{"title":"Navigating the complexities of developing a classification of esophagogastric junction tumors suitable for preoperative setting.","authors":"Petr Lochman","doi":"10.4149/BLL_2024_015","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4149/BLL_2024_015","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Despite the worldwide decrease in the incidence of gastric cancer, the proportion of occurrence of carcinomas of the esophagogastric junction and proximal third of stomach is on the rise. The cause of this development is believed to lie in an increasing incidence of reflux esophagitis with Barrett´s metaplasia and successful eradication of Helicobacter pylori infection. The aim of this work is to present various views on the definition of the esophagogastric junction itself and to give an overview of tumor classification schemes being used (Fig. 2, Ref. 54). Keywords: gastric cancer, esophagogastric junction, definition, classification.</p>","PeriodicalId":55328,"journal":{"name":"Bratislava Medical Journal-Bratislavske Lekarske Listy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139467365","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A novel marker for prediabetic conditions: Uric acid-to-HDL cholesterol ratio.","authors":"Sumeyye Buse Balci, Burcin Meryem Atak, Tuba Duman, Feyza Nihal Ozkul, Gulali Aktas","doi":"10.4149/BLL_2023_130","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4149/BLL_2023_130","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>The objective of this study was to identify a parameter that can facilitate the diagnosis of prediabetes and predict the likelihood of its development in individuals at high risk.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>In this retrospective study, the study population was selected from Bolu Abant Izzet Baysal University Hospital's patients. Participants were divided into two groups, prediabetes and healthy group. We excluded individuals with certain conditions or taking certain medications. The study compared the ratios of uric acid to high-density lipoprotein (HDL) between the two groups and identified the optimal point of differentiation.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The study analyzed data from 228 individuals, including 125 with prediabetes and 103 healthy controls. Those with prediabetes had a significantly higher median UHR (0.13 (0.07-0.24) %) compared to healthy individuals (0.09 (0.05-0.16) %) (p < 0.001). Higher UHR values were associated with a greater risk of prediabetes. A UHR cut-off points greater than 0.11 % had a sensitivity of 74 % and specificity of 69 % in detecting prediabetes.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The study provides evidence that UHR can serve as a practical and valuable diagnostic and screening tool for prediabetes (Tab. 2, Fig. 1, Ref. 23). Text in PDF www.elis.sk Keywords: serum uric acid, HDL cholesterol, UHR, prediabetes.</p>","PeriodicalId":55328,"journal":{"name":"Bratislava Medical Journal-Bratislavske Lekarske Listy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139934373","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Barbora Gogolova-Bujnova, Jana Brucknerova, Ingrid Brucknerova
{"title":"Extremely rare complication in high-risk newborn on long-term parenteral nutrition and large stool losses through ileostomy.","authors":"Barbora Gogolova-Bujnova, Jana Brucknerova, Ingrid Brucknerova","doi":"10.4149/BLL_2024_87","DOIUrl":"10.4149/BLL_2024_87","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Aim: </strong>To analyse postnatal characteristics, clinical and laboratory findings, results of investigations in the newborn (25 gestational weeks; Apgar score: 6/9 points; born per caesarean section; birth weight: 600 g; birth length: 31 cm; head circumference: 21 cm) from the first high-risk pregnancy with acquired form of acrodermatitis enteropathica.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>After summarizing the clinical picture with laboratory findings, we analysed the components of parenteral nutrition with regard to the deficiency of trace elements and vitamins. The zinc depletion dominated.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The diagnosis is clinical, based on the presence of a typical clinical picture together with a low serum zinc concentration. Standard preparations with elementary elements do not sufficiently cover the daily needs of children, other possibilities of supplementation in intravenous form are not available. It is necessary to supplement zinc in premature children, in children with high losses of zinc (with diarrhoea, in patients with a stoma, in patients with severe skin disease) (Fig. 4, Ref. 15).</p>","PeriodicalId":55328,"journal":{"name":"Bratislava Medical Journal-Bratislavske Lekarske Listy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141581597","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Cemal Koseoglu, Can Ramazan Oncel, Goksel Dagasan, Ali Coner, Ozgur Akkaya
