A. baumannii imposes a great burden on medical systems worldwide. Surveillance of trends of antibiotic resistance provides a great deal of information needed for antimicrobial stewardship programmes nationwide. Clinical data from long-term, continuous surveillance on trends of antibiotic resistance of A. baumannii in Slovakia is missing. One hundred and forty-nine samples of A. baumannii were isolated over a period of four years. A panel of 19 antibiotics from seven antibiotic categories were tested for the bacterium’s susceptibility. Resistance results were evaluated, and the significance of patterns was estimated using simple linear regression analysis. All isolates were more than 85% resistant to at least 13 out of the 19 tested antibiotics. A significant rise in resistance was recorded for aminoglycosides and imipenem from 2019 to 2022. Colistin and ampicillin-sulbactam have been the only antibiotics maintaining more than 80% efficacy on the bacterium to date. A significant rise in extensively drug-resistant (XDR) strains among carbapenem-resistant (CR) isolates has been recorded. Multidrug-resistance (MDR) among all A. baumannii isolates and XDR among CR strains of the bacterium have risen significantly in the last four years.

Cholelithiasis is more common in patients with Crohn’s disease (CD) than in the healthy population. The aim here was to examine risk factors for cholelithiasis in a cohort of CD patients and to compare the prevalence of cholelithiasis in a cohort of CD patients with that in a control group. This was a single-center retrospective case-control study. The cohort comprised all consecutive CD patients who underwent abdominal ultrasound from January 2007 to January 2018. The control group comprised age- and gender-matched non-CD patients referred for upper gastrointestinal tract dyspepsia. The study included 238 CD patients and 238 controls. The prevalence of cholelithiasis in the CD and control groups was 12.6 % and 9.2 %, respectively (risk ratio (RR), 1.36; p=0.24). Univariate analysis revealed that cholelithiasis was associated with multiple risk factors. Multivariate analysis identified age (OR, 1.077; 95 % CI, 1.043–1.112; p<0.001) and receipt of parenteral nutrition (OR, 1.812; 95 % CI, 1.131–2.903; p=0.013) as independent risk factors for cholelithiasis in CD patients. The prevalence of cholelithiasis in CD patients was higher than that in the control group; however, the difference was not statistically significant. Age and receipt of parenteral nutrition were independent risk factors for cholelithiasis in CD patients.

Isolated carbapenem resistant bacteria, their multidrug resistant profile, percentage of healthcare associated infection and associated mortality, in hospitalized patients in a University Hospital in Bratislava

First report of nosocomial outbreak of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium infection among COVID-19 patients hospitalized in a non-intensive care unit ward in Slovakia

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic systemic inflammatory disease associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Myocardial fibrosis, a key pathological consequence of prolonged inflammation, contributes to diastolic dysfunction and the development of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) in RA patients. Understanding its pathophysiology, early detection, and potential therapeutic strategies is crucial for improving patient outcomes. In this study we explore the underlying mechanisms of myocardial fibrosis in RA, focusing on immune-mediated pathways, oxidative stress, and extracellular matrix dysregulation, with concise look at the impact of immunosuppressive therapy on cardiac remodeling and role of speckle-tracking echocardiography (STE) in detecting subclinical myocardial fibrosis, emphasizing global longitudinal strain (GLS) as a promising surrogate marker.

By exhibiting resistance to most known antibiotics or quickly acquiring resistance to antimicrobials it was once susceptible to, Acinetobacter baumannii has attracted increasing attention worldwide since the last decades of the previous century. The resistance abilities of the bacterium were soon shown to be so advanced that it was even able to resist antibiotics that had only just been discovered and used for first time. Utilizing complex mechanisms of resistance, combining different modalities, and achieving new resistant traits established A. baumannii as one of the most clinically important and challenging pathogens of the new century, being categorized by the World Health Organization as a critical priority bacterium for which new antibiotics are urgently needed. After even last-resort, broad-spectrum antibiotics were rendered useless, the fight against this superbug began to be led by the reintroduction of once abandoned antimicrobials, new combination therapies and novel modalities of treatment. In this chapter, we will look at the history and background of Acinetobacter species and then specifically focus on A. baumannii, explaining its clinical importance in detail, reviewing the most recent findings regarding its mechanisms of resistance, latest modalities of treatment and newest areas of research towards opening new frontiers in the management of infections caused by multi-resistant strains of this bacterium.