Dear Editor, With the number of percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs) on the rise, it is expected that there will be a corresponding growth in population of patients with prior PCI referred to coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) as a result of long-term PCI failure, incomplete revascularization, or coronary artery disease progression. The prevalent position of the interventional cardiologists of: ‘‘subsequent CABG may be successfully performed in any patient with a history of previous PCI’’ is now being seriously challenged. Furthermore, results of several studies that investigated the impact of previous PCI on subsequent CABG were found to be conflicting. For this reason, we read with great interest the article by Niclauss et al. regarding the influence of prior PCI on subsequent CABG. There are only a few studies reporting onmidor long-term results following surgical revascularization in patients with prior PCI, and from that point of view the article by Niclauss et al. is indeed a very fine contribution. This study produced another very important conclusion—there is no difference in terms of mortality depending on prior PCI status. However, a cautionary warning was identified in that particular study: the proportion of patients who underwent isolated percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTCA)—20% in PCI prior CABG group—looks to be far too big for contemporary clinical practice in our view. Having in mind different pathophysiological mechanisms responsible for PTCA and PCI failure, we believe that such a large number of patientsmight, in fact, skew the results of the study. We, therefore, think that excluding the subgroup of patients would yield results that would be more representative of a contemporary practice. In Table 1, it is indicated that a proportion of patients with prior myocardial infarction (MI) is very similar between the groups (40% vs. 44%, p1⁄4 0.07). Does this mean that the patients with MI were not treated with PCI in large number? The report did not appear to indicate the number of patients having previous MI treated with PCI that were subsequently referred to CABG. For the purpose of analysis, it would be useful to see in what percentage was the artery, already treated with stent, revascularized surgically. Another factor worthy of attention is the number of multiple PCIs and its influence on CABG. Based on our clinical practice, we know that cardiologists are likely to be very persistent in their attempts to percutaneously revascularize the artery. Table 2 of Niclauss et al. paper counts 22.3% (89) prior-PCI patients taking clopidogrel which seems quite low. We seek explanation about how long the patients took the drug following PCI. Again, 77.7% of patients with previous PCI were merged with those not submitted to PCI when the impact of active double anti-platelet therapy was investigated. We believe that conclusions would be more accurate (meaningful) if only the original groups were considered. Careful decision-making in the setting of multivessel disease is mandatory. Obviously, many risk factors (patient related, procedure related, drug related, coronary artery anatomy, and pathology) may influence the success or failure of specific procedures, thus emphasizing the need for adequate patient selection according to corresponding procedure type. In order to gain meaningful insight about the relation between PCI and subsequent CABG, more contemporary studies including a larger proportion of patients treated with drug eluting stents and/or biodegradable stents are highly warranted. Conflict of interest: The authors acknowledge no conflict of interest in the submission.

INTRODUCTION Statins have similar side effects that do not always occur at the same rate among the various statins. We present a case of simvastatin-induced muscle toxicity that disappeared when pravastatin was substituted for the original drug. CASE OUTLINE A 74-year-old male, a nonsmoker, complained of severe nocturnal leg cramps. The patient also complained that similar painful cramping occurred when he walked rapidly or jogged. Because some components of his lipid panel exceeded the'desirable' range, and as he had a history of myocardial infarction, his family physician prescribed simvastatin (40 mg/day). The patient had taken this medication for the past eight years. The painful nocturnal episodes started two years ago and affected either one or the other leg. Four months ago we discontinued his simvastatin and prescribed pravastatin (80 mg/day). At a follow-up visit six weeks later, the patient reported that his leg pains at night and the pain experienced after brisk walking had disappeared. Four months after the substitution of pravastatin for simvastatin, the patient reported that his complete lack of symptoms had continued. CONCLUSION These painful muscle cramps were probably caused by an inadequate vascular supply to the calf and foot muscles. Perhaps a combination of advanced age and atherosclerotic changes created a predisposition for the simvastatin-induced leg cramps. Pravastatin differs from simvastatin in several ways.l It is not metabolized by cytochrome P450 (CYP) 3A4 oxidases, and thus is not influenced by CYP 3A4 inhibitors like simvastatin. Also, simvastatin is associated with single-nucleotide polymorphisms located within the SLCO1B1 gene on the chromosome 12 and established myopathy, while pravastatin lacks this association. These differences may contribute to increased tolerance to pravastatin in this particular case.

