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The effects of recycling paper dust extract on isolated nonsensitized guinea pig tracheal smooth muscle were studied in vitro. Dust extract was prepared as a 1:10 w/v aqueous solution. Dose related contractions of guinea pig tracheal rings were elicited with paper dust extract. Pharmacologic studies were performed with atropine (10(-6) M), indomethacine (10(-6) M), pyrilamine (10(-6) M), Ly 171883 (10(-5) M), NDGA (10(-5) M) and TMB8 (10(-5) M). The effects of extract were almost totally inhibited by the anticholinergic agent atropine, suggesting that a principal pathway mediating this response may involve the parasympathetic nervous system. The intracellular calcium blocking agent TMB8 also induced a reduction of the contractile response to paper dust extract, which is consistent with intracellular calcium's well established role in smooth muscle constriction. We suggest that paper dust extract causes dose related airway smooth muscle constriction, possibly associated with the release of cholinergic as well as other mediators. The constrictor effect does not require tissue presensitization.

Respiratory function and allergic reactions were studied in 101 male workers in paper recycling and in 87 nonexposed male control workers. Ventilatory capacity was measured by recording maximum expiratory flow-volume (MEFV) curves with readings on forced vital capacity (FVC), one-second forced expiratory volume (FEV1), and maximum expiratory flows at 50% and the last 25% (FEF50 and FEF25, respectively). Skin prick test with paper dust allergens, some nonoccupational allergens, and total immunoglobulin IgE analysis were used to assess immunological status. Significantly higher prevalences of all chronic respiratory symptoms were recorded in the exposed workers than in controls. The highest prevalence was recorded for chronic cough (36.6%), followed by chronic phlegm (34.7%), chronic bronchitis (33.7%), sinusitis (31.7%), nasal catarrh (29.7%), and dyspnea (16.8%). Occupational asthma was diagnosed in four paper recycling workers only (4.0%). Values of FEF50 and FEF25 were significantly lower than predicted, indicating obstructive changes located mostly in the smaller airways. Skin tests to paper allergens were found positive in 16 (15.8%) paper recycling workers and none in controls. An increase in total immunoglobulin IgE was found in 21 of 101 paper recycling workers and in two of 37 of controls (P < 0.05). Our data indicate that exposure to air pollutants in paper recycling industry may lead to the development of respiratory symptoms accompanied by lung function and immunological impairment.

Office blood pressure measurement using mercury sphygmomanometer is the gold standard for making diagnoses of hypertension, evaluation of cardiovascular risk and estimation of obtained control of treated hypertensives. The vast majority of epidemiologic data are based on this method. However, the importance of blood pressure variability, white coat effect as well as availability of simple devices, home and ambulatory blood pressure measurements became routine parts in routine clinical work. As mercury will be soon forbidden in clinical work such devices and methodology will be even more important. In everyday clinical practice all three techniques should be implemented and in this paper advantages and drawbacks of all techniques are discussed. In the end, based on recent data and recommendations of international societies, diagnostic algorithm was proposed. Additionally, we described the technique of non-invasive central blood pressure measurement, determination of pulse wave velocity and calculation of augmentation index, new proposed risk factors.

Anatomy is a dynamic and translational discipline that integrates research and education. Throughout the centuries, anatomical knowledge has become increasingly important for the medical sciences, especially surgery. Cadaver dissection remains an irreplaceable met-hod for acquiring a comprehensive and detailed understanding of human anatomy, as it is the only method that enables safe and effective clinical practice. The teaching of anatomy has evolved from traditional teachings to modern approaches. Scientific progress and societal changes have introduced digital tools into anatomy education. While new methods and digital technologies enhance the education of future doctors, the practice of dissection should never be abandoned as a foundational teaching and learning method in anatomy. This is because cadavers provide the closest approximation to the real patients that future doctors will treat. This paper discusses the evolution of anatomy teaching at the Department of Anatomy of the Faculty of Medicine in Rijeka from its inception to the present day.

