Analgesic effect of ultrasound-guided extraoral mandibular nerve block compared to intraoral conductive block of the inferior alveolar nerve after lower third molar alveolectomy: a clinical prospective study.

Background: The analgesia after lower third molar alveolectomy is based on the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) that have significant risks, and are contraindicated in the third trimester of pregnancy. Aiming to reduce NSAIDs use after this surgery, we quantified analgesic effects of ultrasound (US)-guided extraoral mandibular nerve block.

Methods: Thirty-six patients were equally allocated to the experimental or control group, based on their willingness to receive experimental US-guided extraoral mandibular nerve block for postoperative analgesia.

Comparison of Clinical, Pathological, and Procedural Characteristics of Adult and Pediatric Acute Appendicitis before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Background: This study aims to analyze the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the clinical, pathological, and surgical characteristics of acute appendicitis (AA) at the University Hospital Centre (UHC) Zagreb.

Methods: This retrospective study analyzed demographic, clinical, and surgical data from consecutive AA patients. Data were collected from an electronic database for two periods: 1 January to 31 December 2019 (pre-COVID-19), and 11 March 2020, to 11 March 2021 (COVID-19 pandemic).

LGALS3 cfDNA methylation in seminal fluid as a novel prostate cancer biomarker outperforming PSA.

Background: The unmet challenge in prostate cancer (PCa) management is to discriminate it from benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) due to the lack of specific diagnostic biomarkers. Contemporary research on potential PCa biomarkers is directed toward methylated cell-free DNA (cfDNA) from liquid biopsies since epigenetic mechanisms are strongly involved in PCa development.

Methods: In the present research, cfDNA methylation of the LGALS3 gene in blood and seminal plasma of PCa and BPH patients was assessed using pyrosequencing, as well as LGALS3 DNA methylation in tissue biopsies.

Anesthetic management for cesarean section in two parturient with ascending aortic aneurysm: a case-based discussion.

Background: The anesthetic management of parturients with ascending aortic aneurysm for cesarean section can be particularly challenging, primarily because of increased risk for aortic dissection or aneurysm rupture.

Case Presentation: We present some aspects of the anesthetic management of two parturients with ascending aortic aneurysm for cesarean sections; amongst, the use of remifentanil with its effects on patient and newborn. We emphasize the importance of a cardio-obstetric team in the context of preoperative planning of such patients.

Evaluating Intraocular Pressure Alterations during Large Muscle Group Isometric Exercises with Varying Head and Body Positions.

Performing physical exercise affects intraocular pressure, and its elevation and fluctuations are the main risk factors for glaucoma development or progression. The aim of this study was to examine the acute alterations in intraocular pressure (IOP) during four unweighted isometric exercises and to determine whether the different head and body positions taken during exercise additionally affect IOP. Twelve healthy volunteers between the ages of 25 and 33 performed four isometric exercises: wall sit in neutral head and body position, elbow plank in prone head and body position, reverse plank in supine head and body position for 1 min, and right-side plank in lateral head and body position for 30 s.

TUBERCULOUS SPONDYLODISCITIS IN A RENAL TRANSPLANT RECIPIENT - A CASE REPORT.

Diagnosis of tuberculous spondylodiscitis is difficult because clinical findings usually are nonspecific and radiological features may mimic other bacterial, fungal, inflammatory and neoplastic diseases. We present the first reported case of tuberculous spondylodiscitis in a 56-year-old man successfully treated by rifampicin-containing anti tuberculosis regimen with close follow-up of serum cyclosporine levels.

First-year nursing students' attitudes towards artificial intelligence: Cross-sectional multi-center study.

Aim: To assess the attitudes of nursing students toward artificial intelligence.

Background: Possible applications of artificial intelligence-powered systems in nursing cover all aspects of nursing care, from patient care to risk management. Although the final acceptance of artificial intelligence in practice will depend on positive 'nurses' attitudes toward artificial intelligence, those attitudes have gained little attention so far.

Genotype-phenotype correlation in contactin-associated protein-like 2 (CNTNAP-2) developmental disorder.

Contactin-associated protein-like 2 (CNTNAP2) gene encodes for CASPR2, a presynaptic type 1 transmembrane protein, involved in cell-cell adhesion and synaptic interactions. Biallelic CNTNAP2 loss has been associated with "Pitt-Hopkins-like syndrome-1" (MIM#610042), while the pathogenic role of heterozygous variants remains controversial. We report 22 novel patients harboring mono- (n = 2) and bi-allelic (n = 20) CNTNAP2 variants and carried out a literature review to characterize the genotype-phenotype correlation.

Pulmonary Arteriovenous Malformation Unmasked by Pregnancy: A Review of Pulmonary Arteriovenous Malformations and Cardiovascular and Respiratory Changes in Pregnancy.

Pulmonary arteriovenous malformations are abnormal, direct communications between the branches of the pulmonary artery and pulmonary veins, but without pulmonary capillaries between them. During pregnancy, PAVMs can enlarge and become symptomatic, causing even serious complications like haematothorax. To recognize the PAVM that becomes symptomatic in pregnancy, one must be able to distinguish the patient's symptoms caused by developing complications of PAVM, as in the case we present, from physiological changes accompanying a healthy pregnancy, including their degree in relation to the stage of pregnancy.

