Casopis lekaru ceskych最新文献

The dietitian is an integral part of the multidisciplinary team of bariatric and metabolic surgery. The nutritional intervention is started already in the period of preparation for the bariatric procedure and focuses on the modification of the patient's current eating habits, weight reduction and understanding of the principles of the postoperative diet. After the bariatric procedure, the nutritional intervention ensures optimal nutrition of the patient within a specific diet regime implemented in the first weeks after the operation. However, nutritional care should continue at regular intervals for a long time after the procedure. It includes, for example, control of the appropriate diet composition, adherence to portion sizes and adequate drinking regime, as well as supplementation recommendations, all in relation to weight development, body composition and laboratory results.

Standard autopsy does not always detect a cause of individuals death. It occurs often in cases of sudden death. The reason for decease, at least in a part of unsolved cases, can be revealed using methods of molecular biology and genetics. This approach is called molecular autopsy. First application dates to the end of 20th century when cause of sudden unexplained death of a young woman was provided only after execution of molecular autopsy. Molecular autopsy (also known as post-mortem genetic testing) finds its application particularly in cases of sudden death of young people or infants as their decease is more frequently associated with hereditary diseases linked for example to heart or metabolic conditions. In terms of methodical development, the form of molecular testing has been improved until now. Originally, targeted analysis of small number of genes was used. Nowadays, whole-exome and whole-genome sequencing slowly becomes a new standard for molecular autopsy. Although molecular autopsy has a potential to be integrated into an autopsy as a standard part of it, for now it has not become a standardised routine part of forensic autopsy.

Fatty liver diseases represent the most common chronic liver diseases today. Therefore, the diagnostics of fatty liver is of great importance. Sonography is the most used imaging method in daily clinical practice for its availability and good diagnostic performance. But there are limitations in lower sensitivity in mild steatosis and in subjects with more severe obesity. Sonographic findings of fatty liver include higher echogenity of liver parenchyma and attenuation of ultrasound waves in deeper parts of the liver. Furthermore, there are some other advanced methods for semiquantitative and quantitative assessment of the amount of the liver fat. Many of them are based on acoustic signal attenuation assessment. The most broadly used is a CAP (controlled attenuation parameter) feature of FibroScan, which can assess fatty liver without classic ultrasound examination. Thera are also special MR based techniques - MR spectroscopy and PDFF (protein density fat fraction) which allow liver fat quantification with high precision and can be used as a reference standard.

Since time immemorial, bodies of deceased have been an integral part of teaching anatomy, and therefore the study of medicine. Without them, the teaching of anatomy, clinical anatomy and many research projects could not be realized. Nowadays, the European countries allow to use exclusively bodies of the deceased donors. Recently, we have registered a growing trend in the needs of the bodies not only for the purposes of medical education, but also for those of clinical anatomy. The question also arose of the suitability of using COVID-19 positive donors or the legislative possibility of obtaining bodies in the absence of donors in the donor program. Our communication addresses current issues of body donation for teaching and research purposes and their use in the Czech Republic.

Bartter and Gitelman syndromes belong to salt-losing tubulopathies. These rare diseases may be associated with severe electrolyte disorders. Early identification of tubulopathies is essential for appropriate management. Progress in molecular genetics enabled the identification of genes and pathophysiologic mechanisms associated with these diseases. Here, we review etiology and diagnostics of these disorders from the light of current knowledge. Additionally, we discuss contemporary therapeutic approaches.

Although the involvement of the heart muscle in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is relatively common (5-10%), myocarditis is a complication with a much lower incidence, depending, however, on the diagnostic methods used. The pathophysiological mechanisms have been described, but there are significant gaps in current knowledge. Myocarditis in connection with vaccination against the disease COVID-19 is a separate nosological unit. Even here, the pathophysiological processes are not explored in detail. The incidence of this complication is estimated in the low tens per million vaccinated.

The so-called Hippocratic Oath is based on a standardized form of oath in the ancient world and is undoubtedly the most famous, most discussed and most commented part of the Corpus Hippocraticum, collection of medical writings whose authorship is traditionally attributed to the legendary physician Hippocrates. The study will first introduce the nature of this brief text and the various theories about the origins of the Oath, as well as the evidence for its earliest use. The second part of the study focuses on the history of medical oaths in Czechoslovakia since 1918, especially on the changes in the text of the oaths after 1948 (mainly on the basis of so far unpublished documents from the archives), and presents the form of current medical oaths in the Czech Republic, with reference to the formulations of the Hippocratic Oath itself; an overview table lists both the Czech and Latin versions of the current medical oaths.

Professor Josef Charvát, a prominent internist and endocrinologist, has been following the issues of cybernetics and computers from the very beginning. In the difficult times of the 1950s, he was heavily involved in the organization of seminars and meetings of workers in technical and medical fields interested in cybernetics. Later, in his books for the general public, he foresaw a significant application of computers in medicine. His predictions are quite accurate even 50 years after the publication of these ideas.

Graves ophthalmopathy (GO) occurs in 25-50% cases of Graves disease. Most cases are just mild, only 5% represents eye threatening diseases. About 5-10% of cases could be euthyroid and 10% hypothyroid, respectively. All patients with GO should be assessed for activity (clinical activity score - CAS) and severity of the disease. Essential conditions of the successful treatment are well controlled thyroid dysfunction, smoking cessation and to refer patients with moderate to severe and sight threatening GO to specialized thyroid eye centers as soon as possible. Local therapy to maintain wet eye (lubricants) and supplementation of selenium deficiency is adequate in mild cases of GO. In cases of moderate to severe and sight threatening GO, administration of intravenous glucocorticoids in thyroid eye centers is first line treatment and a combination with mycophenolate or radiotherapy could be considered. When the first-line treatment fails or a contraindication/intolerance to them is present, non-steroid immunosuppressive drugs (mycophenolate, ciclosporin), rituximab, or radiotherapy could be considered. In rare cases of sight threatening GO urge surgical orbital decompression or tarsorrhaphy is warranted.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is still a major cause of chronic liver diseases, with approximately 71 million chronically infected persons worldwide. People who inject drugs currently or in the past (PWID), mostly intravenously, are the main risk group among HCV chronically infected persons. The efficacy of therapy with direct acting antivirals (DAA) is almost 100 %. Currently, the main mission is to diagnose HCV infection in the most possible number of infected persons; it is in collision with poor adherence of PWID in particular.