The Šibenik Foundling House was an institution that cared for abandoned children before their adoption. The paper analysed the accommodation capacities of the foundling house from 1886 to 1900, using registers of baptisms and deaths from the provincial hospital in Šibenik as the basis for the analysis. An analysis of the received children was conducted based on how they arrived at the site and the level of knowledge about their origin or identity. From 1886 to 1900, the Šibenik Foundling House received three hundred and seventy-eight abandoned children with a yearly average of 25.2 children. Two hundred and forty-three children were brought to the hospital by their mothers as newborns, and their identities were recorded in the baptism registers, constituting 60.15% of the total number of residents in the Foundling House. One hundred and six received infants were foundlings—children without known identity—comprising 26.24% of the total number of baptisms in the hospital. Twenty-nine children were born in the hospital and left by unmarried mothers in the care of the Foundling House, making up 7.18% of all entries in the register of baptisms. The monthly distribution of received children shows a balanced distribution. The mortality rate of these children in the Foundling House was 32.80%. Children who did not have names and surnames were given to them by the priest who baptised them.

The Spanish flu pandemic is considered the largest and most dangerous epidemic at the beginning of the 20th century affecting most of the world today. The Spanish flu pandemic did not bypass the territory of Croatia (at the time, Croatia was part of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy), nor its southern coastal region of Dalmatia and the city of Split. Using the example of the city Split, the paper analyses the spatial and demographic determinants of population mortality from the Spanish flu between 1918 and 1919, i.e., from March 1918 to April 1919. The paper is based on the data of the Church Death registers kept in the Archbishop’s Archives in Split and newspaper articles. The analysis of the spatial distribution of mortality within urban settlements showed that the number of deaths per urban settlement

Folk medicine is a traditional medical practice in the general population, especially in rural areas. Traditional medicine methods used herbal remedies as well as human and animal substances and minerals. The most commonly used drugs in the treatment of eye diseases were drugs of plant origin like chamomile, eyebright and greater celandine, then drugs of human and animal origin like breast milk, saliva, honey, animal bile, and copper sulfate from mineral origin. There is little information in the literature discussing the folk treatment of ocular diseases. The aim of this paper is to show how ocular diseases were treated in folk medicine in Dalmatia during the 19th century. Efforts were also made to explain the reasons for such empirical treatment that was passed from generation to generation. At the end of the 19th, and especially at the beginning of the 20th century, modern and scientific ophthalmology developed in Dalmatia, but also throughout Croatia, first in large cities. So gradually, folk medicine in the treatment of eye diseases became more and more forgotten.

The authors of the paper aim to present the foundation of the Department of Pathology at the University of Zagreb. The first years of the Department of Pathology, from 1918 to 1922, will be analysed in the paper. The emphasis is on the construction of the Department and the difficulties encountered at the same time. Also, persons who were crucial for the establishment of the Department of Pathology will be discussed. So far, the literature has mostly stated that the initiator of the Department of Pathology was Sergej Saltykow, a pathologist of Russian descent. Although Saltykow’s role is unquestionable, the aim is to present more persons who have more or less contributed to the establishment of the Department. Thus, more will be said about Vaclav Neumann, Đorđe Joanović, Walter Berlinger and others. Besides, the paper will provide a brief context focusing on the establishment of the School of Medicine and pathology in Zagreb before the foundation of the Department of Pathology. The Pathoanatomic Service of The Public Health Divisions in the City of Zagreb and Ljudevit Jurak, the first head of this institution, should certainly be pointed out. The Pathoanatomic Service played a key role in the development of forensic medicine and pathology in Croatia. In addition to available literature, the paper is based on archival materials found in the School of Medicine University of Zagreb archive.

The article describes health and health care development in Zagreb in the 19th century, with special attention to the last period of the century, using articles from Liječnički vjesnik for analysis. The development of the hospital and public health system is being considered, as well as the modernisation of other areas - pharmacy and dentistry. In addition, the paper presents basic health enlightenment thoughts as well as their authors. In the end, a brief analysis of treatment success is made on several separate examples.

In the period from the eighteenth to the twentieth century, electrotherapy was applied worldwide with various incidence and different results. The application of electrotherapy is an indicator of the acquisition and transfer of knowledge from the basic sciences (physics) to medicine and the transfer and adoption of treatment procedures from foreign environments to our own. In Croatia, the earliest information on electrotherapy came from advertising electrotherapy devices in the daily newspapers. It was followed by lessons on electricity, as well as the possibilities of its application mostly written by physicists in their popular publications. Croatian doctors’ publications about their experiences were first uncovered in 1897 on the pages of the professional journal Liječnički Vjesnik. This paper elaborates on the publications written during the first half of the 20th century. From the very beginning, this method has been accompanied by debates about its effectiveness and justification for its use, which have continued until today. The preserved electrotherapeutic devices presented in this paper are an important addition to medical historiography and a valuable segment of material medical culture, traces of which have been preserved in Croatia.

