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Non-invasive screening for colorectal cancer relies on fecal occult blood testing which can detect up to 80% of asymptomatic cases. Besides strategies that depend on detection of tumor-specific genetic material, cancer-associated microbiota are another source of markers capable of reducing the ≥20% false negative rate of the current screening. In this review, we assess the potential of toxigenic gram-negative bacteria as such markers and recommend those best suited for clinical trials.

The authors present a current multicentric registry of cardiac device infective complications from 11 Czech centers. Mortality and the basic clinical and microbiology characteristics are described.

The analysis represents a prospective follow-up study of ≈4100 patients hospitalized for heart failure. The authors analyzed the mortality, recommended pharmacotherapy, and other factors that affected prognosis in these very high-risk patients. Despite all the progress that has been made in cardiovascular medicine in the last two decades, the prognosis of patients with heart failure is highly unfavorable and almost a third die within one year. Moreover, the management of patients with advanced heart failure is far from optimal.

Radiation techniques play a significant role in the management of urolithiasis. The effort to eliminate radiation exposure for patients (especially children) led us to research wheather ultrasound guided extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) is not inferior comparing to usually preferred fluoroscopic guidance. Our results support this theory of equivalency of these two methods. We also focused on effectivity of ESWL on stone free rate and we did not prove differences between different types of shock wave generators.

Accelerated atherosclerosis is one of the leading causes of premature death in patients after chemotherapeutic treatment of testicular germ-cell tumors. Thie study showed that the evaluation of body composition by bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) in these patients can reveal individuals at increased risk of future atherosclerotic complications and therefore potentially help to reduce the negative effects of chemotherapy.

The authors show that the expression profile of IL-1β, IL-10, CYP2C8 and sEH in Hofbauer cells in chorioamnionitis differs from normal placenta, suggesting alteration in the anti-inflammatory role of HBCs and their regulation in chorioamnionitis.

The blood cell count-derived ratios are easy to gain and might help in therapy decision processes, especially if there are more available options.

This is the first systematic review and meta-analysis to focus on the significance of CD103 T cell infiltration in solid tumors of the digestive tract. The authors found that high CD103 T cell infiltration is associated with longer overall survival, and that CD103 T cell could play a vital role in cancer immunotherapy.

This study evaluated the impact of location of deep brain stimulation electrode active contact within different parts of the subthalamic nucleus on improvement of non-motor symptoms in patients with Parkinson’s disease. The authors demonstrated a relationship between improvement of non-motor symptoms and the hemisphere, left/right of the electrode, rather than its precise location within the specific parts of the subthalamic nucleus in patients treated for advanced Parkinson's disease.

In this paper the authors describe a possible association between acromegaly and esophageal dysmotility. To the knowledge of the authors, this is the first reported case of acromegaly and achalasia in one patient. Gene mutation analysis was performed as well as comparison to diseases with known mutations and is discussed in the article.

This review article summarizes current knowledge on the skin manifestations of pancreatic disorders which are of both diagnostic and prognostic value.

Here the authors present a critical assessment of the effects of CBD on inflammatory periodontal diseases caused by bacterial virulence factors, and evaluate critically the possible benefits and drawbacks of CBD use in dentistry. Particular attention is paid to the interaction of CBD with microbially colonized oral tissues, the inflammatory response in relation to the immune response, and the destruction/regeneration of hard and soft tissues of the periodontium.

This study is the first to comprehensively describe micronutrient deficits in patients after endoscopic bariatric intervention. In addition, our data show the need for supplementation not only in bariatric surgery patients, but also in patients undergoing bariatric endoscopy.

Appropriate molecular genetic techniques used for DNA analysis in early pregnancy enable us to identify a pathological variant in genes causing severe diseases in foetuses and provide information to parents on the foetus medical condition. Through genetic analysis we can also find new pathological gene variants and in this way contribute to elucidating disease etiology.

Comparable rate of drug prescription in comparison with specific heart failure registries was found in an analysis of ACEIs, ARBs and ARNIs use in all patients treated for heart failure in the Czech Republic in recent years. Ramipril and perindopril remain the most prescribed ACEIs. Telmisartan has become the most prescribed ARB. Since 2018, ARNIs have been widely prescribed.

Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is the most effective therapy for obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS). The aim of this study was to assess the ten-year adherence to CPAP therapy, and to define the factors influencing it. Sufficient adherence, which was defined as more than 4 hours of CPAP use per night, was found in 57% of patients in the first year with no subsequent significant change over the next 9 years. Adherence to therapy correlated significantly with the severity of OSAS and Epworth Sleepiness Scale score but did not correlate with the pressure used or the age of the patient.

The article provides an up-to-date overview of the current awareness of a new type of coronavirus. It is introduced with current information on the course of COVID-19 infections. The authors further offer recommendations on how to proceed with possible modification of immunomodulatory therapy in multiple sclerosis in the light of COVID-19 infection, since it is more difficult for physicians to recommend appropriate therapy if a patient develops COVID-19, especially if the patient is also suffering from another disease that may be exacerbated by a new type of coronavirus.

EGFR L858R point mutation in exon 21 was identified in two patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC). No concurrent EGFR gene amplification was found. This suggests a particular EGFR mutation in SCLC in the Taiwanese area.

