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N Mimica

Publications and source records attributed to N Mimica.

11 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Results of the clinical examination of an ointment with marigold (Calendula officinalis) extract in the treatment of venous leg ulcers.

The aim of this study was to determine the therapeutic efficacy of marigold (Calendula officinalis) extract on the epithelialization of lower leg venous ulcers. The experiment was carried out in 34 patients with venous leg ulcers. The patients were divided into two groups. In the first (experimental) group, patients were treated with an ointment containing marigold extract, which was prepared in an apparatus devised by Soxleth and was incorporated into a neutral base. Twenty-one patients with 33 venous ulcers were treated. Therapy was applied twice a day for 3 weeks. The second group was a control group that consisted of 13 patients with 22 venous ulcers. In the control group, saline solution dressings were applied to ulcers for 3 weeks. In the experimental group the total surface of all the ulcers at the beginning of the therapy was 67,544 mm2. After the third week the total surface of all the ulcers was 39,373 mm2 (a decrease of 41.71%). In seven patients, complete epithelialization was achieved. In the control group the total surface of all the ulcers at the beginning of the therapy was 69,722 mm2. After the third week the total surface of all the ulcers was 58,743 mm2 (a decrease of 14.52%). In four patients, complete epithelialization was achieved. There was a statistically significant acceleration of wound healing in the experimental group (p < 0.05). The results obtained are preliminary, but they suggest the positive effects of the ointment with marigold extract on venous ulcer epithelialization.

Administration, Topical↗
PubMed2002

Catatonic schizophrenia has a shorter pre-hospitalisation interval than other types of schizophrenia.

The time elapsed between the first onset of symptoms and the onset of first hospitalisation was analysed in 355 participants diagnosed with paranoid, simple, hebephrenic and catatonic schizophrenia and shizoaffective disorder. The real onset of the disease was assessed from interviews with reliable relatives and by reviewing medical records in general practices and out-patient psychiatric services. In 184 patients a family history of schizophrenia was identified. A positive family history was found to significantly increase the interval preceding first hospitalisation in all analysed types, except in catatonic schizophrenia. Possible reasons causing this prolongation are discussed, as well as repercussions of the results to studies using age of first hospitalisation as the leading indicator.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Catatonic schizophrenia in Croatia.

A representative sample of schizophrenic subjects was collected for epidemiological and clinical follow-up in 1972 from the pool of 8069 patients registered in the Croatian Psychotics Case Register (CPCR). This sample comprised 402 patients (207 males and 195 females), who were followed up until 1990/91. The diagnosis of schizophrenia, catatonic type according to ICD-8 (V/295.2), was made in 59 cases (14.7%; 28 males, 31 females) at least once in the course of the follow-up. This study presents data concerning the diagnostic instability of the catatonic subtype during the long-term follow-up. As subtype diagnoses were frequently changed over the course of illness, at the end of the follow-up, the diagnosis of catatonic schizophrenia was only confirmed in 11 (18.6%) cases. Positive family history of psychosis was found in 44.1% of catatonic patients, a percent significantly greater than the corresponding figure for all non-catatonic schizophrenic subtypes combined (20.1%). This study provides preliminary evidence that the catatonic subtype of schizophrenia is a separate diagnostic entity with a high familial loading.

Croatia↗
PubMed2000

Psychotic symptoms and comorbid psychiatric disorders in Croatian combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder patients.

AIM: To investigate the prevalence rate of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) comorbid psychiatric disorders and to explore psychotic symptoms in patients with combat-related current PTSD. METHOD: The sample included Croatian war veterans (N=41) who were hospitalized at the University Department of Psychiatry of the Vrapèe Psychiatric Hospital during the 1995-1996 period and fulfilled the DSM-IV criteria for the current and chronic PTSD. The Schedule for Affective Disorder and Schizophrenia (SADS-L) was applied for the assessment of current and lifetime psychiatric disorders. Only three subjects had a prewar Axis I psychiatric disorder. One third of the patients met the criteria for personality disorder. RESULTS: After severe combat trauma, the majority of PTSD patients (33/41) had at least one comorbid psychiatric diagnosis on Axis I. In those with personality disorders the most frequent was alcohol dependence, whereas in those without personality disorders it was major depressive disorder. Psychotic symptoms occurred in 8 out of 41 PTSD patients. None of them had a primary psychotic disorder or a personality disorder. In all the patients, psychotic symptoms were different from flashbacks. They were symbolically related to the trauma and resistant to antipsychotic treatment. Psychotic symptoms were associated with depression in 5 out of 8 patients with psychotic symptoms. CONCLUSION: Severe and prolonged combat trauma may be followed by the co-occurrence of PTSD and psychotic symptoms, forming the atypical clinical picture of PTSD.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Rating scales and computed tomography in multi-infarct dementia.

