AIM γ-glutamyl transferase (GGT) is an independent prognostic marker for cardiac death and reinfarction in patients with coronary artery disease, but its clinical significance during early postmyocardial infarction period is unclear. PATIENTS & METHODS This short-term prospective study included 40 patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in whom we determined GGT activity, lipids, uric acid, homocysteine (Hcy), high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) and left ventricular (LV) function on admission and on day 5 following AMI. RESULTS In AMI patients on admission, logGGT was associated with logHcy (r = 0.36), uric acid (r = 0.48) and CK-MB activity (r = -0.41). Uric acid remained an independent determinant of serum GGT activity on admission. Significant increase in GGT activity (77.7%) was observed following AMI. On day 5 serum logGGT was significantly associated with LV relative wall thickness (r = -0.37), LV end-diastolic diameter (r = 0.41) and LV fractional shortening (r = -0.36). In addition, a significant positive correlation was found between serum logGGT and loghsCRP (r = 0.41) and logHcy values (r = 0.395), but only LV end-diastolic diameter remained independently associated with serum GGT activity on day 5 following AMI. CONCLUSION GGT is associated with oxidative/inflammatory markers and LV diastolic diameter suggesting its potential role in predicting LV dilatation and dysfunction during the early postmyocardial infarction period.

The evolution of homocysteine (Hcy) changes after acute myocardial infarction is still not elucidated. Serum Hcy concentration has been shown to increase between acute and convalescent period after myocardial infarction and stroke. Also a decrease in serum Hcy during acute phase was observed. It is still not clear whether the Hcy is a culprit or an innocent bystander in cardiovascular diseases. Addressing the discrepancies in Hcy changes in patients with acute myocardial infarction might give insight in Hcy role in cardiovascular diseases and offer implications both for the clinical interpretation and patients risk stratification. The aim of the study was to evaluate serum Hcy concentration changes during early post myocardial infarction. The study included 55 patients with AMI from the Clinics for Heart Diseases and Rheumatism at University of Sarajevo Clinics Centre. For Hcy analysis blood was collected on day 2 and 5 after the AMI onset. Serum Hcy concentration was determined quantitatively with fluorescent polarisation immunoassay on AxSYM system. Cluster analysis revealed two groups of AMI patients with different trends of serum Hcy changes. Increase in serum Hcy concentration was observed in 33 (60,0%) patients (AMI 1 group), while in 22 (40,0%) patients a decrease was observed (AMI 2 group). On day 2, patients in AMI 2 group had significantly higher mean Hcy concentration compared to AMI 1 group of patients (15,27+/-0,96 and 11,59+/-0,61 micromol/L p<0,05). On day 5, no significant difference in mean Hcy level between AMI 1 and AMI 2 group of patients was observed (14,86+/-1,1 vs. 12,75+/-0,74 micromol/L respectively). Significant differences between AMI 1 and AMI 2 patients were observed in VLDLC levels and CK-MB activity on day 2. Patients in AMI 1 group had significant increase in platelets count from day 2 to day 5 (230,1+/-11,6 vs. 244,2+/-11,0; p<0,05). Our study of serial Hcy changes in patients with AMI revealed two different patterns of Hcy changes in early post infarction period which might reflect two distinct populations of AMI patients. Although further research is necessary, possible explanation for the observed findings could be a different genetic background, vitamin and oxidative status of patients with AMI.

Due to the territorial and administrative division in the war period, information system of health protection after the war was divided in two systems, what matched organisation of health insurance in that period. Those information systems were incompatible, developed on different, both, hardware and software. Therefore, Ministry of Health, within the project "Basic hospital services", financed through the World Bank loan, applied new, common information system in health insurance. Goal of this paper is to present basic features of information system of health insurance in FB&H, as well as the way of its functioning in respect to other institutions included in the system, respective data bases, sites of entering and updating data, while using data available with Federal Bureau of Health Insurance.

Cervical and breast cancer are usually type of tumor that are found among women in fertile age in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Final goal was to establish frequency of risk factors that are responsible for development of those types of cancer as well as establish possibility of prevention, according to the existence of each risk factor. Research was conducted through out surveys among women which were selected by accident. The amount of questioned women is 200, and out of that number 70 (35%) were out of rural environment, 130 (65%) were from urban environment which led to statistic- processed information. Variables that were defining our interviews were: age, marital status, education level, stay during the war in B&H, number of given birth, consistency of gynecological examinations, changes that were found during the medical (gynecological) examination, number of sexual partners, usage of contraception, existence of sexual infections, usage of tobacco, existence of genetic factor. The most important fact is that over 50% of interviewees do not visit gynecologist, and that the gynecological infections are frequent. Usage of tobacco is in high percent founded among interviewees from urban environment (85%).