Clinical evaluation of psychiatric and behavioral disorders in adolescents with epilepsy: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Epilepsy is a neurological disease that is often associated with psychiatric comorbidities.Subjects and methods: The aim of the study was to examine the frequency of psychic symptoms and their association with different types of epilepsy in the adolescent population. The study involved 100 adolescents with epilepsy and 100 healthy adolescents of both sexes at the age of 13-19. The examinees completed a standardized Symptom Checklist-90-R (SCL-90-R) questionnaire, concerning self-assessment of psychological disorders in the previous week. The value system of ​​nine dimensions and three global indexes of SCL-90-R scales were analyzed.Results: Our results suggest that adolescents with epilepsy have more than one psychic disorder compared to a healthy group of respondents. Somatic symptoms are more common in non-epileptic subjects, while obsessive-compulsive, depressive and phobic symptoms, as well as anxiety, aggressiveness, interpersonal vulnerability and paranoia, are more common in adolescents with epilepsy. Due to the type of epilepsy, obsessive compulsive symptoms are more common in adolescents with focal epilepsy, while the symptoms of phobia are more present in those with generalized epilepsy. The depth and intensity of psychological stress is higher in the group of adolescents with epilepsy compared to the healthy group of respondents.Conclusions: Psychiatric comorbidity is very common in epileptic patients and depending on the type of diagnosed epilepsy, various symptoms are expressed. Furthermore, psychological stress is more observable in adolescents with epilepsy. For patients with epilepsy, mental health care and seizure control is extremely important in the prevention of serious mental disabilities.

Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of primary headaches in adolescent population: is there a relationship with the way of life?

The headache in the adolescent population is one of the most common conditions that doctors deal with. It is an important source of disability with several health-related considerations. The aim of the study was to investigate the frequency, as well as different epidemiological and clinical characteristics, of primary headaches in adolescents. An epidemiological study was conducted on 1800 adolescents of both sexes based on a questionnaire consisting of 65 questions referring to sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of headaches. Based on the questionnaire information, the examinees were divided into four groups: adolescents with migraine, tension-type and mixed headache and the fourth group were examinees without headaches. The information was statistically processed and the level of significance < 0.05 is considered statistically significant. Out of 1800 respondents, 1160 subjects were those with headache (64.4%) and 640 subjects were without headache (35.6%). The most common primary headache is tension-type headache. The majority of subjects with tension-type headaches attend elementary school and with migraine and mixed headaches high school. There were significantly more headaches among adolescents who had their own computer and who spent more than 2 h using it. More frequent headaches were found in those who travel by public transport and spend more time on Facebook. Primary headaches in adolescent population occur frequently and despite numerous studies, they are still not taken seriously enough. It is necessary to educate parents, teachers and adolescents to avoid risk factors or at least reduce their impact.

Comparison of results of surgical treatments of primary inguinal hernia with flat polypropylene mesh and three-dimensional prolene (Phs) mesh--one year follow up.

The aim of this study was to compare the results of the surgery of inguinal hernias using flat polypropylene mesh and three-dimensional prolene (PHS) mesh. The study included two groups of 40 male patients, aged 18-50 years, with the diagnosis of inguinal hernia. One group was operated with a flat polypropylene mesh, while the second group was operated with three-dimensional prolene (PHS) mesh. The study has shown that the operation with three-dimensional prolene mesh lasted 15 minutes longer and that the patients had stronger inflammatory response. Statistically, there was no significant difference in post-operative pain intensity, post-operative use of analgesics, length of hospitalization, return to daily activities, early and late post-operative complications. No recurrence was registered in any of the groups. The analysis of results indicates that there is no difference in treatment of inguinal hernia with flat polypropylene and three-dimensional prolene (PHS) mesh.

Vasodilatory prostaglandins in perinatal hypoxic brain damage.

Prostaglandin (PGE2 and PGI2) synthesis was determined in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum of 19 hypoxic neonates at the age of 5-96 hours by using Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) method. Control group consisted of 8 children of the same age whose samples were taken due to initial suspicion of neonatal meningitis. The prostaglandin concentrations in CSF were correlated with initial hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) stage and neurological findings of patients at the age of 12 months. The values of PGE2 and PGI2 in the CSF of children with perinatal hypoxia (PNH) were significantly higher than in the children from the control group. The values of PGI2 in serum were significantly higher than in "CSF" of patients with PNH. Although average values of PGE2 and PGI2 in the liquor were higher in children with advanced stage of HIE, the differences between different stages were not statistically significant. We did not find any significant correlation between average concentrations ofprostaglandins and neurological findings of the 12-month-old children.