{"title":"Mitral annular plane systolic excursion (MAPSE) as a predictor of atrial fibrillation development after coronary artery bypass surgery.","authors":"Cemal Koseoglu, Can Ramazan Oncel, Goksel Dagasan, Ali Coner, Ozgur Akkaya","doi":"10.4149/BLL_2024_78","DOIUrl":"10.4149/BLL_2024_78","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>To predict the possibility of postoperative atrial fibrillation (AF) with mitral annular plane systolic excursion (MAPSE) measurement, which is a cheap, reproducible echocardiographic method and to monitor these patients more closely and to evaluate them more effectively postoperatively.</p><p><strong>Material and methods: </strong>247 patients scheduled for coronary artery bypass surgery were evaluated and 200 patients were included in the study.The enrolled patients were classified into the two groups according to the occurrence of postoperative AF or maintained sinus rhythm after coronary artery bypass surgery (normal sinus rhythm [NSR] group vs. AF group).The clinical and demographic data of all the patients were recorded on admission. Two-dimensional transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) was performed prior to elective surgery.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Postoperative new onset AF occurred in 37 (18.5%) patients. In the multivariate logistic regression analysis carried out after the formation of the model based on the parameters related to AF development, the relationships with white blood cell count, LAd and MAPSE were observed to be prevalent.When MAPSE, which is a parameter used to predict the development of postoperative atrial fibrillation, was compared in the ROC analysis, the area under the curve was found to be 0.831, 95% CI lower-95% CI upper (0.761-0.901) (p<0.001).The distinguishing MAPSE value in predicting postoperative atrial fibrillation development was found to be 11.6 (sensitivity: 90%, specificity: 81%).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>We showed that MAPSE could play a role in determining postoperative atrial fibrillation development after coronary artery bypass surgery (Tab. 2, Fig. 2, Ref. 28).</p>","PeriodicalId":55328,"journal":{"name":"Bratislava Medical Journal-Bratislavske Lekarske Listy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141581599","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Martin Vojtko, Kristina Cmarkova, Miroslav Pindura, Blazej Palkoci, Roman Kycina, Lenka Nosakova, Marek Vojtko, Peter Banovcin, Juraj Miklusica
{"title":"Distal pancreatectomy.","authors":"Martin Vojtko, Kristina Cmarkova, Miroslav Pindura, Blazej Palkoci, Roman Kycina, Lenka Nosakova, Marek Vojtko, Peter Banovcin, Juraj Miklusica","doi":"10.4149/BLL_2024_36","DOIUrl":"10.4149/BLL_2024_36","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Ntroduction: </strong>Distal pancreatectomy is a standard surgical procedure for selected benign, premalignant, and malignant lesions localized in the pancreatic body or tail. Surgical resection remains the only curative option for patients diagnosed with adenocarcinoma of the pancreas.</p><p><strong>Patients and methods: </strong>Perioperative and postoperative clinical courses were retrospectively assessed in patients, who underwent distal pancreatectomy during the 2011‒2021 period.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>During the 2011‒2021 period, a total of 112 distal pancreatectomies were performed. 67 patients (59.8%) underwent laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy, and 45 patients (40.2%) open laparotomy. The conversion was necessary for 13 patients (11.6%). Distal pancreatectomies performed laparoscopically were associated more often with biochemical leak and the development of grade B fistula, on the other hand grade C fistula developed only in patients operated by open laparotomy (LPT). The mean operating time was slightly longer in the laparoscopic group (227.1 min vs 214.6 min). The mean estimated blood loss was significantly higher in the LPT group (540.4 ml vs 191.9 ml). The mean hospitalization time was slightly longer in the LPT group (11.8 days vs 9.3 days). The rates of early reoperations were comparable between both groups (6 vs 5).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Laparoscopic techniques are preferred in centers around the world to bring patients benefits by using a minimally invasive approach. These techniques are also preferred in our center, in nearly 60% of all distal pancreatectomies performed during 10 years, but on the other hand, there is a much more careful approach chosen in cases of malignant disease to achieve adequate radicality (Tab.4, Ref. 20).</p>","PeriodicalId":55328,"journal":{"name":"Bratislava Medical Journal-Bratislavske Lekarske Listy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140289712","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Serdal Ates, Mehmet Okumus, Erdal Demirtas, Yahya Kemal Gunaydin, Sertac Guler
