Acta clinica Croatica
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Vitamin D is involved in many different functions in the human body. Despite the well-known benefits of vitamin D and increasing trends of testing and supplementation, there is still a high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency worldwide, present in the general but also in the highly-active population such as athletes and dancers. Dancers are at a higher risk of vitamin D deficiency due to their long working hours spent indoors, without exposure to sunlight. ⋯ Medline, Scopus, SportDiscus and Web of Science were searched to identify the available peer-reviewed articles. Five articles met the inclusion criteria (two interventional and three observational studies), three of which additionally investigated the relationship between vitamin D and muscle function. The reported results on positive influence of vitamin D serum level or vitamin D supplementation effect on reduced injury occurrence and enhanced muscular function in adolescent and elite professional ballet dancers are promising but the evidence is limited due to a low number of studies, small samples, and methodological limitations.
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Neurosurgical patients have specific airway management. Various conditions and diagnoses make intubation difficult and may also cause neurological damage. Spinal pathology, neurotrauma, cervical spine surgery, and pituitary gland surgery are just some examples. ⋯ Unstable cervical spine occurs in cases of rheumatoid arthritis or blunt trauma, requiring precautions to be taken with spinal stabilization during intubation and induction. Pharyngeal edema and hematomas, possible complications of cervical spine surgery can endanger airway patency after extubation; postoperative patient supervision is thus required. Due to the potential threat to the patient's airway during neurosurgical procedures, quality anesthetic preoperative preparation is necessary to avoid irreversible damage and death.
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Acta clinica Croatica · Apr 2023
REASONS FOR DEFERRAL IN DEFERRED VOLUNTARY BLOOD DONORS IN EASTERN CROATIA.
When choosing a voluntary blood donor (VBD), it is important to ensure the donor health, and at the same time to produce a quality and safe blood product. The donor selection process leads to donor rejection related to their current health condition. The aim of this study was to determine gender differences in VBDs, to examine the reasons for their rejection, and to determine the share of permanently and temporarily deferred VBD, especially due to low hemoglobin levels. ⋯ Low hemoglobin was the most common reason for VBD deferral. Gender and age are related to blood hemoglobin levels in rejected and accepted donors. Female VBDs represent a potential reservoir for increasing the total number of VBDs.
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Acta clinica Croatica · Apr 2023
VALIDATION OF THE CROATIAN VERSION OF THE SURGICAL FEAR QUESTIONNAIRE (SFQ) IN ADULT PATIENTS WAITING FOR ELECTIVE SURGERY.
The Surgical Fear Questionnaire (SFQ) is an instrument for self-assessment of surgical fear and consists of two subscales, one assessing the fear of short-term consequences (SFQ-s) and another one of long-term consequences (SFQ-l) of surgery. The aim of this study was to test the Croatian version of the SFQ with regard to its psychometric properties. This prospective cohort study included patients who presented to the Department of Surgery for elective surgery in the inpatient setting at a tertiary health care facility in Croatia between April 1 and May 31, 2019. ⋯ Significant correlations of the SFQ with the NRS and HADS-anxiety subscale were demonstrated. Our study demonstrated the Croatian version of the SFQ to have a high level of reliability and hence can be used as a self-report instrument for surgical fear with two subscales. Convergent validity of the SFQ with other self-report instruments is shown.
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Acta clinica Croatica · Apr 2023
ANALYSIS OF DIAGNOSTIC EXCISIONAL LYMPH NODE BIOPSY RESULTS: 12-YEAR EXPERIENCE OF A SINGLE CENTER.
Lymph node biopsy is indicated in patients with suspected malignancy or lymphadenopathy due to unclarified reasons. Lymph node biopsy can be performed as fine needle aspiration biopsy, core biopsy, or excisional lymph node biopsy. In particular, the diagnosis of malignant lymphoma is considered insufficient for oncological treatment unless classified into subgroups. ⋯ If the core biopsy is insufficient for diagnosis, it is more appropriate to perform surgical biopsy in order to cause no delay in diagnosis and treatment. Excisional biopsy is a method that can be safely performed and does not cause severe morbidity in palpable peripheral lymphadenopathies. Although it does not cause severe morbidity because it is an invasive procedure, excisional biopsy should be performed in a selected patient group.