Anxiety of Patients at Magnetic Resonance Imaging Screening.

INTRODUCTION: Anxiety is a state of feeling helpless and insecure, a state of anticipation and concern that something bad will happen. Fear of pain and the unknown, as well as fear of screening results can increase anxiety. Severe anxiety during magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)can cause patient's movement, leading to poorer imaging and reduction in the quality of the diagnostic test. To determine the anxiety of patients before and after magnetic resonance imaging and to investigate the relationship between the tested anxiety and the socio-demographic characteristics of the patients. METHODS: The study was conducted at the Department of Radiology of the University Clinical Hospital Mostar in the period from February 1st 2020 to March 31st 2020. The study included 100 subjects who were prescribed an MRI screening at the time of the study. A socio-demographic questionnaire specifically designed for this study was used to obtain data on subjects such as gender, age, place of residence, smoking, drinking alcohol, economic status, religiosity. The Anxiety Questionnaire as a State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) was used to examine anxiety. RESULTS: A statistically significantly higher degree of anxiety was determined after MRI screening (p<0.001). Male subjects achieved a statistically significantly higher degree of anxiety before (p=0.019) and after (p=0.034) MRI screening. There were no statistically significant correlations between the age of the subjects and the results achieved on the anxiety tests before and after the MRI screening. CONCLUSION: Subjects who were prescribed an MRI screening have a statistically significantly higher degree of anxiety after the screening. Male subjects had a statistically significantly higher degree of anxiety on MRI screening.

Primary Central Nervous System Lymphoma, Treatment Outcomes - 10 Year Experience. Single Center Study.

Background: Primary central nervous system lymphoma(PCNSL) is an aggressive, rare form of Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, characterized by the absence of systemic disease. There are limited data and no strictly defined guidelines for management of PCNSL. Objective: The aim of this study was to report a 10 year experience of PCNSL treatment, to evaluate treatment outcomes and asses Progression Free and Overall Survival of these patients. Methods: Study was conducted on the Haematology Clinic, Clinical center University of Sarajevo, BH, in the period from January 2012.-December 2022. Total sample of 24 patients were enrolled. All have undergone diagnostic surgery. Patients were treated with regimens based on High dose Methotrexate, with/without whole brain radiotherapy as consolidation. Treatment response was captured by imaging techniques. Patients who have relapsed were evaluated with imaging techniques and treated according to Methotrexate-based treatment protocols. Results: We have captured equal gender distribution. The median age of patients was 59.5 years (range 20-79). Pathohistological analysis confirmed DLBCL diagnosis in 22 patients, T cell lymphoma and anaplastic large cell lymphoma, each in 1 patient. Chemotherapy, chemotherapy combined with WBRT and radiotherapy were given to 5, 18 and 1 patients, respectively. The overall complete response rate (CR) was 87,15%. Those receiving combined modality-treatment had higher CR than those receiving chemotherapy (94,4% versus 60%). Out of 24 patients, 11 of them relapsed. The median time to relapse was 29 months (from 1 to 105). After second line of the treatment, CR was 54,5%, while 45,45% of patients died during the treatment. 4 patients relapsed for the second time with median time to relapse of 9 months (from 2 to 77). 2 year OS rate was 67%, and the median OS rate was 45,9 months. 2 year PFS rate was 31%. Conclusion: The OS and PFS rates indicate the usage of new drugs and consolidation with autologous stem cell transplantation in patients with PCNSL in order to achieve better treatment outcomes.

Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) Objectivisation by Flow Cytometry Analysis of Major Lymphocytes Subsets.

Background: Psoriasis as an immune-mediated inflammatory skin disease. The basis of the pathogenesis of psoriasis is the dysregulation of immune cell function in genetically predisposed individuals. The characteristic dysfunction of the immune system in patients with psoriasis is manifested as a variation in the cellular phenotypic profile in accordance with the disease status. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the immunophenotypic profile of lymphocytes obtained by flow cytometry as an auxiliary diagnostic tool in the objectivization of the PASI score. Methods: The study group included 40 patients with psoriasis, hospitalized and treated at Dermatology Clinic of Clinical center University of Sarajevo and 30 healthy individuals as controls. After venepunction, the blood samples for determining the immune profile were prepared following standard laboratory procedures using conjugated monoclonal antibodies and BD FACSCanto II flow cytometer. T-lymphocytes (CD3, CD4, CD8), B lymphocytes (CD19), Natural killer cells (NK), and activatet T-cells (CD3HLA) were determined for all patients. Based on the PASI score, the severity and area of the disease was assessed for all psoriasis patients by dermatology specialist. Results: Our data shows no significant difference in any of the lymphocyte subpopulations between psoriasis patients and healthy controls, except CD3HLA. CD3HLA has higher values in patients with psoriasis, p=0.015. Of all the parameters, only NK cells were significantly correlated to the PASI score (rho -0.279; p=0.048). ROC curve analysis revealed a statistically significant difference for the proportion of CD3 lymphocytes (AUC 0.799; p=0.004), CD8 lymphocytes (AUC 0.733; p= 0.023), NK cells (AUC 0.722; p=0.008) and CD3HLA activated T lymphocytes (AUC 0.347; p=0.034). Conclusion: Profile of major lymphocyte subsets in patients with psoriasis is similar to that of healthy controls. The values of CD3, CD8, NK, CD3HLA were defined as biomarkers capable of distinguishing psoriasis according to the severity of the disease. Immunophenotyping of peripheral blood lymphocytes can play an important role as an auxiliary diagnostic method in differentiating the clinical stages of psoriasis and objectifying the PASI score.