The paper examines the forerunner of the development of public health medicine since 1912, as well as the actions of Andrija Štampar as a municipal physician in the Nova Gradiška Posavina region from 1913 to 1918. The predecessors of public health medicine are considered in the context of the emergence of societies for the protection of public health in Belgrade and Zagreb, as well as the connection between Andrija Štampar and these societies. Analysing the archival material of the Croatian State Archive, laws, journals, and newspapers, the paper attempts to link the theoretical phase of Andrija Štampar’s work with the practical phase, beginning in 1912 with his work in Karlovac and his relocation to Nova Gradiška in 1913. The paper notes that Štampar had already laid the foundation for many of his future ideas at this stage, as can be observed in the example of his reflections on eugenics, which he has defended since 1912. His experiences of rehabilitation efforts after the epidemics of cholera and smallpox in the Nova Gradiška Posavina region and his work at the Red Cross military hospital in Nova Gradiška influenced the formation of the basic principles of social medicine and public health. Special attention was paid to the set of preventive and epidemiological measures that Štampar implemented during the 1913 - 1916 epidemics. He regarded them as “perfect”, and, ten years later, introduced them into the postulates of public health medicine. Andrija Štampar conceived the main part of his ideas under the influence of theoretical knowledge and practice until 1918, and thanks to his ability to perceive circumstances and opportunities within the newly created legal framework and with the support of Rockefeller donations, he turned them into a functional health policy, which has been implemented at the School of Public Health and the Institute of Hygiene since 1926.

The paper analyzed texts of newspaper reports of suicides in Dalmatia that occurred in the period between the two world wars. Words used in headlines were analyzed separately. Suicides were statistically analyzed according to age, gender, method, location, and monthly distribution. Most of the cases were reported during May and June. During 1936 and 1937, there was a rapid increase of suicides in media coverage. There is no evidence that the number of suicides really increased during these years. Statistics show the existence of gender preferences for certain suicide methods. The morning was the most common time of day for suicide in Dalmatia. Newspapers were inappropriate according to today’s WHO instructions. Texts were full of details, the romanticization of suicide and violation of deceased person’s privacy. Results of the research showed that news reports did not cause mass suicide imitations. However, there are cases of individual imitations. In some micro-locations (smaller settlements and their surroundings), there is evidence that some cases were influenced by earlier suicides. However, the time period between original and imitated cases varies from few weeks to ten years. This shows that time is not variable in imitations performed in micro-locations.

Based on a reading of the ethnographic accounts that were written in accordance with the Osnova za sabiranje i proučavanje građe o narodnom životu (Foundations for Collecting and Studying Materials about Folk Life) published in 1897, this paper attempts to outline some of the features of wet-nursing as specific breastfeeding related practices in rural areas at the turn of the 19th to the 20th century. Ethnographic accounts published in the Zbornik za narodni život i običaje južnih Slavena ( Journal of Folk Life and Traditions of South Slavs) that are, with some retrospective insights, mainly focused on what were then contemporary practices, are approached in this paper as sources of the ethnology and the history of everyday life. Through connecting passages on breastfeeding and also passages that refer indirectly to breastfeeding, this paper underlines the importance of differentiation between the practices of regular wet-nursing (caused by a mother’s illness or her problems with breastfeeding) and occasional wet-nursing (because of a mother’s temporary, short-term absence). This paper also deals with the issue of (material) compensation for wet-nursing and, connected to this, with the relation between women’s efforts to earn an income on the one hand and women’s solidarity on the other. It also deals with the issue of the professionalization of wet-nursing that is not covered in the questions from Osnova (Foundations for Collecting and Studying Materials about Folk Life) and is only indicated in ethnographic accounts from the Zbornik (Journal of Folk Life and Traditions of South Slavs).

