Establishment and activity of medical societies in Lower Styria - a review.

In the 1860s, the medical societies in Habsburg Monarchy, undertook a part of the medical postgraduate training. Doctors and wound surgeons from Ljubljana established medical association in October 1861 («Ärztlicher Leseverein in Laibach¼). At a meeting in October 1862 they decided to include all the doctors and wound surgeons from the Carniola region. Following the organization was renamed Medical Association in Carniola («Verein der Ärzte in Krain¼). A similar provincial association was founded by the Styrian doctors in Graz as early as in May 1862 («Verein der Ärzte in Steiermark¼). Similar medical associations were also established in the Lower Styria in the 1870s. The most important medical association was established in Maribor in 1876. Another medical association was established in Celje in 1877 and one in the Ptuj-Ljutomer region in 1877. As the associations were mostly communicating in German, this might have been the reason for the establishment of the Slovene medical society in Celje in 1906. The Slovenian national consciousness began to strengthen across the territory of today's Slovenia. Already after the First World War in 1918, they managed to achieve the establishment of the Slovene Medical Society. Due to the events during the Second World War, a uniform Slovene medical association was established in 1947.

Changes in perifollicular vascularity after administration of human chorionic gonadotropin measured by quantitative three-dimensional power Doppler ultrasound.

AIM: To determine the perifollicular vascular network and blood flow changes of the dominant preovulatory follicle using quantitative three-dimensional (3D) power Doppler analysis. METHODS: A total of 21 cycles were studied in spontaneously ovulating women who underwent folliculometry and 3D power Doppler angiography of perifollicular blood flow of the dominant preovulatory follicle on the day of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) administration and 24 h after it. RESULTS: At 24 h after the administration of hCG, increases were found in the area inside the biggest follicular circumference (8.48 +/- 1.73 cm(2) vs. 9.30 +/- 1.64 cm(2)), in the percentage of vessel volume inside the perifollicular capsule (3.58 +/- 3.65% vs. 7.76 +/- 10.13%) and in total perifollicular blood volume (931.33 +/- 1084.60 vs. 3486.00 +/- 7272.34). Moreover, the rearrangement in blood volume distribution resulted in equalization of the contribution of each feeding vessel to total perifollicular blood flow. A more uniform vascular network resulting in decreased dominance of a single feeding vessel in total inflow was found (50.50 +/- 28.18% vs. 29.05 +/- 14.14%). CONCLUSION: After the administration of hCG there was a visible increase in perifollicular capillary network volume, relative volume of blood, and balancing of blood inflow of each feeding vessel of the perifollicular circulation.

A large hymenal polyp in a 21-year-old virgin.

Pathological conditions of the hymen are rare in everyday medical practice. They are usually encountered in the pediatric patient population and are sometimes a matter of forensic interest. We report an interesting case of a large hymenal polyp in an adolescent virgin that presented only a cosmetic problem. The polyp was excised, the hymenal ring was preserved, and the sample was histologically verified.

Orally and transdermally replaced estradiol improves endothelial function equally in middle-aged women after surgical menopause.

OBJECTIVE: Improvement in endothelial function may be an important mechanism by which estrogen replacement therapy protects postmenopausal women against coronary artery disease. We determined whether the vascular effects of estradiol depend on the route of administration. STUDY DESIGN: Six weeks after surgically induced menopause, 43 healthy women were assigned randomly to 28 weeks of treatment by either orally or transdermally replaced estradiol. Endothelium-dependent and endothelium-independent dilation were calculated with the use of the diameters of the brachial artery that were measured at rest by high resolution ultrasound scanning after reactive hyperemia and after sublingual glyceryl trinitrate. RESULTS: Endothelium-dependent dilation increased after oral estradiol replacement from 6% +/- 3.9% to 13.2% +/- 4.4% (P <.0001) and after transdermal estradiol replacement from 7% +/- 4.9% to 14.9% +/- 5.6%(P <.0001). Endothelium-independent dilation did not change significantly in either group. The improvements in endothelium-dependent dilation after estrogen substitution were independent of the changes in blood lipids and lipoproteins. CONCLUSION: Both oral and transdermal long-term replacement of estradiol lead to improved endothelial function in healthy middle-aged women after surgically induced menopause.