{"title":"The ROX, shock and diastolic shock indexes in the prediction of mortality in COVID-19.","authors":"Serdal Ates, Mehmet Okumus, Erdal Demirtas, Yahya Kemal Gunaydin, Sertac Guler","doi":"10.4149/BLL_2024_76","DOIUrl":"10.4149/BLL_2024_76","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>The aim of this study is to determine the role of Respiratory Rate Oxygenation (ROX), shock, and diastolic shock indexes in predicting mortality in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients admitted to the emergency department.</p><p><strong>Background: </strong>The COVID-19 spread worldwide in a short time and caused a major pandemic. The ROX, shock, and diastolic shock indexes are used in various life-threatening clinical situations. The use of these indexes in triage at emergency departments can accelerate the determination of COVID-19 patients' severity.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The ROX, shock and diastolic shock indices were calculated and recorded. Patients were divided into three groups; 1) who were discharged from the hospital, 2) who were admitted to the hospital and 3) who were admitted to the intensive care unit.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Increased diastolic shock index and decreased ROX index were found to be independent risk factors for mortality. In the prediction of mortality, the sensitivity and specificity of the diastolic shock index were 61.2% and 60.8%, respectively. However, the sensitivity and specificity of ROX index was 73.1% and 71.5%, respectively.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>In conclusion, we found that the ROX index had higher sensitivity and specificity than other indexes in predicting mortality in the evaluation of COVID-19 patients (Tab. 3, Fig. 2, Ref. 18).</p>","PeriodicalId":55328,"journal":{"name":"Bratislava Medical Journal-Bratislavske Lekarske Listy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141581606","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Clinical utility of biomarkers of hepatocellular carcinoma.","authors":"Abdul Fatawu Mohammed, Xu Chen, Chengbin Li","doi":"10.4149/BLL_2024_016","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4149/BLL_2024_016","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common forms of cancer significantly affecting the mortality and morbidity rates. The increasing incidence of HCC is a great concern across the globe. The current methods of HCC screening, detection and diagnosis depend mainly on imaging techniques. However, biomarkers represent a relatively easy and noninvasive way to detect and estimate the disease prognosis. New potential biomarkers such as α-fetoprotein (AFP), des‑γ‑carboxyprothrombin (DCP), α-fetoprotein L3 (AFP-L3), glypican 3 (GCP3), micro-RNA, and Golgi-protein 73 (GP73) are being used more often in the diagnosis and prognosis of HCC. The lack of prudent diagnostic measures makes early detection of HCC nearly impossible. The use of biomarkers to detect cancer has helped to screen for the disease. However, the most commonly used biomarkers for HCC have inadequate performance characteristics. Despite numerous efforts to identify molecules as potential biomarkers, there is no single ideal marker for HCC. In this paper the main biomarkers for the surveillance, diagnosis and prognosis of HCC are reviewed. The advantages and limitations of these biomarkers are summarized, and the future development directions are proposed (Tab. 1, Ref. 30). Keywords: hepatocellular carcinoma, biomarkers, AFP, DCP, diagnosis.</p>","PeriodicalId":55328,"journal":{"name":"Bratislava Medical Journal-Bratislavske Lekarske Listy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139467358","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The low birth weights of newborns conceived using assisted reproduction technology.","authors":"Eva Waldaufova, Anna Stastna, Tomas Fait","doi":"10.4149/BLL_2024_023","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4149/BLL_2024_023","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Couples are increasingly using assisted reproduction technology (ART) to facilitate having children. This raises the question of whether using ART leads to the same health outcomes as spontaneous conception.One of the major health outcome factors concerns the weight of the newborn. Many foreign studies have proved that newborns conceived via ART evince lower birth weights than newborns that were conceived spontaneously. The purpose of this study is to determine whether the risk of low birth weight differs according to the ART method selected (in-vitro fertilisation with fresh embryo transfer, frozen embryo transfer, oocyte receipt), and which of these methods is associated with the lowest risk of a low birth weight. Anonymised individual data on all deliveries that took place in Czechia between 2013 and 2018 was used for the analysis. The dataset was obtained from the National Registry of Reproduction Health (administered by IHIS CR).The binary logistic regression revealed that concerning many of the covariates controlled, women who underwent IVF had a higher risk (30 %) of giving birth to a child with a low birth weight than women who received frozen embryo transfer treatment (CI 1.15-1.48). Women who underwent oocyte receipt treatment were found to have an even higher (52 %, CI 1.17-1.97) risk than women who received frozen embryo transfer. This study supports existing international knowledge of the specifics of the health outcomes of women who use ART (Tab. 1, Fig. 3, Ref. 32). Keywords: Low birth weight, assisted reproduction technology, in-vitro fertilisation, frozen embryo transfer, oocyte receipt.