Medical history of the city of Rijeka is a rich treasure trove of events, celebrities and valuable innovations in the field of healthcare. The historical development of Rijeka was largely determined by her geopolitical position as a border town with a multicultural population, marked by strong conflicts of interest and numerous identity turmoil. The great exodus of the domicile population of Italian nationality after World War II has significantly changed the social picture of the city. Among many of such esuli (immigrants) were brothers Giovanni (b. 1932) and Abdon (b. 1933) Pamich, whose lives are reminiscent of the fate of many displaced people from Rijeka who were forced to live in exile after the war. After leaving their hometown during the formative years of their childhood, they had successful careers in Italy in the fields of medicine and healthcare. The older brother Giovanni became a successful surgeon and the younger Abdon a psychologist. Along with his positions as the head of general surgery at the Monfalcone and Gorizia Hospitals, Giovanni Pamich was teaching at the University of Trieste. Abdon Pamich collaborated with the best Italian tennis players in the field of sports psychology, and was a psychologist for the Italian handball team. They both practiced athletics, and Abdon Pamich won the silver medal in speed walking at the 1958 European Championships in Sweden and the gold medal at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. In addition to emphasizing the achievements of the two brothers in the field of medicine, this paper also addresses the position of the migrant, which is highlighted in Robert Covaz’s book “Abdon Pamich, memorie di un marciatore (Rome, 2016), an exciting biography of an emigrant from Rijeka. The paper also explores the concept of thematizing the limits of differences and experiences of migration of Rijeka residents facing the existential issues.

The founder of the Vienna School of Ophthalmology was Prof. Dr. Georg Joseph Beer, who founded the First University Eye Clinic in the Vienna General Hospital in 1812. Prof. Ferdinand von Arlt led it for 27 years from 1856 to 1883. As the First Eye Clinic became too small, the Second University Eye Clinic was founded in 1883 at the same hospital in Vienna. Since 1885 it had been led for 30 years by Prof. Ernst Fuchs. Many well-known ophthalmologists were leading those Viennese eye clinics. However, Arlt and Fuchs were the main representatives of the Vienna School of Ophthalmology, which was always characterised by the high standards in the diagnosis and therapy of eye diseases. Many Croatian ophthalmologists were educated by them or their students, and later they established eye departments in the major cities in Croatia and transmitted acquired knowledge and experience. The first eye departments in Croatia were formed at the turn of the 19th and 20th century. The First University Eye Clinic in Croatia started to work in Zagreb in 1923. Our ophthalmologists transmitted the organisation of the clinics as they existed in Vienna, and that was the matrix form of all European clinics at that time. Therefore, the tradition of the Vienna School of Ophthalmology was passed on to the next generations. The paper also gives short biographies of Viennese and Croatian ophthalmologists and their mutual relations in education and work.

The paper presents the development and business of the chemical-pharmaceutical factory Rave PLC, founded in Zagreb in 1922. Based on archival and building documentation, professional and daily newspapers, and promotional material, the formation of the factory complex in the Zagreb industrial zone was reconstructed, its marketing strategy and its impact on the development of domestic drug production and hygiene and sanitary necessities were presented. As an important motive for its operations, the factory emphasized industrial independence, the national features of its business and the promotion of cooperation with young domestic industry. In accordance with the above-mentioned text, Rave PLC participates in the construction and development of domestic pharmaceutical production and market, encouraging the development of modern industry and struggle for more favourable conditions of its business. Its unprecedented history is an important segment of our pharmaceutical past, but also an indispensable element of knowing the industrial development of the wider region. This segment of the beginnings of pharmaceutical manufacturing is essential in knowing the origins of entrepreneurship in our region as a significant element in raising awareness of national production, development and identity.

The health of officers (as well as the entire army) is exposed to additional risks due to the performance of various life-threatening tasks for the needs of the state. Therefore, it is not unusual for the state to take care of the health of its officers (as well as the army) through a system of Vojvodina medical care or specialised society through the construction of military or officer health resorts [Militärkurhaus / Offizierskurhaus] with the provision of medical/ health services. The subject of this paper is the relationship between architecture and the provision of military-medical services of officer/military health resorts built by the Society of the White Cross [Gesellschaft vom Weißen Kreuze] in Kvarner at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. The research is based on data collected from Austrian architectural, medical and tourist magazines and yearbooks of Austrian Society of the White Cross. The results of the research contribute to a better understanding of the improvement of the health of officers, the development of the architecture of health buildings [Kurhaus] and the entire history of medicine and health tourism in the Croatian Adriatic.

Medicine and physicians in Dubrovnik during the last two centuries, i.e. in the period after the dissolution of the Republic of Dubrovnik by Napoleon's Army, have attracted less interest among medical historians. In this paper, the lives and medical careers of two physicians from Dubrovnik, father and son, Baldo and Ante Bibica, have been reconstructed from the end of the nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth century by searching through the contemporary medical journals and newspapers as well as private archives of the members of family Bibica. Baldo Bibica graduated medicine in Vienna and spent the whole professional life as a municipal physician, at first, in the places in the vicinity of Dubrovnik and from 1903 in Gruž. Ante Bibica studied medicine in Graz and in Zagreb to become the first person from Dubrovnik promoted at the School of Medicine, Zagreb University. He specialized in dermatovenereology in Vienna and worked, as a specialist, in Dubrovnik. They both were active in the professional medical societies (at local and national levels) and were influential in the social life in Dubrovnik.

