The advent of ultrasonography and computed tomography has facilitated the ima­ging of kidneys in patients with chronic renal fai­lure. Patients with diffuse renal parenchymal disease present with small, shrunken end-sta­ge…

The recent technical development of echocardiography, especially transesophageal echocardiography, made the diagnosis of patent foramen ovale in adult life possible. The defect pre­disposes the patient to paradoxical embolism and is…

Apoptosis, named as programmed cell death, represents one form of cell death and has a crucial role in the tissue homeostasis. Be­sides this, apoptosis is involved in a number of…

Collateral sprouting of axons in the pe­ripheral nervous system is a branching out­growth of new axon terminals from non-injured axons into adjacent denervated regions of tar­get tissue. The initiation of…

Elevated plasma fibrinogen concen­tration is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. In addition to several factors such as advanced age, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disea­ses, elevated plasma cholesterol and glucose, and…

An ideal medical treatment for affec­tive disorders is not yet available. Specific needs of individual patients can be met by selecting from among a wide range of drugs on the…

Multiple sclerosis is a chronic autoim­mune demyelinating disease. In the article, the epidemiological situation in the world as well as the prevalence and incidence of multiple sclero­sis in our country…

Two polymorphic sites of the CYP1A1 gene, coding for cytochrome P4501A1 enzyme, have been discovered so far. One involves the 7th exon of the coding region; a nucleotide chan­ge leads…

The purpose of this study was to de­termine the diagnostic value of the lymphocyte blast transformation test in Lyme disease. Our laboratory results were compared with the diag­noses established by…

The authors report on a 40-year-old female patient with pain, paresthesias and hypesthesias involving the distal parts of the lower extremities. Standard electromyography revealed no abnormalities, while the assessment of…

Subarachnoid blockade is defined as a temporary interruption of nerve impulse transmission produced by injecting of a local anesthetic into the subarachnoid space. The only reason for the clinical effects…

Extracorporeal circulation used in aor­tocoronary bypass graft operations for the past 30 years has several adverse effects, including ARDS, coagulation disturbances, embolism and neurologic deficits. These operations have become very…

Detecting early stages of ovarian cancer is a difficult task because of the absence of characteristic signs in this phase of the dis­ease. The tumor is most frequently found on…

Down syndrome is the most common individual cause of mental retardation in children. Prenatal screening for Down syndrome, based on the maternal age, has been practised in Slovenia since 1981.…

Human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) belongs to the family Retroviridae and subfamily Oncovirinae. HTLV-I has an outer envelope consisting of a lipid bilayer and two types of glycoproteins –…

The patient with acute myocardial infarction must receive oxygen, Aspirin® and analgesia with morphine as soon as possible. In most patients, gliceryl trinitrate is also indi­cated. The doctor should reassure…

Tick-borne encephalitis is the most important human central nervous system virus infection in Europe. The virus is maintained in nature by a cycle involving reservoirs (small mammals, deer) and vector…

The mechanism of action of the actino­porins, substances from the sea anemone Actinia equina, is by cation selective pore formation in the cellular membranes that consequently cause cell lysis. The…

Assessment of spontaneous body movements of newborns from video recordings is a diagnostic method that has not yet been introduced in Slovenia. Spontaneous move­ments of neurologically damaged newborns have been…

An immunocompromised patient with fulminant sepsis of unknown etiology is described. Within a few hours of onset he developed septic shock and died. The importance of right cardiac catheterization in…

There are many different theories and conflicting views about the etiology and treatment of Achilles tendon rupture. The theory of ischemic and degenerative causes seems to have been most widely…

Renovascular hypertension is the most common potentially curable form of arterial hypertension. It occurs as a result of insufficient perfusion of renal tissue, secondary to haemodynamically significant stenosis of the…

Genotyping of hepatitis C virus (HCV) isolates is of particular interest for epidemiolo­gy. Because of extreme genome variability of HCV genome, each genotyping method should be evaluated in local setting…

Psychophysical tests, including ther­mometry and vibrametry, are used to assess sen­sory function of the specific sensory system. Since sensory tests measure subjective respons­es, and are therefore less objective, evaluation of…