</p>","PeriodicalId":55328,"journal":{"name":"Bratislava Medical Journal-Bratislavske Lekarske Listy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139467376","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Zahorec index or Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, valid biomarker of inflammation and immune response to infection, cancer and surgery.","authors":"Jozef Firment, Ivan Hulin","doi":"10.4149/BLL_2024_012","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4149/BLL_2024_012","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>For many years, the physicians are searching for easily measurable marker of immune response to the stress and inflammation. More than, 20 years ago Zahorec (2001) proposed neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) as an easy available and valid biomarker of inflammation, stress, and activation of immune system.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>In this narrative review we focused on the utility of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (Zahorec's index) in clinical practice of general medicine (inflammation and infection), intensive medicine (sepsis), oncology (prediction of prognosis in cancer of solid organs), surgery and perioperative medicine (diagnosis of complications, and prediction of clinical outcome).</p><p><strong>Results and conclusion: </strong>We provide many evidences of clinical research which confirm that Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio is a very sensitive marker of inflammation, stress reliable and valid parameter in everyday clinical practice. NLR (Zahorec index) is an effective tool for diagnosis of infection and severity of disease of variable etiologies. NLR reflect the grade of inflammation in cancer disease, which has a significant impact on the prognosis of cancer patients. Zahorec index should be used routinely in emergency medicine, surgery and perioperative medicine as a marker of the severity of affliction, infection, and complications in general. NLR may help physicians in decision making process for early diagnosis and therapy. NLR should be investigated frequently in acute states (sepsis, shock, peritonitis, stroke, trauma) on a daily basis, in subacute states few times per week (during hospital stay), and few times per year in chronic disease (cancer, diabetes mellitus, ischemic heart disease, psychiatry disorders). NLR has a deep biological sense connecting together function of three suprasystems: immune, endocrinne and autonomous nervous system (Tab. 2, Fig. 3, Ref. 86).</p>","PeriodicalId":55328,"journal":{"name":"Bratislava Medical Journal-Bratislavske Lekarske Listy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139467380","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Monika Habekova, Danica Valkovicova Stanekova, Maria Takacova, Alexandra Kovarova
{"title":"Characterization of HIV-1 subtypes and drug resistance mutations in Slovakia: update 2017-2018.","authors":"Monika Habekova, Danica Valkovicova Stanekova, Maria Takacova, Alexandra Kovarova","doi":"10.4149/BLL_2024_26","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4149/BLL_2024_26","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>This study aimed to provide an overview on the HIV-1 subtypes circulating in Slovakia between 2017 and 2018 and to evaluate the risk of transmission of HIV‑resistant strains.</p><p><strong>Background: </strong>The HIV epidemic in Slovakia is characterised by low incidence of new and pre-existing infections and a slightly elevated level of strain heterogeneity.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Partial HIV pol gene sequences of 110 individuals newly diagnosed with HIV between 2017 and 2018 were analysed.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The genotypic analysis revealed sporadic occurrence of mutations linked to HIV resistance to antiretroviral therapy (ART). The HIV-1 B subtype has been found as predominant (84.55 %) and primarily linked to men who have sex with men (MSM). A total of eighteen individuals (15.45 %) were found to be infected with HIV-1 non-B subtypes.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The data suggest a minimal risk of a resistant HIV strain transmission and a marginal rise of HIV-1 subtypes´ diversity. The HIV-1 B subtype remains the most prevalent in the period 2017-2018 in Slovakia (Tab. 2, Fig. 2, Ref. 37).</p>","PeriodicalId":55328,"journal":{"name":"Bratislava Medical Journal-Bratislavske Lekarske Listy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139934374","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}