The paper presents a folk recipe collection manuscript written by an unknown author in Poljica area, in the 18th century. It is owned by the philologist, historian of literature and bibliophile, Josip Bratulic. Therefore, the author suggests that this recipe collection should bear the name Great folk medicine book from Poljica (Bratulic's folk medicine book). The manuscript is written in Latin script and Croatian language. It consists of 288 pages written in black ink and contains more than 1,100 recipes making it one of the largest known manuscripts. Although well preserved, a small part of it is unreadable. Most recommended recipes are for treating humans and domestic animals, while several recipes contain household tips. The abundance of its content, expressions, and healing instructions add this recipe collection to other similar manuscripts of this region, which create precious part of the Croatian medical, pharmaceutical, and cultural heritage.

Plague epidemics have remained in the collective consciousness until nowadays remembered as the deadliest. Therefore, it is not surprising that the answers to them throughout history have been not only medical but also religious. The previously mentioned will be analyzed in this paper through the cults of the protector saints against the plague epidemics that have developed in two Croatian cities of comparable size, Rijeka and Osijek, but with the diametrically opposed geographical positions and, accordingly, quite different historical developments. On the one hand, a more detailed overview of the development of the cults of various saints present in the mentioned cities will be presented. On the other hand, based on their presentation in the sacral heritage of these cities, the broader context of the time and space in which they have developed will be lightened. Particular attention will be paid to their medical connotations.

The Order of St. Augustine (Ordo Eremitarum Sancti Augustini) was the first religious community in Rijeka. The monastery of St. Jerome, founded by the noble families of Devin and Walsee, existed from the 14th century till 1788, when it was dissolved by Joseph II. Unfortunately, the past of the Augustine Monastery of St. Jerome is mostly unknown. On the basis of largely unexplored sources in Croatia and overseas, the author reveals several facts about the relation between Rijeka's Augustinian community and medicine. The paper includes an important piece of information concerning the existence of a hospital on the lo-cation of Andrejšćica in Rijeka, founded in the 15th century, which has so far been unknown. Augustinian's sources (16th and 18th century) show the presence of several shaver-surgeon (barbitonsorius) and other various relevant topics for the history of medicine in Rijeka - pharmacopola, aromatarius etc.

This paper reviews the architecture of the Royal National Institute for the Insane in Stenjevec during its construction and the first years of its existence. Since the opening of the Institute in 1879 until the end of the World War I, there were numerous adaptations and extensions of the original capacities. The paper shows how these extensions reflected the existing paradigm of the institutional architecture in the second half of the 19th century. Architecture, under the influence of Pinel's "moral treatment" as a primary therapeutic approach to mental illnesses in the 19th century, was considered to be a remedy and its therapeutic importance in the context of psychiatry was not questioned. While early examples of the architecture of psychiatric hospitals copied prison construction and were adapted to control the mentally ill (e.g., the Viennese "Narrenturm"), later plans, such as linear and separate (pavilion), sought to simultaneously increase control effectiveness, act therapeutically and respond to some practical needs of the more crowded institutes. The Stenjevec Institute, designed by the Viennese architect Kuno Waidmann, was created exactly at the transition between the linear and the separate type. The institute, originally conceived as a linear type of institution, was later transformed into a separate or pavilion type institute.

This paper presents the role of Eugen Viktor Feller, a pharmacist and factory owner, with an emphasis on his marketing strategy in advertising his pharmacy specialty Elsa. Various types of contemporary press and advertising leaflets and packaging were used as a starting point for analysis. The abundance of the collected material provided an insight into Feller's communication strategy of the approach to consumers, comparing advertising in different media and time spans. Following the appearance and elaboration of visual communication phenomena as part of family interest, approaches and advances in the development of advertising in the projects of Feller's sons Miroslav and Ferdinand were presented. Upgrading to the father's positive marketing experience they begin a more contemplative advertising campaign. Ferdinand Feller introduces the concept of collective pharmaceutical propaganda into pharmaceutical marketing, while Miroslav Feller becomes one of the leaders in the development of institutionalization and professionalization of commercial graphic design. Thus, marketing development was demonstrated through marketing approaches and innovative ideas of the three members of Feller family, illustrating the shift in approaches that marked the beginning of a different management within an industrial society, where advertising became an indispensable part and a promoter of market relationships.

