Cytotoxic and genotoxic examinations were performed of the effect of levamisole hydrochloride (2.2 mg/kg bm, 4.4 mg/kg bm, LD50-25% mg/kg bm and LD50-75% mg/kg bm) on bone marrow cells of mice of the BALB/c strain. The effect of levamisole hydrochloride on kinetics of the cellular cycle and the appearance of structural and numerical changes in chromosomes of bone marrow cells were followed. The therapeutic dose of levamisole of 2.2 mg/kg bm showed the ability to increase the mitotic activity of the observed cells, thus confirming knowledge of the immunostimulative effect of this dose of the medicine under in vivo conditions. The other tested doses of levamisole in this experiment, observed in comparison with the control group, had an opposite effect, i.e. they caused a reduction in the mitotic activity of bone marrow cells. All the examined doses in vivo showed the ability of inducing numeric (aneuloid and polyploid) and structural (lesions, breaks and insertions) chromosomal aberrations. On this basis, it can be concluded that the examined doses have a genotoxic effect.

A modern diagnostic and therapeutical approach to paediatric cardiology enables early application of foetal echocardiography in order of achieving diagnosis of congenital heart anomalies in utero. The aim of this study is to evaluate the percentage of prenatal diagnosis of congenital heart anomalies. This study has been conducted on 73 patients at Paediatric clinic of Clinical Centre of Sarajevo in a period from January 2000 until December 2004 with diagnosis of heart malformations. Among them 14 were preterm newborns, 40 boys. Diagnosis of cardiac anomalies with left to right shunt was done in 56.1%, obstructive 13.7%, cyanotic 1.36% and complex in 28.7% patients. The prenatal diagnosis was established in 4 patients (5.5%) by ultrasound examination which is very low in comparison to other European countries. There is a need for making prenatal diagnosis of congenital heart anomalies in foetus as early as it can be done in order to treat cardiac anomalies in utero, to decrease the number of congenital heart anomalies and to reduce the cost of cardiosurgical and postsurgical treatment.