EPIDEMIOLOGIC RESEARCH REGARDING THE IMPACT OF RISK FACTORS ON HEALTH-RELEATED QUALITY OF LIFE IN CANCER PATIENTS.

AIM: To assess the health-related quality of life in cancer patients and the relative and attributable risks for the degree of dissatisfaction related to intrinsic and extrinsic factors. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Our research included 128 cancer patients treated at the Surgical Clinic II of the Iasi Regional Cancer Institute between December 2014 and June 2015. Thus, data were collected by using an inquiry sheet derived from the SF-36 questionnaire, which included closed and open questions about the quality of life, socioemographic data and such risk factors as smoking, alcohol use, related diseases and risk behaviours. Results: The patient sample had a mean age of 60.85 years, 51.6% of them lived in urban areas, were high school graduates, and of low economic status. DISCUSSION: As to the behavioural risk factors we found that over 80% of the patients were non-smokers, did not use alcohol, and were normal weighted. Pain was experienced by 70.7% of the cancer patients and depression affected 74% of the study cases. Patients were asked to self-assess their own health status on a scale of 0 (worst) to 100 (the best health status). CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed a poor health status (mean score 65) in the study cancer patients. The relative and attributable risks for the degree of dissatisfaction related to intrinsic and extrinsic factors were calculated and ranked factors in decreasing order: smoking, depression, pain, alcohol use, male gender, obesity, low income. We found that prolonged'suffering affects the psyche and causes depression and that the patients of low financial status, most of them living in villages, have difficulty in accessing medical care. The obtained data about the quality of life in relation with risk factors are in agreement with the data in the literature.

BREAST INFECTIONS: DIAGNOSIS WITH ULTRASOUND AND MAMMOGRAPHY.

AIM: Evaluation of ultrasonographic and mammographic pattern, etiology and risk factors of breast infections. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Our study included a group of 66 female patients aged 16 to 71 years, examined by ultrasound and mammography in several medical imaging services in Iasi in the interval 2008-2014; ultrasound was performed in all 66 patients and mammography in 22. RESULTS: In our study breast infections occurred mostly during breastfeeding and the most frequent causative agent was Staphylococcus aureus; ultrasound established the correct diagnosis in 63 cases and detected one or more of the following aspects in case of breast infections: edema of the fatty tissue, hypoechoic areas in the breast tissue, dilated ducts, or fluid collections. Mammography was not necessary in puerperal mastitis and was performed only in women over 40 years old; in most cases we had encountered a focal asymmetric density which had low specificity for the diagnosis of mastitis or breast abscess. CONCLUSIONS: Our study proved that ultrasound is a valuable method for the diagnosis of mastitis, especially when an abscess is suspected and established a correct diagnosis in most cases; the abscesses appear as inhomogeneous fluid collections, with poorly defined margins, posterior acoustic enhancement, no Doppler signal inside, sometimes associated with enlarged axillary lymph nodes. Mammography was not helpful for the diagnosis.

RETROSPECTIVE EPIDEMIOLOGIC RESEARCH ON PREVALENCE OF INFECTIONS IN SURGICALLY TREATED ONCOLOGIC PATIENTS.

UNLABELLED: The aim of this work was the retrospective study of the frequency of infections in surgically treated oncologic patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Our research included 753 oncologic patients treated at the Second Surgical Clinic of the Regional Institute of Oncology, Iasi, between January 2013 and December 2014, with the selection of cases which had infectious complications. RESULTS: The lot of patients was structured in 7 age groups and the most frequent oncologic patients had ages between 60-79 years. The most frequent malignancies were large bowel, breast, rectal, esophageal cancers, malignant hemopathies, gastric and liver malignant tumors. In our lot of 753 oncologic patients we depicted 113 (15.01%) infections. CONCLUSIONS: Our study proved that the anatomic location of the cancer, the hospitalization duration and the number of the hospitalizations has an important role in appearance of the infectious complications. The gastrointestinal malignant tumors were the most frequent malignancies associated with postoperative infections. The patients with gastrointestinal cancers from urban area, with ages between 50 and 79 years had the highest risk of infectious complications. For main causative organism was proved a high sensitivity for colistin. Clinical, paraclinical and epidemiological exams did not emphasize any decisive factors; we took into account the risks of infection during multiple pre-, intra- and postoperative procedures; all these have been associated with increased receptivity of immunosuppressed oncologic patients.

Clinical epidemiological study on the incidence of Escherichia coli infections in the cancer patients admitted to Surgery Department II of the Iasi Regional Oncology Institute in 2013.

UNLABELLED: The aim of study was to identify pathogens involved in hospital-acquired or community-acquired infections in patients suffering from various types of cancers. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A clinical epidemiological study included a group of 355 cancer patients admitted and operated at the Surgery Department II of the Iasi Regional Oncology Institute in 2013 was performed using data from hospital statistical service and the surgery and laboratory records, then processed by epidemi ological and statistical methods. RESULTS: In cancer patients the pathogen most commonly involved in infections was E. coli, followed by Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, and Enterococcus faecalis, Enterobacter cloacae and Acinetobacter. Analysis of bacterial resistance to antibiotics of the pathogen most commonly involved revealed that of the 29 E. coli strains 22 were tested for resistance/sensitivity to ampicillin; of these, 19 strains showed resistance, and only 3 were sensitive; 14 E. coli strains of were resistant to cephalosporins and 8 sensitive; all strains tested were sensitive to carbapenems, imipenem or meropenem and polypeptides (colistin); the 10 tested strains showed resistance to monobactams (aztreonam). CONCLUSIONS: E. coli was incriminated in most urinary tract infections, the other pathogens being identified sporadically. Surgical wound infections were caused mostly by E. coli and Staphylococcus aureus, followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. In our study we encountered increased resistance of E. coli to penicillins, cephalosporins, monobactams (aztreonam), fluoro-quinolones and tetracyclines.