Multidrug-Resistant Bacteria in a COVID-19 Hospital in Zagreb.

During November to December 2020, a high rate of COVID-19-associated pneumonia with bacterial superinfections due to multidrug-resistant (MDR) pathogens was recorded in a COVID-19 hospital in Zagreb. This study analyzed the causative agents of bacterial superinfections among patients with serious forms of COVID-19. In total, 118 patients were hospitalized in the intensive care unit (ICU) of the COVID-19 hospital.

The role of interleukin‑7 serum level as biological marker in breast cancer: a cross‑sectional, observational, and analytical study.

Background: The important role that the immune system plays in malignant diseases is well known. The action of interleukin-7 (IL-7) as a cytokine has been observed in many cellular processes, both in normal cells of the immune system and in some cancer cells. The aim of this study has been to explore whether there is any elevation of interleukin-7 serum levels in early invasive breast cancer (EIBC) patients in comparison with healthy controls.

Trilaciclib Prior to Chemotherapy in Patients with Metastatic Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Final Efficacy and Subgroup Analysis from a Randomized Phase II Study.

Purpose: We report final antitumor efficacy results from a phase II study of trilaciclib, an intravenous cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 (CDK4/6) inhibitor, administered prior to gemcitabine plus carboplatin (GCb) in patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (NCT02978716).

Patients And Methods: Patients were randomized (1:1:1) to group 1 [GCb (days 1, 8); n = 34], group 2 [trilaciclib prior to GCb (days 1, 8); n = 33], or group 3 [trilaciclib (days 1, 8) and trilaciclib prior to GCb (days 2, 9); n = 35]. Subgroup analyses were performed according to CDK4/6 dependence, level of programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression, and RNA-based immune signatures using proportional hazards regression.

How can probiotic improve irritable bowel syndrome symptoms?

The onset and manifestations of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is associated with several factors, and the pathophysiology involves various central and peripheral mechanisms. Most studies indicate that the management of gut microbiota could significantly affect the improvement of subjective disorders in patients with IBS. Numerous clinical trials have assessed the efficacy of probiotics for IBS with controversial conclusions.

PROGNOSTIC VALUE OF TOPOISOMERASE 2-ALPHA AND B-MYB IN EARLY BREAST CANCER TREATED WITH ADJUVANT CHEMOTHERAPY.

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy in females. Despite its well-established prognostic factors, our prognostic ability at an individual patient level remains limited. In this study, the immunohistochemical expression of B-Myb and DNA topoisomerase 2-alpha (Topo2a) was analyzed in primary tumors to identify patients with a higher risk of disease recurrence after adjuvant chemotherapy for early invasive breast cancer.

Expanding the known phenotype of Mullegama-Klein-Martinez syndrome in male patients.

Here, we report a novel case of a male patient with a hemizygous missense variant in STAG2 (p.Tyr159His) resulting in Mullegama-Klein-Martinez syndrome (MKMS), a rare X-linked cohesinopathy. He shares distinct clinical features with a previously reported male patient carrying the STAG2 variant p.

Genetics of Prostate Carcinoma.

The aim of this review is to provide a brief overview of some current approaches regarding diagnostics, pathologic features, treatment, and genetics of prostate carcinoma (PCa). Prostate carcinoma is the most common visceral tumor and the second most common cancer-related cause of death in males. Clinical outcomes for patients with localized prostate cancer are excellent, but despite advances in prostate cancer treatments, castrate-resistant prostate cancer and metastatic prostate cancer patients have a poor prognosis.

Rare Case of Multiple Perirenal, Extra-Adrenal Myelolipoma: Case Report, Current Management Options, and Literature Review.

Extra-adrenal myelolipomas are rare, asymptomatic entities, although large tumors may cause local symptoms or hemorrhage. When these lesions occur outside the adrenals in the retroperitoneum, they are radiographically easily confused with both primary and secondary retroperitoneal tumors, which tend to be aggressive. Although myelolipomas are benign and can be managed conservatively, if malignancy is suspected, a surgical procedure is an option.

Prophylactic application of antibiotics selects extended-spectrum β-lactamase and carbapenemases producing Gram-negative bacteria in the oral cavity.

Prophylactic administration of broad-spectrum antibiotics in surgery can change the oral microbiome and induce colonization of oral cavity with Gram-negative bacteria including multidrug (MDR) or extensively drug resistant (XDR) organisms which can lead to lower respiratory tract infections. The aim of the study was to analyse the Gram-negative isolates obtained from oral cavity of the mechanically ventilated patients in ICUs, after prophylactic application of antibiotics and their resistance mechanisms and to compare them with the isolates obtained from tracheal aspirates from the same patients. The antibiotic susceptibility was determined by broth dilution method.

Physiologically Difficult Airway in the Patient with Severe Hypotension and Metabolic Acidosis.

The expertise to recognize and manage the difficult airway is essential in anesthesiology. Conventionally, this refers to anatomical concerns causing difficulties with facemask ventilation and/or with tracheal intubation. Severe derangements in patients' physiology can make induction and intubation likewise difficult, and approximately 30% of critically ill patients had cardiovascular collapse subsequently to intubation.