Factors influencing overall survival, disease-free survival, and local control in patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer after radical radioherapy were retrospectively evaluated in this paper. The most important prognostic factors were total tumor volume (GTV) and radiotherapy treatment time (RTT). The best results were achieved in patients with GTV ≤ 55 cc and RTT ≤ 48 days (mean LC 8.1, DFS 7.1 and OS 6.4 years) and the worst results with GTV > 55 cc and RTT > 48 days (mean LC 4.4, mean DFS 3.2 and median OS 2.6 years).

Information support from a psychologist offered prior to a thoracic surgery reduced the level of postoperative state anxiety solely in children with lower levels of trait anxiety. Less satisfaction with postoperative analgesia correlated with high level of postoperative state anxiety.

The optimal treatment for paroxysmal hypertension or pseudopheochromocytoma has not been established. We added sertraline, 50 mg once daily, to the current medication of 64 patients with symptomatic paroxysmal hypertension. Within 3 months of treatment, sertraline effectively removed or reduced symptoms of paroxysmal hypertension in the majority (75%) of patients. Symptoms of paroxysmal hypertension fully subsided in 50% and were partially reduced in 25% of patients.

The research aim was to analyze the effects of uneventful phacoemulsification surgery on subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT) using swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT). The authors examined a total of 30 eyes of 23 patients with senile cataract who received uncomplicated cataract surgery by phacoemulsification and intraocular lens implantation. The findings revealed that except for the inferior sectors, subfoveal choroidal thickness changes were insignificant 1 month after the cataract surgery. However, there was a significant increase in subfoveal choroidal thickness 3 months after surgery in all sectors except the inner superior sector.

This article presents successful outcomes of surgical treatment of medication related osteonecrosis of the jaws (MRONJ) with adjuvant application of platelet rich fibrin on a sample of 40 patients. The size of thev necrotic site was a significant predictor of treatment outcome in this study, which supports early surgical interventions when treating MRONJ.

Non-invasive ultrasonographic monitoring of cardiac output and hemodynamics for a total of 56 children in the initial phase of mechanical ventilation. Data from patients with pulmonary and extrapulmonary causes of respiratory failure are compared in a clinical prospective observational study. No significant differences were found between the hemodynamic profiles of the two groups of patients.

Data indicate that biological factors are important determinants in the prognosis in breast cancer. In the past, HER-2-positive breast cancer patients treated with mastectomy and radiation generally had poor outcomes, including high LRR rates. Significant improvement in radiotherapy was achieved in patients with HER2-positive tumors treated with trastuzumab. This is more pronounced in patients with advanced HER-2-positive breast cancer. Studies have demonstrated significant benefits of postmastectomy radiotherapy in patients with ER-positive HER-2 positive tumors compared to ER-negative, HER-2-positive breast cancer.

Numerous drugs are currently being tested with the hope of improving the outcome of chronic subdural haematoma treatment. One such drug type is angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors. Several relevant studies have been published but the results differ. In our study we found that angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors do not influence chronic subdural haematoma.

This is the first study to associate NK KIR and KIR HLA ligand genetic polymorphisms with HBV susceptibility and course of disease in the Bulgarian population. Our data support the hypothesis that genetic factors could be associated with a predisposition to HBV chronicity or spontaneous recovery from infection which is ALSO reported by other investigators. Moreover, we found common protective KIR genotype for HBV infection and leukemia susceptibility in the Bulgarian population, supporting the suggestion of identical genetic factor regulating antiviral and antileukemic NK cell activity.

Thanks to the improvement of diagnostic methods (CT, PET-CT, etc.), an increasing number of patients with radiologically proven pathological foci in the lungs are referred to clinical specialists. The aim of this work was to provide up-to-date information concerning real results of invasive diagnostics and the number of complications to both indicating pneumologists as well as performing radiologists. The authors wanted to determine both the diagnostic benefit of an individual biopsy of lung lesion under CT control (targeted for a radiologist) and the benefit of these procedures for patients (targeted for a pulmonologist). On a model set of 49 "screening like" lung foci authors tried to estimate what can be expected in the near future, after the onset of lung cancer screening with low-dose CT.

Over 40 monitoring methods of micro-vascular flaps have been reported in the scientific literature and it is difficult to discern the benefits of these over other methods or over direct visual monitoring, the standard method. In this review, we collated all reported monitoring methods to date and critically assessed their value including for practical use. We found that direct visual monitoring remains the most used, is very reliable and cheapest method for micro-vascular flap assessment. Only Doppler ultrasound, laser Doppler flowmetry and near infrared spectroscopy show any evidence of greater value but they require special equipment, experienced personnel and are more expensive.

This paper describes the morphological characteristics of tumour chondrocytes with target-like appearance observed in limited amount in some benign and malignant cartilage-forming tumours. Such cells were surrounded with thick APAS and collagen VI positive pericellular rings that were composed of microfibrillar and dense amorphous material during electron microscopic examination. In one case these cells formed the majority of the cell population and histological pattern of chondrosarcoma was completely modified. The authors propose the name "cartilage-forming tumour with target-like chondrocytes" for such neoplasm.