The first issue of our journal – under its new title Medicine and Pharmacy Reports – is, again, rich in information content. A number of articles require special attention.
The synthetic literature review “The role of medical registries, potential applications and limitations” of a research group from “Ioan Chiricuta” Oncology Institute of Cluj-Napoca, Romania, emphasizes the importance of rigorous evidence by disease registries. The analysis of 70 articles from literature synthesizes the principal benefits of these registries. The authors point to the constant evolution of the disease registries in the recent times, thus providing physicians with quality unbiased information to be further used for various purposes by the present and future generations. Medical registries are more and more used, allowing doctors to understand what goes on in the “real world”. It is most desirable that there be an exchange between research groups interested in realizing standardized registries, which would allow an easy and credible information transfer.
The article by a research group from the 1st Medical Clinic of the Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Cluj entitled “Diagnostic yield of endoscopic ultrasound - guided biopsy of focal liver lesions” is a review of the literature found in PubMed using the keywords “endoscopic ultrasound liver biopsy” and “endoscopic ultrasound liver FNAB” for the period 1999–2017. The study is motivated by the almost indispensable character of the ultrasound diagnosis that uses the endoscopic approach in the gastroenterology units, to which the recent progress of the technique are added. The conclusion is that echo-endoscopic of the liver is a simple, effective and safe procedure for the patients. As the method detects liver tumors with a superior accuracy to CT, it is recommended to be extensively used.
An interesting study belongs to our colleagues from “Ioan Chiricuta” Oncology Institute on the evolution of the screening strategies for colon cancer. They demonstrate that the optimization of early diagnostic technologies combined with increased patient compliance could lead to a major and significant reduction of colon cancer mortality.
The paper “Current treatment modalities of orthodontically induced white spot lesions and their outcome – a literature review” of authors of the Faculty of Dental Medicine of Cluj-Napoca, Romania, is focused on orthodontic pathology. Fluorization seems to contribute significantly to the improvement of certain types of dental complaints.
Among the original studies we mention the article “Increased levels of angiogenic factors in microvascular angina” by a research group of the Department of Biochemistry of the Medical School of Urmia University, Iran. The study was carried out on a group of 30 patients with ischemic heart disease expressed by bouts of angina pectoris, demonstrating the potential implication of angiogenic factors.
Researchers from “Ioan Chiricuta” Oncology Institute analyze the survival rate and quality of life of patients on radiotherapy focused on the brain with the purpose of destroying metastases at this level. An analysis of 35 patients showed a good quality of life and acceptable survival rates of patients submitted to radiotherapy.
The paper “Breakfast habits, nutritional status and their relationship with academic performance in elementary school students of Tehran, Iran” concludes, based on a study of 829 primary school children, that there is no convincing correlation between nutrition habits and level of school performance.
We would also mention the paper “Birth defects in Tarnaveni area, Romania – preliminary study results”. In a study over 5 years, the study found a newborn malformations rate of 3.3%. The correlations with exposure to toxic metals and the industrial environment of the region are discussed.