[A new questionnaire for the assessment of parental health literacy]. / Új kérdoív a szüloi egészségmuveltség mérésére.

INTRODUCTION: Parental health literacy is an important factor of pediatric health. Although it is thorougly studied in other countries, neither proper definition, nor adequate tool for its measurement exists in Hungarian. AIM: The aim of this work was to define the dimensions of parental health literacy and to introduce a questionnaire for its measurement. METHOD: Opinions of parents, pediatric nurses and pediatricians on parental health literacy were used to establish the definition and basic components. Based on these and previously standardized tests a new questionnaire was developed. RESULTS: Four dimensions of parental health literacy were formulated such as knowledge, functional literacy, self-confidence and motivation. The new questionnaire assesses all four dimension through eight topics. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first culturally adapted definition and test of parental health literacy in Hungarian. With its application the efficacy of both primary care services and health education may be improved and the correlation between parental health literacy and pediatric health may be properly studied.

Fertility preservation in cases of laparoscopic treatment of seminal vesicle cysts.

Seminal vesicle cysts can cause sub- or infertility. Minimally invasive techniques have the advantage of preserving the vas deferens by the treatment of symptomatic cases. After reviewing the published articles, only a few of them presented data on fertility before and after surgery. The authors now report the successful treatment of two patients with seminal vesicle cysts, in which laparoscopic cyst removal resolved the symptoms, preserving fertility and erectile function. Due to the rarity of seminal vesicle cysts, preoperative examinations and treatment modalities should focus not only on the relief of symptoms but also on the preservation of fertility and erectile function.

Effect of hydrocele on appendix testis in children.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of an elevated hydrostatic pressure of hydrocele on the structural integrity and steroid receptor expression pattern of the appendix testis in children. Twenty-six testicular appendages were obtained from boys (aged between 13 and 79 months, mean 40 months) who underwent surgical exploration because of hydrocele or congenital inguinal hernia. The tissue sections of testicular appendages were stained with hematoxylin-eosin. Immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence laser microscopy were performed using monoclonal mouse anti-human receptors against androgen and estrogen receptors. Patients were divided into three groups: group A (n = 8) represented patients with groin hernia without hydrocele, who served as control group; group B (n = 7) represented patients with communicating hydrocele; and group C (n = 11) represented patients with noncommunicating hydrocele. The tissue sections of appendix testis expressed both androgen and estrogen receptors in all patients in groups A and B, and epithelial destruction was not present. The presence of androgen receptor (two of 11, P < 0.001) and estrogen receptor (four of 11, P = 0.006) was lower and the number of appendix testes with epithelial destruction was higher (eight of 11, P = 0.001) in group C. We demonstrated that groin hernia and communicating hydrocele did not influence the receptor expression pattern and the anatomic structure of testicular appendages, whereas noncommunicating hydrocele caused damage as indicated by the absence of steroid receptors and destruction of the epithelial surface. A better understanding of the physiological role of testicular appendages may change the indications of surgical treatment in patients with noncommunicating hydrocele.