This paper presents the form and content of the sixteen scientific conferences "Rijeka and its Citizens in Medical History" ("Rijeka i Riječani u medicinskoj povjesnici") which were held in the period between 2000 and 2016 according to the archive data of the conference organizer Croatian Scientific Society for the History of Health Culture. It presents data about the beginning of science convention, some its organisational features and the number of participants. A total of 315 presentations, whose abstracts were published in individual conference's abstract books, were given at the sixteen conventions by 463 participants from Croatia and abroad. It is emphasized that the great number of the papers printed in extenso are published in the journal AMHA - Acta medico-historica Adriatica. Summarised quantity data on the number of presented papers, number of presenters and number of co-authored papers are given. Finally, a review of the significance of this convention within the regional, national and international aspect is given.

The article describes how the system of medical care for wounded soldiers in Rijeka during the First World War was organized. In the Austro-Hungarian Empire the hospital care for sick and wounded soldiers, except of a military health care, was under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Red Cross. The Municipal Committee of the Hungarian Red Cross in Rijeka, established in 1881, renewed its previously suspended activity in August 1914, with the task of starting a war hospital for wounded soldiers. For this purpose, the former Hotel for emigrants, a large modern building opened in 1908, was converted. It became the center of hospital care for wounded soldiers in the city. Also, under the supervision of the Red Cross in Rijeka several smaller auxiliary dispensaries were organized. The other city health care facilities and the most of the physicians in Rijeka were included in the care for the wounded. The head of the volunteer nurses of the Red Cross was the president of the Red Cross in Rijeka, Countess Sofia Wickenburg, the wife of the governor and at the same time the president of the Red Cross city branch. The medical staff in Rijeka was particularly noted for its successful and rapid suppression of a typhus epidemic in February and March 1915. The paper is based on research of archival funds in the State Archives in Rijeka and part of the Rijeka and Zagreb press.

In this paper the first 14 years of publication of scientific journal AMHA - Acta medico‑historica Adriatica (2002-2016) are presented and shortly analysed. This journal has undoubtedly become and remained the central activity of the Croatian Scientific Society for the History of Health Culture, which has rapidly become a globally esteemed journal of history of medicine. The beginning and the context of publishing the journal with the reference to scientific meeting "Rijeka and Its Citizens in Medical History" is presented, as well as the journal's profiling into distinguished international journal and its fast development in later years. The analysis shows the growth of journal's visibility through indexation in different international journal databases, the number and ratio of scientific articles and the variety of published material. Finally, a review of the potential future directions of development and the significance of this journal within the national, regional and international context is given.

The Black Eagle pharmacy was founded in 1772 as a branch of the eponymous Karlovac pharmacy and was the oldest civil pharmacy on the territory of Banska krajina. Based on the archival sources, newspapers of the time, and the documentation preserved within the owner's family, its historical background and ownership chronology are presented in this paper. Special attention was dedicated to the Panac family, which led the pharmacy through four generations, from 1822 until 1950. The results of our research resolved the dilemmas about the pharmacy's first location and also presented the information concerning the academic path of its owners, their work, as well as their wider socio-cultural influences on life in Petrinja. The interior of The Black Eagle pharmacy has not retained its original function nor has the inventory been preserved, although the building, in which it was located, has been preserved and is protected as a cultural monument. The pharmacy was nationalized in 1947, and moved to a new location towards the end of 1950s. Therefore, the reconstruction of its historiography contributes not only to our knowledge of the pharmacy development in Croatia, but also to the understanding of the development of the city through the emergence and existence of medical and healthcare institutions within the city.

Glaucoma is a chronic, asymptomatic disorder which affects 2% of the population over 40 years of age. Glaucoma causes a significant vision impairment with the consequences on daily activities of patients which affect negatively their quality of life (QoL). The purpose of this paper is to give a review of instruments used in the QoL assessments of glaucoma patients and methods of performance based assessment of visual function in glaucoma in daily life. The PubMed was searched for the relevant literature. Thirteen quality of life scores used in glaucoma patients, method of performance-based assessments of the ability to carry out daily activities, and three utility measures were investigated. Despite the fact that there are no ideal instruments for the assessment of QoL of glaucoma patients, it should be incorporated in the plan of glaucoma patients treatment because of multiple benefits in optimizing the plan of treatment, education of the patients, the patients’ self satisfaction, and in the reduction of financial burden of the health care system. The Glaucoma Quality of Life (GQL-15) score is acceptable in clinical practice due to its shortness and implementation.

