Croatian medical journal
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Croatian medical journal · Feb 2017
Multicenter StudyThe EUROPEP questionnaire for patient's evaluation of general practice care: Bulgarian experience.
To validate the Bulgarian EUROPEP-questionnaire and its implementation to measure patient evaluation of general practice care in Bulgarian population. ⋯ Two scales with satisfactory psychometric properties were established in the Bulgarian version of the EUROPEP-questionnaire. The study identified areas requiring improvement in general practice, such as reduction in waiting times and obtaining patient's convenience appointment.
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Croatian medical journal · Feb 2017
Rituximab with dose-adjusted EPOCH as first-line treatment in patients with highly aggressive diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and autologous stem cell transplantation in selected patients.
To assess the benefit of rituximab with dose-adjusted etoposide, prednisone, vincristine, cyclophosphamide, and doxorubicin (R-DA-EPOCH) regimen as a first-line treatment for patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) presenting with unfavorable or aggressive features, and autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) as a part of the first-line treatment for selected DLBCL patients with additional aggressive features. ⋯ Our retrospective analysis of one of the largest DLBCL patient cohorts outside the US National Cancer Institute showed that R-DA-EPOCH is a very effective therapeutic option as a first-line treatment of DLBCL patients with unfavorable prognostic features irrespective of their age. ASCT provided additional benefit for DLBCL patients with additional aggressive features.
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Croatian medical journal · Feb 2017
Glucose metabolism in completed suicide: a forensic-pathological pilot study.
To determine whether antemortem blood levels of glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and glucose predict completed suicide and, by extension, whether markers of glucose metabolism might be associated with a prosuicidal trait or state. ⋯ The finding of this pilot study suggest that deranged glucose metabolism may reflect biological events antecedent to, or concomitant with, completed suicide, with the following clinical implications: recurring hyperglycemia due to defective glucose transport, which may give rise to depression and suicidal ideation, and elevated HbA1c levels, which may represent an assayable correlate to neurobiological conditions predisposing to suicide.
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Croatian medical journal · Dec 2016
Carotid intima media thickness and blood biomarkers of atherosclerosis in patients after stroke or myocardial infarction.
To test if circulating levels of markers of inflammation, endothelial function, and chronic infections, as well as association between these markers and carotid intima media thickness (CIMT), depend on the stage of atherosclerosis expressed as a history of a major vascular event. ⋯ Our study supports linear correlations between CIMT and IC and hs-CRP levels. However, these associations seem to depend on the type of vascular burden.