Jasna Tekavec-Trkanjec

Klinička bolnica Dubrava | UHD · Departmment of Pulmonary Medicine

INTRODUCTION: Sarcoidosis is a granulomatous inflammatory systemic disease of unknown origin. The feeling of fatigue and tiredness is often reported among sarcoidosis patients, however, data on sleep practices in patients with sarcoidosis is limited. AIM: To investigate self-reported quality of sleep in sarcoidosis patients. METHODS: We conducted...

Introduction: Sarcoidosis is a multisystem granulomatous disorder of unknown origin; fatigue and malaise are among the most commonly reported non-specific symptoms. We aimed to assess factors that might impact percieved quality of sleep in patients with sarcoidosis. Method: An online self-administered survey was posted in a Croatian-speaking sarcoi...

Introduction and aim: Sarcoidosis is a multisystem granulomatous disorder of unknown etiology. Fatigue and malaise are commonly reported among the affected individuals. Differences in sleeping patterns between genders are an emerging topic in sleep research. We aimed to investigate the differences in self-reported quality of sleep between male and...

Introduction: The impact of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in the setting of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV‑2) infection is not clearly defined. Blood eosinophil count is a standard diagnostic test which, according to the previously published literature, might have a potential prognostic role on m...

Citation: Radić, M.; Novak, S.; Barešić, M.; Hećimović, A.; Perković, D.; Tekavec-Trkanjec, J.; Mayer, M.; Prus, V.; Morović-Vergles, J.; Marasović Krstulović, D.; et al. Delphi-Based Consensus on Interstitial Lung Disease Screening in Patients with Connective Tissue Diseases (Croatian National-Based Study). Biomedicines 2022, 10, 3291.

Current knowledge of histopathological changes in Covid-19 pneumonia is mainly based on autopsy findings. There are few data on dynamics of lung lesions in vivo after acute phase of disease. The aim of this study was to determine histopathologic changes during the long/post-Covid stage in patients who had suffered from moderate to severe Covid-19...

Introduction: Healthcare workers are at an increased risk of tuberculosis (TB). A patient with fulminant TB was admitted to our intensive-care unit; however, TB was not immediately diagnosed which resulted in suboptimal protective measures. Aim: To investigate basic knowledge regarding TB in the exposed healthcare workers, willingness to attend a...

Cilj: Pušenje, sa svojim dugoročnim štetnim učincima na arhitektoniku pluća i na imunosni odgovor organizma, je dobro poznati rizični čimbenik za oboljevanje od respiratornih infekcija uz lošije ishode liječenja. Dosadašnje studije koje su uspoređivale ishode liječenja i oporavak pušača nakon COVID 19 infekcije dale su kontradiktorne rezultate. Cil...

Uvod: Transbronhalna iglena aspiracija pod kontrolom ultrazvuka (EBUS-TBNA) je minimalno invazivna pretraga koja omogućuje prikaz i punkciju medijastinalnih i hilarnih limfnih čvorova. Ova metoda u kliničkoj praksi najčešće je korištena kao metoda dokazivanja i stupnjevanja maligne bolesti pluća, kao i dokazivanja drugih ekstratorakalnih malignitet...

Background There is no clear evidence whether pirfenidone has a benefit in patients with probable or possible UIP, i.e. when idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is diagnosed with a lower degree of diagnostic certainty. We report on outcomes of treatment with pirfenidone in IPF patients diagnosed with various degrees of certainty. Methods and findi...

Background: Patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) frequently have multiple comorbidities, which may influence survival but go under-recognised in clinical practice. We therefore report comorbidity, antifibrotic treatment use and survival of patients with IPF observed in the multi-national EMPIRE registry. Methods: For this prospectiv...

Introduction Hughes-Stovin syndrome (HSS) is a systemic vasculitis characterized by widespread venous/arterial thrombosis and pulmonary artery aneurysms (PAAs), which is associated with serious morbidity and mortality. All fatalities reported in HSS resulted from unpredictable fatal suffocating hemoptysis. Therefore, it is necessary to recognize pu...

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a rare lung disease with poor prognosis. The diagnosis and treatment possibilities are dependent on the health systems of countries. Hence, comparison among countries is difficult due to data heterogeneity. Our aim was to analyse patients with IPF in Central and Eastern Europe using the uniform data from the E...