Increasing the proportion of patients with controlled hypertension implies understanding and systematic approach to patients with resistant hypertension. In the past decades, an increase in the prevalence of resistant arterial hypertension (RAH) has been observed and the incidence of this problem is becoming greater in the practice of family physicians. Patients with RAH have a higher prevalence of target organ damage as compared with patients having achieved target blood pressure values, and their risk of an adverse cardiovascular event is tripled. RAH is defined as hypertension in which there is no satisfactory control of blood pressure despite compliance to lifestyle changes and taking at least three drugs in full doses, one of which has to be a diuretic. The most important risk factors for resistance to treatment are older age, obesity, smoking, excessive intake of salt and alcohol, the presence of left ventricular hypertrophy, chronic renal failure, diabetes, inadequate baroreflex pathway, chronic stress and associated mental states, use of some drugs, and all forms of secondary hypertension. One-fifth of patients with RAH have primary aldosteronism. Obstructive sleep apnea is a common cause of RAH, and literature reports point to its increasing frequency. Optimal treatment involves a combination of three drugs, one of which is a diuretic. Use of mineralocorticoid antagonist as the fourth drug has shown significant efficacy even in patients who do not have elevated levels of aldosterone. New invasive methods of treatment include renal denervation and permanent electrical stimulation of the carotid sinus. The aim of this paper is to emphasize the importance of RAH as a cardiovascular risk factor, along with early detection and treatment at the family medicine level and timely referral to additional procedures to treat the specific forms of RAH.

Sacral heritage, religious practices and customs, and the ethnomedical heritage of the Mošćenice region have not had so far the attention of medico-historians, which represents the starting point of this paper. The research of the mentioned dimensions of medico-historical reality of Mošćenice and its surrounding area has been conducted on three levels. Starting with the usual methodology, sacral inventory of certain churches and chapels from the Mošćenice parish is analyzed from the perspective of the history of medicine. After that, the attention is first given to the religious practices motivated by health and then to other traditional forms and practices of health prevention and disease treatment - especially to those concerning people as well as those concerning animals. The scope of this research is to document and present the elements of medico-historical heritage of the Mošćenice region based on religious and other traditional components, but with the intention to enrich the medico-historical mosaic of the eastern Istrian coastal region.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is one of the leading public health issues due to frequent and serious complications. Once the function of kidneys is disrupted, regardless of etiology, there are numerous factors that can speed up decrease of glomerular filtration rate, including hypertension, proteinuria and dyslipidemia. Statins are widely used in primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular diseases in general population. Clinical advantages of statins in CKD patients are not as clear. The aim of this paper is to present lipid status in CKD patients and indications for statin therapy with the aim to reduce cardiovascular risk in this group of patients. CKD is a well-known independent risk factor in cardiovascular events, but professional associations issuing guidelines differ in the approach to treatment of dyslipidemia. The results of some studies indicate that treatment with statins may slow down the rate of kidney function reduction in patients with mild to moderate kidney damage, whereas other studies deny this effect. Furthermore, CKD patients have a higher risk of side effects, in part due to the reduced kidney excretion, polypharmacy, and numerous other comorbidities. Family physician has the role of providing preventive measures, with focus on appropriate treatment of patients with hypertension or diabetes, as the most common cause of CKD, and timely detection of CKD in initial stage.

Cystic kidney diseases is a heterogeneous group of developmental, hereditary and acquired disorders that result in the occurrence of one or more cysts on one or both kidneys, and are relatively common. Cystic kidneys can also occur as one of various syndromes of malformations. Kidney cysts can have several classifications, depending on the properties taken in consideration. Some patients remain symptom free for life, whereas others develop serious clinical symptoms that may sometimes be life threatening. It is important to keep in mind the existing classifications, differentiate their succession, clinical course, treatment and prognosis, as well as potential complications. The objective of this paper is to present the most prevalent types of cysts with accompanying clinical symptoms and point out their importance, prevalence and possible association with other serious medical conditions.

