Introduction: The effect of statins on risk of heart failure (HF) hospitalization and lethal outcome remains dubious. Aim: To investigate whether statin therapy improves clinical outcomes in patients hospitalized for ischemic heart failure (HF), to compare the efficacy of lipophilic and hydrophilic statins and to investigate which statin subtype provides better survival and other outcome benefits. Material and Methods: Total amount of 155 patients in the study were admitted to the Clinic for Cardiology, Rheumatology and Vascular diseases in Clinical Center University of Sarajevo in the period from January 2014- December 2017. Inclusion criteria was HF caused by ischemic coronary artery disease upon admission. For each patient the following data were obtained: gender, age, comorbidities and medications on discharge. New York Heart Association (NYHA) class for heart failure was determined by physician evaluation and left ventricle ejection fraction (LVEF) was determined by echocardiography. The patients were followed for a period of two years. Outcome points were: rehospitalization, in-hospital death, mortality after 6 months, 1 year and 2 years. All-cause mortality included cardiovascular events or worsening heart failure. Results: Overall, 58.9% of HF patients received statin therapy, with 33.9% patients receiving atorvastatin and 25.0% rosuvastatin therapy. The most frequent rehospitalization was in patients without statin therapy (66.7%), followed by patients on rosuvastatin (64.1%), and atorvastatin (13.2%), with statistically significant difference p = 0.001 between the groups. Mortality after 6 months, 1 year and 2 years was the most frequent in patients without statin therapy with a statistically significant difference (p = 0.001). Progression of HF accounted for 31.7% of mortality in patients without statin therapy, 12.8% in patients on rosuvastatin therapy and 3.8% in patients on atorvastatin therapy (p = 0.004). Conclusion: Lipophilic statin therapy is associated with substantially better long-term outcomes in patients with HF.

Introduction: An increase in nitric oxide (NO) synthesis concentration could help alleviate some pathological changes directly related to uremia. Aim: To investigate the concentration of nitric oxide in saliva of patients with terminal stage of chronic renal failure on hemodialysis and to investigate the effect of hemodialysis on concentration of nitric oxide in saliva of the patients with terminal stage of chronic renal failure on hemodialysis. Material and Methods: The study had a prospective character and included 60 respondents of both sexes, at age between 20 and 60 years. The control group included 30 healthy volunteers of both sexes (15 men and 15 women) of the same age, who were based on subjective and objective health status without any manifestations of pathophysiological changes. The group of patients with terminal stage of chronic renal failure on hemodialysis involved 30 patients of both sexes (15 men and 15 women). Inclusion criteria: hemodialysis duration more than 6 months and age between 20 and 60 years. Results: The amount of non-stimulated saliva collected during 15 minutes in patients with chronic renal failure was lower by 31.3% compared to the control group of healthy subjects (p<0.0001). Concentration of NO in saliva in patients with chronic renal failure was higher by 121% than in the control group (p<0.001). Concentration of NO in saliva in patients with chronic renal failure after hemodialysis was 121% lower than in the same subjects prior to hemodialysis (p<0.001). A statistically significant negative correlation (r=-0.381, p<0.05) was found between the hemodialysis duration in months and the level of NO in saliva of the patients with chronic renal failure prior to hemodialysis. There was no statistically significant correlation (r=-0.167, NS) between the hemodialysis duration in months and NO levels in saliva of the patients with chronic renal failure after hemodialysis treatment. Conclusion: Concentration of NO in saliva of the patients on hemodialysis was statistically significantly higher in relation to NO concentration in the saliva of healthy subjects and after hemodialysis was statistically significantly lower in relation to NO values prior to hemodialysis. Monitoring of changes in NO concentration dynamics in saliva of hemodialysis patients will probably be helpful in monitoring hemodialysis efficacy.

Introduction: In addition to the fastest reperfusion procedure of coronary arteries blood flow, identification of patients with increased risk of early and late complications is of the utmost importance in acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Methods: We included total of 207 patients in the acute phase of myocardial infarction, which were divided into two groups, 127 patients without clinical symptoms of heart failure (HF) and 60 patients with HF symptoms. For all patients serum aldosterone levels were determined 24 hours after acute MI. Results: In the group of decompensated patients, changes in aldosterone level did not show a statistically significant effect on paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia (PSVT) occurrence (p > 0.05), while in the group of compensated patients there is statistically significant effect on PSVT occurrence (p =0.004). Changes in aldosterone level in the group of decompensated (p=0,030) and compensated patients (p=0,024), showed statistically significant influence on the ventricular tachycardia (VT) occurrence. In the group of compensated patients, changes in aldosterone level showed a statistically significant effect on ventricular fibrillation (VF) occurrence (p = 0.024). Conclusion: Plasma aldosterone level in patients with acute myocardial infarction has a significant influence on the occurrence of cardiac rhythm disorders irrespective of the existence of cardiac decompensation. Keywords: aldosterone, myocardial infarction, prediction.