[Organization of medical care for patients with cardiovascular diseases].

Morbidity with cardiovascular diseases in Sverdlovsk region has increased nearly twice over 10 years. Cardiovascular diseases are main causes of disablement and death, taking over a half of the total population losses over recent years. The article was aimed to specify approaches to manage risks of population losses with cardiovascular diseases. Structuring main blocks in organization of medical care for cardiovascular patients was attempted.

[The incidence of Lyme arthritis and of antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi in rheumatology patients in an endemic area]. / Chastota laim-artrita i antitel k Borrelia burgdorferi u bol'nykh revmatologicheskogo profilia v éndemichnom raione.

The examination of 231 rheumatic patients, 159 patients with reactive arthritis and 117 rheumatoid arthritis patients identified diagnostic titers of polyvalent antibodies to Borrelia in 6.6% of all the examinees with rheumatism, 11.9% with reactive arthritis and in 7.7% with RA. Lyme arthritis was diagnosed in 1.3% of reactive arthritis patients. To diagnose Lyme arthritis accurately, it is recommended to rest upon clinical symptoms which must be associated with high titers of IgG antibodies to Borrelia growing still higher in the follow-up period.

[The characteristics of peripheral nervous system involvement in Lyme borreliosis in an endemic region of Russia]. / Osobennosti porazheniia perifericheskoi nervnoi sistemy pri Laim-borrelioze v éndemichnom raione Rossii.

Clinical and laboratory data are available on affection of the peripheral nervous system (PNS) in 27 patients with Lyme-borreliosis (LB) in the endemic region of Russia. PNS disorders arose early, 88.9% of the patients had them within one month of the disease. 9 (37.5%) patients had meningoradiculoneuropathy (MRN) which emerged in the acute period in 77.8% of the patients. Inflammation in the cerebrospinal fluid was registered only in patients with clinical signs of meningitis. MRN developed more frequently in facial nerve neuritis (FNN) than in radiculopathy (RP)-80.0% and 14.3%, respectively, p = 0.01. Intrathecal synthesis of antibodies to B. burgdorferi in combination with pleocytosis was found only in FNN patients (16.7%). In 6 (37.5%) of 16 patients with neuroborreliosis concentrations of C-reactive protein were elevated. Its high level occurred significantly more frequently in RP (83%) than in FNN (17%) (p = 0.05). 5 out of 14 LB patients exhibited high level of Willebrand factor antigen. No clear clinical relations between this value and PNS lesions in LB were found.

[Frequency of lyme borreliosis and diagnostic titers of antibodies to borrelia burgdorferi in patients with neurological diseases in endemic region of Russia]. / Chastota Laim-borrelioza i diagnosticheskikh titrov antitel k Borrelia burgdorferi u bol'nykh s nevrologicheskimi zabolevaniiami v endemicheskom raione Rossii.

The frequency of diagnostic titers of antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi in 289 examinees suffering from neurological diseases made up 10.4%, while in the population this figure was under 1.9%. Lyme-borreliosis was detected in 11 (3.8%) patients, 2 of them had mixed infection with tick-borne viral encephalitis. In 10 patients (3.5%) the diagnosis of neuroborreliosis required verification with other techniques. It is thought valid to perform serological screening for neuroborreliosis only in patients with tick-born encephalitis to identify mixed infection.

[The epidemiological aspects of Lyme borreliosis in Sverdlovsk Province]. / Nekotorye aspekty épidemiologii Laim-borrelioza v Sverdlovskoi oblasti.

Lyme borreliosis in the Sverdlovsk region was epidemiologically analysed on the basis of the patients' referral to the Center of Lyme Borreliosis. From 1991 to 1993 a total of 873 cases of specified Lyme borreliosis were recorded. The main epidemiological characteristics of Lyme borreliosis coincided with those of tick-borne viral encephalitis. The endemic areas virtually covered all the districts of the region with the foci concentrated around large cities in the south and south-west of the region. The risk of Lyme borreliosis was found to increase with the patient's age and the duration of tick's attachment. Rural and urban residents are at an equal risk of the disease.