Mortality prognostic factors in acute pancreatitis.

Background: The aim of the study was to present the biological prognostic factors of mortality in patients with acute pancreatitis. Methods: Several usual laboratory values were monitored: glucose, urea, partial pressure of oxygen, WBC count, hemoglobin, total bilirubin, and cholesterol. A statistical analysis was performed by using ROC curves and AUC interpretation. Results: The overall mortality rate was 21.1% and was different depending on the severity of the disease. Only 2.22% of the patients with a mild disease died, as opposed to 45.63% of the patients with a severe form. All the analyses studied were significantly elevated in the deceased patients. A close correlation between blood glucose, urea, partial pressure of oxygen, WBC, hemoglobin, total bilirubin, and cholesterol and mortality was objectified by measuring the AUC, which was of 97.1%, 95.5%, 93.4%, 92.7%, 87.4%, 82.2%, and 79.0%. Conclusions: The usual, easy to use, fast, and cheap tests were useful in predicting mortality in patients with acute pancreatitis. Our study confirmed that the combination of several factors led to an accurate mortality prediction.

The activity concentration of 210Po in Romanian commercial cigarettes and the radiation exposure estimation derived from their regular consumption.

Due to the relatively high activity concentrations of (210)Po that are found in tobacco, cigarette smoking has been found to be the principal pathway of the intake of this radionuclide. The (210)Po concentrations in the lung tissues may contribute significantly to an increase in the internal radiation dose and in the number of instances of lung cancer observed among smokers. The study of (210)Po in tobacco is required due to its potential for human radiation exposure through ingestion and inhalation. The risk factor caused by (210)Po in Romanian commercial cigarettes is not yet evaluated. Ten of the most frequently smoked brands of cigarettes sold in Romania were investigated in this work for this purpose. The activity concentration of (210)Po was determined by alpha spectrometry using a PIPS detector after chemical leaching and spontaneous deposition of (210)Po on a stainless steel disc from diluted HCl solution. The samples were spiked with (209)Po for chemical recovery calculation. The (210)Po activity concentrations of the measured types of cigarettes ranged from 4.65 to 10.22 mBq sample(-1) and the resulted average concentration of (210)Po isotopes is 8.35±0.80 mBq cigarette(-1) (the errors form a 2σ interval of confidence). When comparing the results of this study with the activity concentration values reported by other countries it was found that the results of this study are in the lower end of the world range. The estimation of this study shows that cigarette smokers, who are smoking one pack (20 cigarettes) per day, are exposed to an effective dose of 75.51 µSv y(-1).

[Dynamics of streptococcal infections and prevention of post-streptococcal diseases in children's communities of Timisoara]. / Dinamica infectiilor streptococice si profilaxia bolilor poststreptococice în colectivatati de copii din Timisoara.

An analysis was carried out of the dynamics of circulation of the beta-haemolytic streptococcus in pre-school and in school children in the first two years of primary school. The study was performed simultaneously in two groups of children (an experimental and a control group) and allowed, after confrontation of the results obtained, to evaluate correctly the investigations performed, that is the detection of the acute disease and of healthy carriers by bacteriological examinations and early detection of post-streptococcal complications with the aid of serologic examinations (ASLO). The importance is stressed, of living conditions in the family and at school, as well as of individual factors (hereditary, hormonal, immunologic, etc.) in the development of late complications. Thus the measures proposed by the authors are aimed not only at the medical aspects, but also to the social-organizatoric ones.

[Cervicomediastinal and thoracic goiters]. / Gusile cervicomediastinale si toracice.

Between 1950 and 1979 approximately 2400 patients with thyropathies have been operated in the I-st Surgical Clinic of Jassy. Of these 100 had cervico-mediastinal goiters, of which 79 were of the plunging cervico-mediastinal type, 18 were of the mediastino-cervical type and 3 were mediastinal goiters. The surgical treatment was applied in 98 patients, cervicotomy being sufficient to relieve the symptoms in 92 of the cases. The mixed approach (cervicosternotomy, or cervico-thoracic approach) were necessary in 5 cases, and the thoracic approach was selected in one case with an independent posterior mediastinal goiter. The immediate postoperative evolution, as well as the late evolution was good in most of the cases. Postoperative mortality was of 2 percent.