Cilj: Dosadašnja iskustva pokazuju da neki bolesnici nakon preboljele infekcije COVID-19 razviju brojne simptome i komplikacije u sklopu sindroma post-COVID. U svrhu praćenja takvih bolesnika, u KB Dubrava 2020. otvorena je Post-COVID dnevna bolnica. Metode: Sustav praćenja sastoji se od tri periodične vizite: 6. – 8., 12. i 24. tjedna od početka b...

Cilj: Pretpostavlja se da bi postviralne plućne lezije mogle biti okidač za razvoj kroničnih fibrozirajućih intersticijskih pneumonija. Cilj ovog istraživanja bio je utvrditi histopatološke promjene plućnog parenhima u bolesnika s protrahiranim kliničkim i radiološkim promjenama nakon preboljele pneumonije COVID-19. Metode: Uzorkovanje biopsijskih...

In patients with neurological symptoms when other neurological causes are excluded, a differential diagnosis of neurosarcoidosis should be considered taking into account the clinical picture, radiological and laboratory findings. https://bit.ly/3oMSBap.

Introduction Hughes-Stovin syndrome (HSS) is a systemic vasculitis characterized by widespread venous/arterial thrombosis and pulmonary artery aneurysms (PAAs), which is associated with serious morbidity and mortality. All fatalities reported in HSS resulted from unpredictable fatal suffocating hemoptysis. Therefore, it is necessary to recognize pu...

Background: Hughes-Stovin syndrome (HSS) is a systemic disease characterized by widespread vascular thrombosis and pulmonary vasculitis with serious morbidity and mortality. The HSS International Study Group is a multidisciplinary taskforce aiming to study HSS, in order to generate consensus recommendations regarding diagnosis and treatment. Meth...

Introduction Eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA) is a rare form of small-vessel vasculitis characterized by asthma, hyper-eosinophilia, and progressive multiorgan involvement. EGPA is traditionally treated using glucocorticoids, either alone or in combination with conventional immunosuppressants. Mepolizumab, a novel anti-interleuk...

IntroductionNintedanib, a tyrosine kinase receptor inhibitor, may be associated with increased bleeding risk. Thus, patients with an inherited predisposition to bleeding, or those receiving therapeutic doses of anticoagulants or high-dose antiplatelet therapy, have been excluded from clinical trials of nintedanib in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (I...

Background: Several registries of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) have been established to better understand its natural history, though their size and duration of follow-up are limited. Here, we describe the large European MultiPartner IPF Registry (EMPIRE) and validate predictors of long-term survival in IPF. Methods: The multinational pro...

The zoonotic potential of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex species is well known. However, M. pinnipedii , the causative agent of tuberculosis (TB) predominantly in seals and sea lions, has never been isolated from a respiratory specimen in humans. Here we describe the first known human case of pulmonary TB caused by M. pinnipedii in a 79-year-ol...

Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) is an orphan lung disease often associated with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC). TSC is an autosomal dominant genetic disease caused by inactivating mutations in the TSC1 and/or TSC2 genes that stimulate mTOR enzyme. So far treatment option is sirolimus (rapamycine), a mTOR inhibitor which is originally used to preve...

Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is a rare lung disease of unknown etiology which is presented with multiple cysts and nodules predominately in upper lobes. Corticosteroids are frequently used in the management of pulmonary Langerhans cell histiocytosis (PLCH) despite limited evidence of benefit. Aspergilloma occures in pulmonary cysts and cavit...

Aims: Many patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) have a delay in diagnosis and thus also in treatment. We investigated whether such delay influenced survival and treatment response to pirfenidone and nitedanib. Methods: The retrospective study used data from European Multipartner IPF registry (EMPIRE). 1170 IPF patients were divided to...

Most patients with IPF have comorbidities, which affect functional status, quality of life and survival. Our study aims are to analyze comorbidities in a series of 1210 IPF patients from the EMPIRE registry (European Multipartner IPF registry). Comorbidities were noted in 85.6% (1036pts), one in 23.5%, 2 in 23.0% and 3 or more in 53.5%. Median age...

Key feature of IPF is decline in forced vital capacity (FVC) and CO diffusion (DLco), but data on clinical determinants of this change in patients who have established disease are scarce. For a given patient it is unknown if different natural histories represent distinct phenotypes of IPF or if geographic, ethnic or other factors might have influen...

