Medicina
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Background and objectives: Health-related quality of life after stroke is an important public health issue. The objective of the study was to investigate the relationship between the perceived health-related quality of life in stroke survivors in relation to the type of inpatient rehabilitation. Materials and Methods: Using a random selection method out of a total of 688 patients, every fourth survivor who had a stroke in the period from 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2019 was selected from the admission protocol of the Clinic for Rehabilitation and Physical Medicine of the Clinical Centre Niš, Serbia. ⋯ Results: Multivariate linear regression analysis showed that additional inpatient rehabilitation from six up to eight weeks after discharge was significantly associated with better self-reported health condition by 3.9 times (from 1.9 to 8.2), significantly decreased the ranks of EQ5D by 1.78 times (from 1.02 to 3.11), and showed a higher health-related quality of life. We determined a significant increase of strength, emotions, mobility, and participation role in survivors who underwent additional inpatient rehabilitation compared with those who did not. Conclusions: There was a significant difference in health-related quality of life perceived by stroke survivors who underwent additional hospital rehabilitation in relation to those who underwent only inpatient rehabilitation.
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Background and Objective: Glaucoma is a progressive optic neuropathy in which the optic nerve is damaged. The optic nerve is exposed not only to intraocular pressure (IOP) in the eye, but also to intracranial pressure (ICP), as it is surrounded by cerebrospinal fluid in the subarachnoid space. Here, we analyse ICP differences between patients with glaucoma and healthy subjects (HSs). ⋯ Results: The mean ICP of NTG patients (9.42 ± 2.83 mmHg) was significantly lower than that of HSs (10.73 ± 2.16 mmHg) (p = 0.007). The mean ICP of HTG patients (8.11 ± 2.68 mmHg) was significantly lower than that of NTG patients (9.42 ± 2.83 mmHg) (p = 0.008) and significantly lower than that of HSs (10.73 ± 2.16 mmHg) (p < 0.001). Conclusions: An abnormal ICP value could be one of the many influential factors in the optic nerve degeneration of NTG patients and should be considered as such instead of just being regarded as a "low ICP".
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Background and objectives: We aimed to analyze factors associated with the period of viral shedding in patients with confirmed COVID-19 who experienced only mild symptoms. Materials and methods: We conducted a multicenter retrospective study from three community treatment centers (CTCs) of South Korea. All patients included were admitted to the three centers before 31 March 2020. ⋯ In the multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression analysis, the existence of underlying comorbidities lowered the probability of the termination of viral shedding (HR = 0.561, 95% CI 0.388-0.812). Female sex and presence of COVID-19-associated symptoms also lowered the probability, but the significance was marginal. Conclusions: The existence of underlying comorbidities was associated with delayed termination of viral shedding in COVID-19 patients with mild severity.
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Background and objectives: Duodenal lymphocytosis (DL) is a condition characterized by enhanced infiltration of intraepithelial lymphocytes (IELs) in the duodenal mucosa, and it can be linked to both gluten- and non-gluten-related diseases, such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Materials and methods: We retrospectively selected patients with DL linked to IBS. Formalin-embedded biopsy samples of the duodenum were collected. ⋯ A significant, direct correlation between IELs and duodenal expression of IFNγ was found (r = 0.36, p = 0.04). Conclusions: IBS with DL showed higher expression of inflammatory markers than controls, but DQ2-8 haplotype did not seem to affect their expression. Smoking might increase IELs infiltration.
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Background and objectives: Glycation occurs in a variety of human tissues and organs. Knowledge about the relationship between predictive biochemical factors such as absorption of glycated nail proteins and severity of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) and diabetic retinopathy (DR) remains limited. Materials and Methods: The study group consisted of patients with type 2 DM and DR (n = 32) and a control group (n = 28). ⋯ Absorption of glycated nail protein by ATR-FTIR spectroscopy in patients with DM and DR in vitro glycation was statistically significantly higher than in the control group; also absorption of solution with nails by NanoDrop spectroscopy was statistically significantly higher than in controls in vitro glycation and in vitro deglycation. After exposure to fructosamine 3-kinase, absorption of nail protein in DM + severe/proliferative DR group was statistically significantly lower in comparison with DM + mild/moderate group DR. Conclusions: Evaluation of glycated nail protein could be applied to evaluate the risk of having DM and for long-term observation of DM control.