The share of elderly persons in the population is growing rapidly and continuously. Requirements for their surgical treatment are increasing and so is the number of published papers on the safety and success of some surgical procedures performed in these patients. The present study included 183 patients aged ≥65 out of 897 patients surgically treated for thyroid gland diseases. They were divided into two groups (group 1 aged 65-69 and group 2 aged ≥70) in order to determine between-group differences in the indications, surgical strategy, final histopathologic analysis, preoperative physical status, number of comorbid diseases and postoperative complications. Analysis of the results justified our decision to divide our patients into two groups of younger and older ones. In group 1, the indications for surgery were mostly benign changes (93.2%), whereas malignant, verified and suspected disease was considerably more frequent in group 2 (21.8%), with a significantly higher percentage of compressive syndrome. Significant between-group differences were recorded in the preoperative physical status (group 2: ASA III and IV, 73.8% and 5%, respectively), number of thyroidectomies performed (group 1, 56.2% vs. group 2, 77.3%) and secondary hemithyroidectomy. A difference was also found in the number of surgical and non surgical complications. The absence of a higher percentage of permanent complications, hypocalcemia and recurrent laryngeal nerve paralysis, in total and by groups, confirmed that surgical treatment of thyroid gland diseases can be considered safe and successful in older age groups, regardless of the between-group differences observed.

Hepatitis E is attributed great attention as an emerging worldwide-distributed zoonosis. The clinical presentation varies from severe fulminant in underdeveloped to milder forms of diagnostically unrecognized hepatitis cases in developed countries. Chronic hepatitis E is more often described in subjects with transplanted solid organs and HIV disease. The diagnosis of hepatitis E is established by determination of anti-HEV IgM and IgG with Western blot confirmation and detection of HEV RNA. In Croatia, the first case of indigenous disease caused by HEV genotype 3 (HEV-3) was detected in 2012. In this paper we present current knowledge on hepatitis E supplemented by own results obtained at the University Hospital for Infectious Diseases in Zagreb and guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of immunocompetent and immunocompromised individuals. In the period from 2011-2014, HEV was tested in 1107 patients, of whom 117 (10.6%) had anti-HEV antibodies. Acute HEV infection was diagnosed in 25 (2.3%) patients. Considering the prevalence of antibodies we can conclude that HEV diagnostics should be included in the diagnostic panel for patients with elevated aminotransferases.

Exothermic reaction of plaster is a very important characteristic to understand, especially when it comes to complications which can occur during local temperature change during molding plaster of Paris. And these complications directly influence the speed and quality of treatment. In this paper we measured temperatures of plaster bandage tiles 10×10 cm, from three different manufacturers in Croatian hospitals: Safix plus (Hartmann, Germany), Cellona (Lohmann &Rauscher, Austria) and Gipsan ( Ivo Lola Ribar, Croatia). We made three different plaster tiles 10×10 cm, from 10, 15 and 30 layers of plaster bandages. We immersed plaster tiles in two different water temperatures, one group in water 22 °C, and another in 34 °C. Although all plaster bandages have similar chemical characteristics, we have measured some differences. All three kinds of plaster bandages used in Croatia have low exothermic reaction when plaster molding is done in standard conditions, average local temperature is low and there is no danger of local burns. We immersed a plaster tile with 15 layers in water on 34° C, and highest average temperature was measured at Gipsan (46.2 °C), then Cellona (41.3 °C) and Safix plus (38.9 °C). On the same water immersion temperature, on plaster tile with 30 layers average temperatures were Gipsan (48.4°C), Cellona (45.4 °C), and lowest in Safix plus (41.3 °C). Plaster tiles form all manufacturers, when used 15-30 layers thick, and water immersion temperature is 34°C, develop average temperature over 40°C, in duration from 8-12 minutes. Between three different plaster bandages analyzed, Gipsan (Ivo Lola Ribar, Croatia) developed highest temperature, and some plaster tiles were measured over 50 °C.

Total hip replacement in patients with osteoarthritis significantly reduces pain and enhances the quality of life (QoL). Sexual activity is an important component of QoL about which doctors rarely discuss with patients even though it is a matter of concern to many patients. In fact, patients who have previously had impaired sexual function due to preoperative hip pain and/or stiffness find that after surgery their hips are pain free and have better motion. After total hip arthroplasty range of hip motions is usually limited by surgeon’s reccomendation in order to prevent dislocation of prosthesis. This creates limitations in activities of daily living, sport activities and also sexual activities. The aim of this paper is to give guidelines for safe sexual intercourse to patients following total hip replacement. During rehabilitation, patients should be educated on what positions are and are not recommended in the context of sexual activity.