We conducted an international study of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) diagnosis among a large group of physicians and compared their diagnostic performance to a panel of IPF experts.A total of 1141 respiratory physicians and 34 IPF experts participated. Participants evaluated 60 cases of interstitial lung disease (ILD) without interdisciplinar...

The interactive presentation described the case report of a patient with multiple pulmonary nodules who suffered from rheumatoid arthritis and had short-term but high exposure to asbestos and quartz sand at his workplace. The connection between pneumoconiosis, especially silicosis, and the occurrence of autoimmune diseases has long been known. Nume...

Background: Statin-induced lung diseases(SILD) are a rare, but serious complication.Aim: To investigate clinical presentation, HRCT and pathological features of SILD.Methods: Retrospective analysis of patients with interstitial lung diseases(ILD), admitted to hospital from 2010-2015.Results: Among 261 patients with ILD, we identified 9 patients (4...

Introduction: Diffuse pulmonary ossification (DPO) is a rare condition of unknown origin defined by widespread heterotopic bone production within the pulmonary tissue. DPO is usually associated with preexisting chronic pulmonary and/or heart disorders, although in some cases may be idiopathic. In addition to biopsy, DPO can be diagnosed by HRCT sca...

Hughes-Stovin syndrome (HSS) is a rare autoimmune disorder, characterized by deep venous thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary and/or bronchial aneurysms. The pathogenesis is not clear, but it is assumed to be a consequence of angiodysplasia and vasculitis similar to those in Behcet disease. Case Report: A 70-year old male was admitted because of haemopty...

CPFE-combined pulmonary fibrosis and emphysema is a new term for a syndrome whose main characteristic is fibrosis in lower pulmonary lobes with simultaneous emphysema in upper pulmonary lobes. CPFE patients have well preserved pulmonary test values for unexpectedly long period, but extremely lowered carbon monoxide diffusion capacity and significan...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of a short form of the WHOQOL questionnaire, the WHOQOL-BREF, which consists of 24 questions, in evaluating quality of life (QOL) in sarcoidosis patients. A group of 97 sarcoidosis patients and a matched group of 97 healthy controls took part in the study. Their QOL was examined by means of the W...

Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease that can affect any organ of the human body. However, in 80–90 % of cases it affects the respiratory system. Pulmonary TB is highly contagious due to its way of spreading by aerosol and therefore still represents a global public health problem. In the 20th century pulmonary TB has changed its clinical pres...

Lymphocytic alveolitis is a characteristic of diverse interstitial lung diseases (ILD-s), but macrophages are often more numerous cell population in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF). Aim of this study is to analyze morphometric characteristics of macrophages nuclei in BALF in patients with ILD-s and to detect possible differences allowing distin...

Diffuse pulmonary ossification is a rare disease characterized by diffuse small bone fragments in the lung tissue. It can be idiopathic or associated with underlying chronic pulmonary or heart diseases. The majority of cases had been diagnosed on autopsy. This review collects present knowledge of diffuse pulmonary ossification with the purpose of u...

Sarcoidosis is an immune-mediated, multiorgan, granulomatous disease triggered by a combination of environmental and genetic factors. Numerous studies have reported about an association of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) alleles with sarcoidosis, with variation of alleles in different ethnic groups. Therefore, we investigated 142 Croatian sarcoidosis...

The diagnostic value of transbronchial/transtracheal fine needle aspiration (TBFNA) cytology in the patients with mediastinal and/or hilar lymphadenopathy has been investigated. Out of 116 patients with mediastinal/hilar lymphadenopathy, the diagnosis of sarcoidosis was established in 88 (75.9%). One hundred and seventy-one TBFNAs from different ly...

The aim of our study was to explore the characteristics of hospitalized patients with sarcoidosis concerning age, gender, clinical forms and staging, seasonality, geographical distribution, smoking habit and profession, familial clustering and mortality. We included 476 biopsy-proven sarcoidosis patients who were diagnosed at the University Hospita...

Idiopathic interstitial pneumonias (IIP) are heterogeneous group of diseases characterized with different degree of inflammation and fibrosis, natural course, and prognosis. Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and alkaline phosphatase (AP) are enzymes derived from alveolar cells that are involved inflammatory and fibrotic processes. The aim of study was to...

