Tobacco use and the risk of lung cancer in Macedonia.

INTRODUCTION: Lung cancer (LC) is one of the most common diseases in the world. Smoking is the most important "lifestyle" risk-factor attributed to the development of LC. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to determine the existence of a causal association between cigarette smoking and the development and distribution of LC. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The case-control study was conducted in 91 patients with LC (investigated group-IG) and the same number of persons without malignant disease (control group-CG). Both groups were interviewed between 14 July 2005 and 14 July 2006. Risk analyses were done using unconditional logistic regression, which provided results in the form of crude odds ratio. The odds ratios and their 95% confidence intervals (CI) were computed. RESULTS: Cigarette smoking is wide spread among men with LC (68%), while in CG this percent is 40.3%. In IG, among females, current smokers and nonsmokers are represented equally. More than a half of the LC patients smoke between 21-40 c/d (56.8%). Smokers and ex-smokers have 4.05 (95% CI 1.78 < OR < 9.19) times significantly higher risk to become ill compared to the non-smokers. The risk for becoming ill is 9.33 (95% CI 3.56 < OR < 24.48) times higher in smokers who smoke >20 c/d (p<0.01) compared to nonsmokers. The risk for developing LC is 4.55 (95 % CI 1.86 < OR < 11.12) times higher in persons smoking >15 years >20 c/g, compared to those who smoke <15 years <20 c/d. CONCLUSION: Our study supports the statement that cigarette smoking is by far the most important risk factor for LC. Concerted control of smoking appears to be an important priority in LC prevention, including efforts to prevent adolescents from starting to smoke at an early age (Tab. 2, Fig. 2, Ref. 22). Full Text (Free, PDF) www.bmj.sk.

Lung cancer and the smoking habit - case control study.

UNLABELLED: THE PURPOSE of the investigation was to determine the existence of the probable causal associations between cigarette smoking and the development and distribution of lung cancer. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The research was conducted as a case-control study. It included 101 patients with lung cancer (investigated group-IG) and the same number of persons without this malignant disease (control group-CG). The members of both groups were interviewed within the period May 2006-May 2007. Risk analyses were done using unconditional logistic regression, which provides results in the form of a crude odds ratio. The odds ratios and their 95% confidence intervals (CI) were computed. RESULTS: The habit of cigarette smoking was particularly wide-spread among men with lung cancer (68.8%), while in the CG this percentage was 40.3%. In IG, among the females, current smokers and nonsmokers are represented equally. Smokers and ex-smokers have a 4.05 (95%CI 1.78 < OR < 9.19) times significantly higher risk of becoming ill compared to the non-smokers. The risk of becoming ill increases significantly in smokers who smoke > 20 cigarettes per day (c/d) (p < 0.01) and is 9.33 (95%CI 3.56 < OR < 24.48) compared to nonsmokers. The risk of developing lung cancer is 4.55 (95%CI 1.86 < OR < 11.12) times greater in persons smoking > 15 years (y) > 20 c/d, compared to those who smoke < 15 y < 20 c/d. CONCLUSION: Our study supports the statement that cigarette smoking is by far the most important risk factor for lung cancer. Concerted control of smoking appears to be an urgent priority in lung cancer prevention, including efforts to prevent adolescents from starting to smoke.

Comparative analysis between transcranial color duplex sonography and magnetic resonance angiography in patients with stroke.

BACKGROUND: Cerebrovascular diseases are among the most frequent diseases of the central nervous system. There are several diagnostic methods for cerebral blood vessels evaluation. The optimal test is characterized with low risk, availability and diagnostic certainty. Lately, the rapid development of transcranial color duplex sonography (TCCS) and magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) have shown that they are the most useful techniques for non-invasive investigation of cerebral blood vessels. PURPOSE: To compare transcranial color duplex sonography (TCCS) and magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) in the evaluation of patients with stroke. METHODS: Using TCCS, hemodynamic parameters were measured in intracranial arteries in 50 patients with ischemic stroke. Magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) was carried out in all patients during 1-5 days after sonography. According to TCCS findings, patients were divided into the following groups: I) group with normal findings; II) group with occlusion of middle cerebral artery (MCA) branches; III) group with MCA stenosis and IV) group with occlusion of MCA trunk. TCCS findings were compared with MRA findings, which were considered as a golden standard. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and the overall accuracy of the test were determined. RESULTS: In all groups of patients, high levels of sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value were obtained. The certainty of TCCS in determining normal and pathologic findings of the intracranial arteries was at risk level less than 1%. CONCLUSION: TCCS is a safe and secure diagnostic modality which serves for fast and recurrent evaluation of intracranial vessels patency in the acute stroke phase and it is an imaging method with high sensitivity and specificity in determining the steno-occlusive intracranial lesions.