Start low, go slow, but look far: the case of geriatric medicine in Balkan countries.

Purpose: To present an insight of the situation of geriatric medicine in Balkan countries, as it was presented in the context of the 2nd pre-congress seminar of the 16th European Geriatric Medicine Society (EuGMS) Congress Athens 2021.

Methods: Representatives from 8 Balkan countries (Albania, Croatia, Greece, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Turkey) answered 3 questions to reflect the state of geriatric medicine in their country: education on geriatrics; systems/methods for assessment of functional status and frailty; pre-operative risk assessment. An open discussion followed.

Prognostic value of health-related quality of life in elderly patients hospitalized with heart failure.

Previous research has shown that poor health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is associated with adverse long-term prognosis in patients with heart failure (HF); however, there have been inconsistencies among studies and not all of them confirmed the prognostic value of HRQOL. In addition, few studies involved elderly patients and most focused on all-cause mortality and HF-related hospitalization as outcomes. The aim of our study was to determine whether HRQOL is a predictor and an independent predictor of long-term cardiac mortality, all-cause mortality, and HF-related rehospitalization in elderly patients hospitalized with HF.

The effectiveness of supplementary arm and upper body exercises following total hip arthroplasty for osteoarthritis in the elderly: a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To determine whether arm and upper body exercises in addition to the standard rehabilitation programme improve outcomes after hip arthroplasty.

Design: Prospective, parallel, randomized, controlled trial.

Setting: Orthopaedic and rehabilitation departments.

The effects of anti-hypertensives and type 2 diabetes on salivary flow and total antioxidant capacity.

Objective: The present cross-sectional study aimed to determine the effect of first-line anti-hypertensive drugs (enalapril, metoprolol, and combinations of enalapril with metoprolol and/or hydrochlorothiazide) on salivary gland function and salivary total antioxidant capacity (TAC) in hypertensive patients with/without diabetes mellitus (DM) type 2.

Materials And Methods: Salivary gland function was measured as xerostomia (interview) and unstimulated whole saliva flow rate (UWSFR) in 447 subjects (387 hypertensive and 60 healthy). Salivary TAC was evaluated by spectrophotometric assay.

Health-related quality of life in elderly patients hospitalized with chronic heart failure.

Background: Chronic heart failure is a very common condition in the elderly, characterized not only by high mortality rates, but also by a strong impact on health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Previous studies of HRQOL in elderly heart failure subjects have included mostly outpatients, and little is known about determinants of HRQOL in hospitalized elderly population, especially in Serbia. In this study, we tried to identify factors that influence HRQOL in elderly patients hospitalized with chronic heart failure in Serbia.

The influence of various morphologic and hemodynamic carotid plaque characteristics on neurological events onset and deaths.

A group of 72 patients with 111 asymptomatic carotid stenoses (ACS), mean age 65.42 +/- 9.21, and a group of 36 patients with 58 symptomatic carotid stenoses (SCS), mean age 67.

Long-term prognosis of patients with early post-infarction angina.

Background: Most studies have shown that early post-infarction angina (EPA) implies an unfavorable long-term prognosis among patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). However, some studies have failed to establish a link between the occurrence of EPA and increased mortality and recurrent infarction rates.

Methods And Results: In order to evaluate a long-term prognosis in patients with EPA, we assessed the 5-year prognosis of 80 patients with AMI by the presence or absence of EPA.

Ageism: does it exist among children?

Ageism is stereotyping and prejudice against individuals or groups because of their age. Robert Butler first used it in 1969, to express a systematic stereotyping and discrimination against elderly people. Available data appears to confirm that attitudes of children to the old age differ from that of adults.

[Ultrasound determination of carotid artery intima media thickness in patients on dialysis and correlation with risk factors for atherosclerosis].

Atherosclerosis is significant risk factor for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in dialysis patients. Aim of the study was ultrasound evaluation of intima media thickness on carotid arteries (as a marker of atherosclerosis), in dialysis patients and its correlation with proposed risk factors. Intima media thickness was measured in 45 dialysis patients with no signs of cardiovascular diseases (15 on peritoneal dialysis, group I, 30 on hemodialysis, group II) and 20 healthy controls.

Primary malignant mesothelioma of the peritoneum.

Mesothelioma of the peritoneum represents an extremely rare malignancy of the abdominal cavity and forms about 10% of all mesotheliomas. The annual incidence of the tumor in the general population is 1-2 cases per million. The causative relationship between chronic exposure to asbestos and mesothelioma has been proved.

Effect of estrogen replacement therapy on cardiac function in postmenopausal women with and without flushes.

Left ventricular heart function and its response to long-term estrogen replacement therapy was assessed in 30 postmenopausal women, 20 of whom had modest to severe hot flushes and 10 of whom had never had them. Continuous transdermal estradiol was given to women who had surgically induced menopause, and a combination of transdermal estradiol and sequential medroxyprogesterone acetate was given to those who had spontaneous menopause. Left ventricular systolic and diastolic function was evaluated by complete two-dimensional M-mode and pulsed Doppler echocardiography before and after 6 and 12 months of therapy.

Cytogenetic analyses reveal "atypical cells" in the peritoneal dialysis effluent.

Cytogenetic analyses were performed on dividing cells from the peritoneal effluent of 26 patients undergoing chronic peritoneal dialysis (CPD). Numerical and structural abnormalities of karyotype served as the diagnostic criteria for "atypical cells." The following cytogenetic abnormalities were observed in 7 patients: hyperdiploidy (in 6 patients), hypodiploidy (in 2 patients), and marker chromosomes (in 2 patients).

[Histologic manifestations in the skin in alpha-lactoalbumin intradermal tests in patients with chronic urticaria].

Intradermal injection with alpha-lactoalbumine, 2000 PNU/ml was carried out in seven patients (1 male, 6 females, mean age 32.4 years) suffering from milk intolerance. None of the patients had a positive allergen-specific IgE antibodies in the sera (RAST).

Postcholecystectomy diarrhea from villous atrophy of the terminal ileum.

We report a 60-year-old man with intermittent diarrhea for 15 years which was worsened by cholecystectomy. The results of routine laboratory tests, x-ray studies of the gut, and endoscopy were normal. Fecal fat excretion was normal, but total bile acid excretion was increased in the alkaline feces.

Erythropoietin and improvement of anemia in long-term hemodialysis patients.

Two groups, with 4 patients each were selected for study out of 155 patients on regular hemodialysis (HD): Group I, with hematocrit (PCV) less than 20% and group II, with PCV greater than 30%. The patients in both groups had been anemic at the start of HD treatment, but a significant improvement in their anemia had occurred only among the patients in the Group II. The main difference between the two patient groups, other than the degree of anemia, was found to be in serum erythropoietin (Ep) levels.

[The oral milk provocation test in patients with chronic urticaria].

Histamine and sera complement were followed-up in patients with chronic urticaria during oral provoking test to cow milk. Three patients with a positive history to cow milk sensitisation showed a significant decrease in C3 concentration within 180 minutes of the test. This was followed by increased histamine and skin eruption.

Amino acid supplemented diet vs. selective low protein diet in chronic renal failure.

Two groups of patients with chronic renal failure (creatinine clearance 13 ml/min) were treated with two different low protein diets: unselected protein diet with 0.35 g of protein/kg/day supplemented with amino acids (first group; 10 patients) and selective protein restricted diet with 0.6 g/kg/day of high biologically valuable proteins (second group; 9 patients).