This is a case report of a patient diagnosed with three distinct primary intrathoracic tumors (mesothelioma, carcinoid and B-cell lymphoma). The patient had previously had mycosis fungoides. The occurrence of multiple neoplasms in a single patient, synchronous or metasynchronous, is not a rare phenomenon; the incidence varies from 1-11% of all neop...

The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of hospitalized patients of sarcoidosis in the Republic of Croatia, its distribution in relation to sex and age as well as its geographical distribution. The data on sarcoidosis patients hospitalized in Croatia in the last six years, from 1997 to 2002, were analyzed retrospectively. The preval...

Transbronchial lung biopsy (TBLB) is a well-recognized diagnostic technique in diffuse interstitial lung diseases, but it is not considered to be the first choice in investigation of solitary pulmonary nodules (SPN). The main idea of this study was to increase the sensitivity of bronchoscopy using multiple techniques, especially TBLB, thus to avoid...

In order to assess the usefulness of Ga-67 scintigraphy in the evaluation of sarcoidosis activity, 44 patients including 14, 20 and 10 patients with radiologic stage I, II and III, respectively, were examined. Control group consisted of 22 subjects with healthy lungs who underwent Ga-67 scintigraphy for extrathoracic disease. An objective method of...

Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) is a bronchoscopic technique that reveals specific insight in the distal parts of lung parenchyma. During the past twenty years, research of cellular and extracellular bronchoalveolar profiles gave important information on pathogenesis of some pulmonary disorders, promoting this technique as a diagnostic tool in pulmona...

Malignant pleural mesotheliomas are rare tumors. Their occurrence is often associated with the exposure to asbestos. Asbestos is widely used in various industries as well as for many types of products in everyday use. In Croatia in the period from 1989 to 1998, the rate of incidence was 0.4-1.1/100,000. The highest rate of incidence was in the Dist...

Bronchiolitis obliterans organizing pneumonia (BOOP) is increasingly recognized in "Jordanovac" Clinical hospital for lung diseases. The characteristic pathohistologic finding is the granulated tissue plugs within the lumen of small airways which extend into the alveolar ducts and alveoli. Numerous conditions and diseases show such histologic pictu...

We present a patient with Churg-Strauss syndrome which appeared with asthma, chronic sinuitis, peripheral and tissue oeosinophilia, migratory pulmonary infiltrates and polyneuropathy but without histologically proven granuloma or vasculitis. The patient successfully recovered under corticosteroid therapy. The aim of this presentation is early recog...

The authors measured the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) neutrophils, neutrophil elastase and albumin in 60 patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis, 18 patients with other interstitial lung diseases and 14 healthy controls in order to evaluate its significance in the prognosis of sarcoidosis. The concentrations were measured by enzymoimmunoassay an...

A 65-year old male patient was admitted to the hospital because of superior vena cava syndrome. Chest X-ray, CT of the thorax, phlebography and transesophageal echocardiography revealed a mediastinal tumor, which filled superior vena cava spreading to the right atrium and sinking to the right ventricle. The patient underwent incomplete surgical res...

A 54-year-old woman with pulmonary tuberculosis developed pneumonia caused by Scedosporium apiospermum, the asexual stage of the fungus Pseudallescheria boydii. Mycobacterium tuberculosis and P boydii were cultured in BAL fluid. The patient cleaned swimming pools in a spa health resort and was highly exposed to fungal conidia. She was successfully...

A female patient suffering from Wegener's vasculitis of upper respiratory tract, lungs, kidney and skin, is presented. The diagnosis has been established on the basis of clinical course, histopathologic examination of lung tissue obtained by transbronchial lung biopsy and positive serum antineutrophil cytoplasmatic antibodies (ANCA). The patient wa...

It is well known that there is a high prevalence and incidence of alcoholism among tuberculosis patients. This study presents the results of AUDIT (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test) in the group of tuberculosis patients without the diagnosis of alcoholism, admitted for the treatment at the Hospital for Pulmonary Diseases and Tuberculosis K...

In this paper the utilization of antituberculosis drugs was analyzed in defined daily doses per 1000 bed-days (DDD/1000 BD) in the Hospital for Pulmonary Diseases and Tuberculosis, Klenovnik, from 1983 to 1987. The utilization of these drugs increased from 894 DDD/1000 BD in 1983 to 1112 DDD/1000 BD in 1984, and then decreased to 1077 DDD/1000) BD...