Acta clinica Croatica
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Acta clinica Croatica · Dec 2021
EFFECT OF DIPPING PATTERN OF GESTATIONAL HYPERTENSION ON MATERNAL SYMPTOMS AND PHYSICAL FINDINGS, BIRTH WEIGHT AND PRETERM DELIVERY.
The study aimed to determine if the non-dipping pattern of blood pressure (BP) influences preterm delivery in gestational hypertension (GH), but also maternal clinical findings and birth weight. Sixty women with GH, i.e. 30 women with a dipping BP profile (control group) and 30 non-dippers (study group), were included in the study. Echocardiography was performed in all subjects, as well as ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) during third trimester. ⋯ Total vascular resistance (p<0.0005) and mass index (p=0.014) were significantly higher as compared with women with term delivery, while ejection fraction (EF) (p=0.007) and circumferential systolic velocity (p=0.042) were significantly reduced in the preterm delivery group. Multivariate binary logistic regression identified the average night-time systolic BP, left ventricular mass index and EF as independent predictors of preterm delivery. Study results suggested a relationship of the non-dipping BP pattern in GH with preterm delivery, birth weight, and maternal clinical findings.
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Acta clinica Croatica · Dec 2021
COMPARISON OF TVUS, MRI, AND FROZEN SECTION METHODS IN PREOPERATIVE DETECTION OF MYOMETRIAL INVASION IN PATIENTS WITH ENDOMETRIAL CANCER.
We aimed to evaluate the depth of myometrial invasion preoperatively with transvaginal ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging, and frozen section examination techniques in patients diagnosed with endometrial cancer. Our study included 65 patients. Transvaginal ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging were performed in study patients in the preoperative period. ⋯ For magnetic resonance imaging, the sensitivity was 63.64%, specificity 95.24%, positive predictive value 96.55%, and negative predictive value 55.56%. In addition to the frozen section examination, which is the gold standard in determining the myometrial invasion depth, transvaginal ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging have become commonly used methods for this purpose in recent years. Ultrasound examination performed by an experienced specialist is superior to magnetic resonance imaging as it is fast, inexpensive, and associated with higher sensitivity.
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Acta clinica Croatica · Dec 2021
INCIDENCE OF ACUTE SYMPTOMATIC SEIZURES IN PATIENTS WITH COVID-19: A SINGLE-CENTER STUDY.
The most common neurological symptoms in patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection are headache, myalgia, encephalopathy, dizziness, dysgeusia and anosmia, making more than 90 percent of neurological manifestations of COVID-19. Other neurological manifestations such as stroke, movement disorder symptoms or epileptic seizures are rare but rather devastating, with possible lethal outcome. The primary aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of acute symptomatic seizures among COVID-19 patients, while secondary aim was to determine their possible etiology. ⋯ Of these 38 patients, 29 (76.3%) had new-onset epileptic seizures and nine (23.7%) patients with previous epilepsy history had breakthrough seizures during COVID-19. Although acute symptomatic seizures are an infrequent complication of COVID-19, seizure risk must be considered in these patients, particularly in the group of patients with a severe course of the disease. Accumulation of proinflammatory cytokines may contribute to the occurrence of seizures in patients with COVID-19, but seizures may also be secondary to primary brain pathology related to COVID-19, such as stroke or encephalitis.
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Acta clinica Croatica · Dec 2021
PREDICTIVE FACTORS FOR SUCCESSFUL PROSTHETIC REHABILITATION AFTER VASCULAR TRANSTIBIAL AMPUTATION.
Lower extremity amputation is a very common amputation and successful prosthetic rehabilitation is a desirable outcome. The aim of this study was to determine which factors affect the success of prosthetic rehabilitation after transtibial vascular amputation. The study included 61 patients who had undergone transtibial amputation (mean age, 64.2±10.4 years; 50 (82%) males). ⋯ Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to identify predictive factors of successful prosthetic rehabilitation. The model included all variables explaining up to 59.8% of variance, however, only age, absence of functional patency of the popliteal artery and compromised wound healing made significant contribution to the model. In conclusion, good general condition of the patient and sustained patency of the popliteal artery reliably led to clinical improvement and realization of full capacity of rehabilitation after below-knee amputation.
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Acta clinica Croatica · Dec 2021
EFFECT OF ANTIEPILEPTIC DRUGS ON P300 EVENT-RELATED POTENTIALS IN PATIENTS WITH EPILEPSY.
Epilepsy is one of the most prevalent chronic neurological diseases, affecting about 70 million people worldwide. Patients with epilepsy often encounter cognitive dysfunction, which is influenced by different factors including age at the onset of epilepsy, etiology of epilepsy, type of seizures, seizure frequency and duration, psychiatric comorbidity, and antiepileptic drug (AED) therapy. Event-related potentials are useful, noninvasive, objective clinical and research instrument for evaluation of cognitive functions in patients. ⋯ Cognitive evoked P300 potentials were recorded in all study subjects using auditory 'oddball' paradigm. The results showed the patients taking AED polytherapy to have a significantly longer P300 latency and significantly lower N200-P300 amplitude. These results indicate that AED polytherapy might worsen cognitive impairment in patients with epilepsy.