobin A1c was measured from leftover whole blood samples using the enzymatic method on either Alinity c or Architect c-series analyser (Abbott Laboratories, Chicago, USA).

Effect of Metformin and Simvastatin in Inhibiting Proadipogenic Transcription Factors.

Obesity is a multifactorial chronic disease characterized by the excessive accumulation of fat in adipose tissue driven by hypertrophy and hyperplasia of adipocytes through adipogenesis. Adipogenesis plays a key role in the development of obesity and related metabolic disorders, which makes it potential target for the therapeutic approach to obesity. An increasing number of studies confirm the pleiotropic action of the combined treatment with metformin and statins, suggesting their anti-hypertensive, anti-inflammatory, and anti-adipogenic effect.

Hematocrit to hemoglobin ratio as a prognostic marker in polycythemia vera.

Background: The hematocrit to hemoglobin ratio (HHR) is frequently used in everyday practice to measure hemoconcentration; however, clinical associations of HHR in the context of polycythemia vera (PV) have not been investigated so far.

Patients And Methods: We retrospectively assessed HHR at the time of diagnosis in 107 PV and 40 secondary polycythemia (SP) patients from three community hospitals.

Results: Median HHR was higher in PV than in SP patients (3.

Molecular profiles and urinary biomarkers of upper tract urothelial carcinomas associated with aristolochic acid exposure.

Recurrent upper tract urothelial carcinomas (UTUCs) arise in the context of nephropathy linked to exposure to the herbal carcinogen aristolochic acid (AA). Here we delineated the molecular programs underlying UTUC tumorigenesis in patients from endemic aristolochic acid nephropathy (AAN) regions in Southern Europe. We applied an integrative multiomics analysis of UTUCs, corresponding unaffected tissues and of patient urines.

Impact of the coronavirus disease pandemic on cancer care in Croatia: a multicentre cross-sectional study.

Purpose: The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has greatly affected the oncology community worldwide. Lockdowns, an epidemiological measure, have made it difficult for oncologists to provide care. In this study, we analysed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Croatian cancer care.

A Rare Case of Posttraumatic Bilateral BPPV Presentation.

A rare case of a 38-year-old female patient who developed benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) three weeks after head trauma is presented. The disease manifested bilaterally, which is not uncommon posttraumatically, but in this case, it manifested itself as canalithiasis of the posterior canal on both sides and cupulolithiasis of the right lateral canal, which to our knowledge is a unique and, until now, unpublished case. The aim of this review is to point out the fact that, in such a complex multicanal and bilateral clinical presentation of BPPV, it is not sufficient to perform only positioning but also additional laboratory tests.

Low Psychological Resilience in Older Individuals: An Association with Increased Inflammation, Oxidative Stress and the Presence of Chronic Medical Conditions.

The term resilience, which has been present in science for almost half a century, stands for the capacity of some system needed to overcome an amount of disturbance from the environment in order to avoid a change to another stable state. In medicine, the concept of resilience means the ability to deal with daily stress and disturbance to our homeostasis with the intention of protecting it from disturbance. With aging, the organism becomes more sensitive to environmental impacts and more susceptible to changes.

Hepatitis E virus in professionally exposed: A reason for concern?

The zoonotic risk of hepatitis E virus (HEV) is well established. The HEV seroprevalence rates vary according to geographical region, assays used, and study cohorts. HEV infection is still underdiagnosed, implying the need to evaluate the disease's burden in the general population and specific risk groups, such as professionally exposed.

Hepatitis E Virus in Croatia in the "One-Health" Context.

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is the most common cause of viral hepatitis globally. The first human case of autochthonous HEV infection in Croatia was reported in 2012, with the undefined zoonotic transmission of HEV genotype 3. This narrative review comprehensively addresses the current knowledge on the HEV epidemiology in humans and animals in Croatia.

Diagnostic complexity of rifampicin-induced coagulopathy in a patient with spontaneous muscle bleeding: A case report.

Introduction: Rifampicin is currently used to treat various bacterial infections, with the most significant application in the treatment of tuberculosis. Dose-independent side effects of the drug can lead to the development of various coagulation disorders, among which disseminated intravascular coagulation is the most dangerous. The mechanism of coagulopathy itself is multifactorial, but it is thought to be mediated by an immune response (formation of antigen-antibody complexes) and consequent damage to platelets and the vascular endothelium.

Collecting duct carcinoma and endemic nephropathy - case reportS and literature review.

Although collecting duct carcinoma is a subtype of renal cell carcinoma, several studies implicate association with urothelial carcinoma. The coexistence of collecting duct carcinoma and another renal neoplasm is rare. Endemic nephropathy is a renal disease causing chronic renal failure.

Alopecia in preexisting autoimmune thyroid disease in family medicine practice: can hyperprolactinemia induce hair loss? A case report.

Management of hair loss in women presents several challenges for general practitioners, who are the first in identifying its cause and consequences in everyday clinical practice. It is usually associated with multiple secondary factors, including endocrine disorders, drug side effects, and physical or emotional stress. We report a possible pathophysiological link between hyperprolactinemia and alopecia in a patient with preexisting autoimmune thyroid disease, which has not been documented in a significant number in the literature.