Forty patients who fulfilled the DSM-III-R criteria for multi-infarct dementia and had a score of 7 points or more on Hachinski ischemia score (HIS) were analyzed with the purpose to correlate the rating scales and CT scans. Among the examined patients there were 32 women with the average age of 68.5 +/- 9.8 years and 8 men with the average age of 68.8 +/- 10.4 years. No significant difference between sex in relation to Folstein Mini-mental state examination (MMSE), Gottfries-Brane-Steen scale (GBS) and Sandoz clinical assessment-geriatric scale (SCAG) was found. There is no correlation of GBS and SCAG on MMSE. With regression analysis a good correlation was found between GBS and SCAG, and we suggest that in such studies only one of these two scales is sufficient. CT abnormalities were found in about 77% of examined patients without difference according to sex. But, GBS score demonstrated greater disability among MID patients with abnormal CT scans than in MID patients with normal CT scans. In medical history of male MID patients completed stroke was significantly more common than among women, while the female MID patients had in their history significantly more frequent transient ischemic attack (TIA). This finding should be checked in a greater patient population. It is stressed that in everyday clinical practice it is necessary to use the diagnosis of multi-infarct dementia, e.g. to differentiate cerebral diseases according to etiology and pathogenesis.

Aged↗
PubMed1989

[Disability and arthrotic changes in the lower extremity].

From a sample of occupationally disabled persons who had retired because of a disease of the locomotive system 48 men and 22 women with pronounced arthrotic changes in lower extremities were selected for the study. A comparative group, which was matched to the experimental one by age (53.8 +/- 4.2 years) and sex, consisted of occupationally disabled persons who had rheumatic complaints, but no arthrotic changes in the lower extremities. All the subjects in the study were given a questionnaire to answer and underwent a clinical examination and an X-ray of the locomotive system. Marked symptoms of arthrosis were manifest in those aged 46 +/- 6 years. Besides occupation (coxarthrosis and gonarthrosis occurred more frequently among unskilled (54.2%) and skilled (25%) workers) a major risk factor were injuries (37.1% as against 5.7% in the comparative group). At clinical examination men complained much more often of spontaneous pain in the hip joints (60% as against 22.3% in women), whereas women more often complained of painful movements (63.6% as against 45.8% in men). The objective symptoms of gonarthrosis, crepitations and restricted movements in the first place, were present in men and women alike. The relative body mass (RBM), expressed as percentage of decline from ideal was, particularly among women, a significant risk factor for the occurrence and development of coxarthrosis and gonarthrosis. As much as 50% of the women with arthrosis had RBM higher than 140%, and another 40% had RBM between 120 and 140%. In the comparative group the respective percentage was 27.3% (P less than 0.01).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Disability Evaluation↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Posttraumatic stress disorder and platelet serotonin measures.

The role of serotonin (5HT) in the pathophysiology of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been suggested by the overlap in clinical symptoms between PTSD and psychiatric conditions in which a serotonin dysfunction is implicated, as well as by the therapeutic efficiency of 5HT-related drugs (antidepressants, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and monoamine oxidase inhibitors) in alleviating symptoms in PTSD. In the present study, the blood platelet, which has been proposed as a peripheral model for the central serotonergic neurons, has been used to search for alterations in 5HT mechanisms in PTSD. Platelet serotonin level and kinetics of serotonin transporter and monoamine oxidase (MAO-B) were assessed in 63 combat-related PTSD patients and 43 sex and age-matched control subjects. A significant reduction in maximal velocity of platelet MAO-B (approx. 30%), with no changes in the enzyme affinity was observed in our patient sample. Conversely, no alterations in kinetic parameters (V(max), K(m)) of platelet serotonin transporter, as well as in platelet 5HT level, were found in the PTSD group.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Diagnostic and therapeutic guidelines (algorithms) in the treatment of schizophrenia. Recommendations of the Croatian Society for Clinical Psychiatry of the Croatian Medical Association].

This paper presents guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of schizophrenia. Diagnostic guidelines are based on ICD-10 criteria for diagnosis of schizophrenia. Treatment guidelines represent a synthesis of some recently published international algorithms and our own experiences. The guidelines were presented at the seminar organized by the Croatian Association for Clinical Psychiatry and represent professional recommendations of the Association for Diagnostics and Treatment of Schizophrenia. The treatment guidelines include psychopharmacological recommendations for the selection and dosage of antipsychostics, guidelines for psychosocial interventions and psychotherapy. The treatment of the first episode, exarcerbation, relapse of illness, as well as maintenance therapy, treatment resistance and side effects are included.

Antipsychotic Agents↗