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Obesity has a deteriorating impact on women with PCOS, although prevalence and the impact of specific traits of PCOS remain inconstant in different populations. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the differences in clinical, hormonal and metabolic features between obese and nonobese Croatian women diagnosed as having PCOS according to Rotterdam consensus criteria. The study included 74 obese and 208 nonobese women with PCOS. Clinical, biochemical and metabolic variables were compared among those PCOS subgroups. Obese subjects with PCOS had a higher risk of developing oligo-amenorrhea (OR 3.7; 95% CI, 1.1-12.5) and lower risk for developing hirsutism and acne (OR 0.2; 95% CI, 0.1-0.3 and OR 0.8; 95% CI 0.5-1.4, respectively). Obese PCOS subjects also had a higher risk of developing hyperandrogenemia (OR 2.5; CI 95% 0.9-6.7), insulin resistance (OR 4.5; CI 95%, 2.6-7.9), hypercholesterolemia (OR 5.0, CI 95% 2.5-10.2), hypertriglyceridemia (OR 5.2; 95% CI, 2.9-9.2) as well as elevated serum CRP levels (OR 4.1; 95% CI 1.4-12.2) compared to nonobese PCOS women. In conclusion, nonobese Croatian women with PCOS are more inclined to cosmetic problems associated with PCOS then metabolic ones. This is the first study to report the impact of obesity on acne and irregular menses as a study outcome. Obesity deteriorates menstrual regularity, insulin sensitivity and lipid profile in Croatian women with PCOS; therefore one of the fundamental treatment strategies of PCOS should be obesity prevention.

The aim of the paper was to evaluate current emergency contraception (EC) methods and policies in order to implement lessons learned and maximize potential population impact while introducing dedicated EC pills in Croatia. Literature search for potential reasons for EC failing to show positive population impact and detecting actionable points to be implemented in national guidelines. Six potential reasons for ECs failure to show population impact were evaluated and four actionable points were detected: low use of EC compared to the numbers of risk events, low awareness on EC in general population, differences in efficacy of EC methods and EC vailability. In order to ensure EC's population impact in Croatia it is of a critical relevance to establish continuous education programs for population of women at risk. When recommending an EC method, superior efficacy must be a key decision-making criteria therefore cooper IUD and ulipristal acetate should be our primary options. Counseling is a critical step to ensure maximal efficacy of the EC method, but also to encourage future use of regular contraceptives. Finally, national ECP dispension protocol is needed to close the loop from effective women screening, prompt yet appropriate ECP administration/dispensing towards structured follow up after EC pills intake.

Recommendations for antimicrobial treatment and prophylaxis of urinary tract infections (UTI) have been made according to the results of investigation of resistance of the most frequent causative agents of UTI to antimicrobial drugs. This investigation has been conducted for the past seven years by the Committee for monitoring bacterial resistance to antibiotics in the Republic of Croatia, with consensus of eight professional societies of the Croatian Medical Association. Uncomplicated cystitis is treated 1, 3, or 7 days, complicated 7 days, pyelonephritis 10-14 days, and complicated UTI 7 to 14 days, rarely longer. For the treatment of cystitis fluorokinolons, nitrofurantoin, betalactam antibiotics, and in the fields of lower resistance trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazol are being used. Single treatment with fluorokinolons is administered to otherwise healthy young women with normal urinary tract in whom cystitis symptoms have been present for less than 7 days. Empiric antimicrobial treatment of pyelonephritis, recurrent and all complicated UTI must be reviewed after urine culture finding is obtained. In the treatment of bacterial prostatitis and febrile UTI in males, the drug of first choice is ciprofloxacin. Asymptomatic bacteriuria (AB) is treated in pregnant women, newborns, preschool children with urinary tract abnormalities, before invasive urologic and gynecologic procedures, in kidney transplant recipients, and in the first days of short term urinary bladder catheterization. Recommendations for the treatment of AB in patients with diabetes mellitus have been controversial in the past two years. Antimicrobial prophylaxis is administered mostly one hour prior to the diagnostic or therapeutic invasive urological procedure, using selected antimicrobial agents.

Soluble proteins extracted from the endometria and oviducts of normal sexually mature cycling Swiss Webster mice were analysed by two-dimensional high-resolution sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Thirty endometrial and 25 oviductal proteins showed differential expression related to the oestrous cycle. In the endometrium, 19 proteins were maximally expressed in the oestrous phase, and significantly decreased or could not be detected in dioestrus. Eleven additional proteins were more prominent in dioestrus. Most of these endometrial cyclic proteins were acidic. In the oviduct, almost two-thirds of cycle-related, differentially expressed proteins were more strongly expressed in dioestrus and were significantly less prominent or could not be detected in the oestrous phase. In contrast to the endometrial proteins, most of the oviductal cyclic proteins were basic. Fourteen proteins appeared to be identical in both organs, and five of these showed the same cyclic pattern of expression. The remaining cyclic proteins were organ specific and showed uterus- or oviduct-specific changes during the oestrous cycle. Among the cyclic proteins, four endometrial and two oviductal proteins were restricted to oestrus, whereas two endometrial and seven oviductal proteins were restricted to dioestrus. These proteins could serve as markers for specific phases of the oestrous cycle. Our data show that the mouse oestrous cycle is associated with consistent and predictable changes in protein expression in both the endometrium and oviduct.

The expression of oviductal glycoproteins was studied in prepubertal mice by lectin overlay of electrophoretically separated cellular extracts. Two N-acetylgalactosamine specific lectins [Maclura pomifera (MPA), and Ricinus communis (RCA-I)] were used to study samples obtained from 7, 14, 21 and 28 day old virgin mice. A total of 9 developmentally regulated glycoprotein bands were identified. Several patterns of glycoprotein expression were noticed: glycoproteins expressed equally strongly in all stages of development; glycoproteins that were weakly expressed or not found in 7 day old or 14 and 21 day old mice but became more prominent and reached maximal expression in mature mice; glycoproteins expressed under the influence of maternal hormones at 7 days that became barely detectable in 14 and 21 day old mice but were strongly expressed in mature mice. These data show that the pattern of expression of oviductal glycoproteins changes during the prepubertal maturation of the oviduct.

The sensitivity and specificity of direct fluorescent monoclonal antibody staining were compared with the isolation of the organisms in McCoy cells. For both diagnostic methods cervical smears were taken in 120 women. Of 120 women 25 (20.8%) were infertile, 60 (50.0%) healthy fertile women and 35 (29.8%) adolescents who came for control gynecological examination. C. trachomatis was isolated in 5/25 (20.0%) of infertile women, in 5/60 (8.3%) of healthy fertile women and in 4/35 (11.4%) adolescents. With the cell culture as the reference method, the antigen detection test had a sensitivity of 92.8%, a specificity of 98.1%, a positive predictive value of 86.7% and a negative predictive value of 99.1%.

The results obtained by polling 105 elderly people, aged 75 to 95 years, on the Island of Iz are presented. Several groups of questions were asked to obtain information on the demographic characteristics, economic and social status, functional and physiologic disorders, health care needs, utilization of medical services and subjective evaluation of the quality of life of the persons polled. Compared to other studies of the quality of life of the elderly, our results point to some specific characteristics of this group of people, such as functional and physiological disorders and health risks. The results have shown that health risks and their frequency depend on the life style, self-help and mutual help. Despite the high criteria set for the evaluation of individual factors determining the quality of life, the population studied was found to have a high quality of life thanks to the operation of mechanisms which improve the quality of life.