Electrical burn injuries of 246 patients treated at the University Clinical Center of Kosovo during the period 2005-2010.

BACKGROUND: In the developing world, the incidence of electrical injuries has increased in the past few years. Electrical injuries represent approximately 5 % of all burn admissions to burn units in the United States. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to understand the causes of electrical burns in our population, sex, age, duration of treatment, distribution of electrical burns by season, accompanying other traumatic injuries with electrical burns, entry lesions of high-voltage electrocution, location of injuries, the methods of treatment, duration of treatment, and mortality. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a retrospective study that included 246 patients with electrical burns treated in the 2005-2010 period at the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery in Kosovo. The data were collected and analyzed from the archives and protocols of the University Clinical Center of Kosovo. Data processing was done with the statistical package InStat 3. From the statistical parameters the structural index, arithmetic median, and standard deviation were calculated. Data testing was done with the χ(2) test and the differences were considered significant if p < 0.05. CONCLUSION: The high mortality, 9.1 %, and 7 patients (10.6 %) transferred out of our country for treatment is a reflection of the lack of a burn center in our department.

Echocardiographic Assessment of Left Atrial Size in Patients with End-Stage Renal Disease : Cardiovascular Topic

Background: Cardiac disease is the most common cause of death in patients with end-stage renal disease. It is assumed that the high rate of cardiovascular mortality is related to accelerated atherosclerosis. Patients with chronic renal insufficiency have an increased prevalence of coronary artery disease; silent myocardial ischaemia; complex ventricular arrhythmias; atrial fibrillation; left ventricular hypertrophy; annular mitral and aortic valve calcification; and enlargement of the left atrium; than patients with normal renal function. It is also well known that haemodialysis is associated with cardiovascular structural changes and rapid fluctuations in electrolyte levels. In this study; we sought to estimate left atrial size by means of echocardiography and to determine any correlations between different echocardiographic measurements in patients with end-stage renal disease. Methods: We analysed data from 123 patients who were on regular haemodialysis; by means of traditional transthoracic echocardiographic examination. The usual statistical parameters; correlations and the Student's t-test were performed; with levels of significance of p 0.01 and p 0.05. Results: The most presented age group was 60 to 69 years old; with a predomination of females (56.1). We found dilated left atrium in 26.02of the study patients and a high statistical correlation between different methods of measurement and calculated volumes of the left atrium. Conclusion: Evaluation of left atrial size should be determined by several different measurements; and left atrial enlargement should be seen as a risk factor for advancing disease

Our experiences in surgical treatment of thoracic echinococcosis during the period 1977-1986.

Our experience is based on 147 patients with thoracic echinococcosis (TE) who underwent surgery. Of these, 131 (89.1%) patients had pulmonary TE, 3 (2.1%) had extra-pulmonary TE, and 13 (8.8%) had pulmohepatic TE Ninety-nine (67.3%) patients had uncomplicated TE, and 48 (32.7%) had complicated TE. All patients underwent surgery. In 129 (87.8%) patients, we performed cystectomy with capitonage and in 18 (12.2%) cases we performed a lung resection (lobectomy or segmentectomy). Postoperative complications occurred in 2 (1.4%) patients, and recurrence in 2 (1.4%) patients who previously had complicated TE. On admission, there was no evidence of allergic reactions in patients with complicated TE. The average time of postoperative treatment was 13 days. The results of surgical treatment were excellent. The conclusion reached is that a cystectomy with capitonage is the treatment of choice for pulmonary echinococcosis, while lung resection may be necessary if lung tissue has been destroyed by prolonged compression or infection.