[Twelve years of continuing medical education in Slovakia]. / 12 rokov kontinuálneho medicínskeho vzdelávania na Slovensku.

Continuing medical education (CME) is an important part of the medical practice today. After the pregraduate and postgraduate education each general practitioner and specialist should follow the CME to maintain, develop or increase the knowledge and professional skills. In May of 2004 a Slovak accreditation council for continuing medical education (SACCME) was established on the base of mutual agreement among statutory representatives of Slovak Medical University, Association of Medical Schools, Slovak Medical Association, Slovak Medical Chamber, and Association of Private Physicians as non governmental non for profit organisations. During the period of 2004-2009, the number of accredited events (educational meetings, conferences and congresses) increased from 133 to 938 including the autodidactic tests in medical journals. From the beginning of 2009, SACCME credits obtained by physicians yearly are being transferred to the database of Slovak medical chamber which is responsible by law for control of CME process.

A comparison of the opinion of general practitioners and their patients on compliance with pharmacotherapy.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to identify and confront the opinions of both patients and general practitioners on their relationship. METHODS: Our questionnaire was designed according to the target of our study--to analyse the communication between the GP and the patient as well as the adherence to the treatment procedures--in the group of 100 GPs and 500 patients. RESULTS: The response rate was 95% in GPs and 86.6% in patients. Totally, 88% of patients and 52% of GPs were convinced that the compliance with the treatment and the trust to the GP are related. CONCLUSIONS: Non-compliance is a frequent reason for the patient's unsatisfying response to the therapy. A professional approach to this problem is an essential precondition of an increased quality of health care and an increased patient's satisfaction without requirements of health care system for additional financial resources (Tab. 1, Fig. 1, Ref. 12).

Uric acid level is positively associated with NT-proBNP concentration in Slovak heart failure patients.

Increased concentration of uric acid (UA) is positively associated with the clinical severity but negatively associated with the prognosis of heart failure (HF). However, data related to the association between UA concentration and N-terminal pro brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) are still lacking. The aim of the study was to analyze the relationships between UA, NT-proBNP, clearance of creatinine and NYHA function class and echocardiographic variables in the Slovak population of primary care patients diagnosed with HF. The association between UA and NT-proBNP was assessed by multivariate analysis. 848 patients (402 men, 446 women) with HF were included in the study. NT-proBNP correlated with UA in both men and women after adjustment based on age, BMI and glomerular filtration rate (r=0.263, p<0.0001; r=0.293, p<0.0001). UA concentration rose with the severity of the NYHA class and was significantly higher in patients with moderate and severe systolic dysfunctions as well as with diastolic dysfunction in the multivariate analysis. In conclusion, our study in Slovak population with HF has revealed a positive correlation between the concentration of UA and NT-proBNP, and the independency of this association on confounding factors. The results support the role of UA as a biochemical marker of HF severity and prognosis.