[Incidence of surgical site infection after open heart surgery].

INTRODUCTION: Despite modem surgical techniques, preoperative preventive use of antibiotics and optimal treatment of operative site, surgical site infections (SSI) are significant medical problem in the countries worldwide. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this paper was to estimate the frequency of SSI after open heart surgery and to identify the most frequent causes of these infections. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A prospective cohort study was performed during the period from January 2008 to December 2009 at the Clinic of Cardiovascular Surgery of the Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, Vojvodina. The surveillance was consistent throughout the study period. During hospitalization, patients were evaluated daily by the infection control nurse. Isolation, identification and sensitivity tests of causative agents to antimicrobial drugs, obtained from patients' material, were carried out by standard microbiological methods. The descriptive epidemio-logical method was used. The incidence rates of hospital infections were calculated. RESULTS: During the study period, among 23 patients, 24 SSIs were registered. The average incidence rate of patients with SSI was 0.98% and SSI rate was 1.02% (ranged from 0% to 3.7%). There was no difference in the incidence rates according to gender (p = 0.65).The mean age of patients with SSI was 64.7 years. Except one, all patients had the ASA score higher than 2. The patients with SSIs were hospitalized approximately 3.8 times longer than the patient without SSI (p = 0.03). The most common causes of SSI were: Staphylococcus aureus (30%), coagulasa-negative Staphylococcus spp, Acinetobacter spp (8%), Enterococcus spp and Klebsiella pneumoniae. CONCLUSION: Although the incidence rate of hospital infections is low, it is necessary to maintain continuous surveillance of surgical site infections and to implement the preventive measures.

Dietary influence on breast cancer.

Certain lifestyle and environmental factors play an important role on breast cancer (BC) risk, but data on the influence of nutritional factors are still conflicting. Migrational data have pointed to nutrition as one of the more relevant external factors involved. So far, the only well established nutrition-related risk factors for BC are obesity and alcohol consumption. The evidence that body fatness is a cause of postmenopausal breast cancer is convincing as is the evidence that alcoholic drinks are a cause of BC in all ages. On the other hand, body fatness probably protects against BC diagnosed premenopause. It is more likely that the BC risk is related to life-long dietary habits. The general preventive recommendation often includes a reduction of alcohol, red meat and total dietary fat, and increase in vegetable and fruit consumption. The purpose of this work was to summarize and present current opinions on the influence of diet and nutrition on BC etiology and to suggest possible preventive measures.