Smokers have an increased risk of perioperative and postoperative complications, including a higher incidence of airway and respiratory, cardiovascular events, and impaired wound healing. This brief review will remind anesthesiologist and surgeons that their preoperative smoking intervention for smoking cessation can be effective in decreasing the incidence of complications. Preoperative smoking intervention, even if it is both brief and intensive, may help to decrease this risk. The surgical event is the important ‘teachable moment’ that could translate, with proper smoking intervention, into permanent smoking cessation.

The aims of this study are the isolation and identification of possible bacteriological agents in respiratory infections of calves and the optimization of a diagnostic protocol to identify Arcanobacterium haemolyticum. Lesions of lungs from calves with pneumonia were examined. Cultural, morphological and conventional biochemical testing were done. The investigation was complemented by the double CAMP test. Five strains of Arcanobacterium haemolyticum in pure culture were found. The presence of Arcanobacterium haemolyticum in the lungs of calves with pneumonia was established and, consequently, more attention should be paid to this species in everyday laboratory work. The cultural similarity of Arcanobacterium haemolyticum to common bacteria like beta-hemolytic Streptococcus spp. and Arcanobacterium pyogenes is probably responsible for rare reports on the isolation of Arcanobacterium haemolyticum in veterinary microbiology. Our results indicate that Arcanobacterium haemolyticum could be or is the etiological agent of pneumonia. Therefore, we suggest the diagnostic protocol available for routine work in most microbiological laboratories. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 41012]

Sažetak. Infekcije tmdnice su relativno česte, tako da je često i propisivanje antibiotika и trudnoći. Vrsta antibiotika, doza, trajanje, način i učestalost primjene zavise od uzročnika i težine bolesti. U Sjedinjenim Američkim Državama, prema Upravi za hranu i lijekove (engl., Food and Drug Administration, FDA) svi lijekovi, prema riziku za oštećenje ploda, svrstavaju se и 5 grupa (А, В, C, D, X). Najmanji rizik imaju lijekovi iz grupe A i B, a najveći iz grupe X. Cilj rada je bio da se ispita učestalost primjene antibiotika kod trudnica, koje su najčešće indikacije za njihovu primjenu, koji se antibiotici najčešće koriste i и koju grupu rizika po plod spadaju, te koliko je antibiotska terapija trajala. ® Studija je obuhvatila 694 trudnice. Ispitivanje je provedeno tokom 2004. i 2005. godine. Podaci su prikupljeni modifikovanim upitnikom za trudnice Svjetske zdravstvene organizacije, originalno urađenom na Institutu za farmakološka istraživanja “Mario Negri ”, Milano, ltalija. U toku trudnoće, lijekove je uzimalo 574 (82,71%) žene. U prosjeku, uzimano je 2,84 lijeka po trudnici. Najčešće su korišćeni preparati željeza (69,9%) i vitamini (56,1%), a slijede sistemski antibiotici (33,9%), antimikotici u obliku vaginaleta (22,3%), simpatikomimetici za spriječavanje prijevremenog porođaja (22,0%), polni hormoni (progesteron) (13,9%), te benzodiazepini (12,0%>). Od sistemskih antibiotika najčešće su korišćeni beta laktamski antibiotici (penicilini i cefalosporini, FDA grupa B). Najčešće indikacije za terapiju sistemskim antibioticima su bile: infekcije urinarnog trakta, a zatim respiratornog. Utvrđeno je da su antibiotici primjenjivani i kod virusnih infekcija uz opravdanje da se trudnice zaštite od bakterijske superinfekcije. Oko 3% trudnica bilo je na hroničnoj terapiji, koja je započeta prije i trajala je tokom čitave trudnoće (epilepsija, oboljenja štitne žlijezde, i slično). Antibiotike za sistemsku primjenu je koristila treéina trudnica, a najčešće su korisćeni beta laktamski antibiotici, amoksicilin i cefaleksin. Antibiotici su najčešće korišćeni za liječenje infekcija urinarnog i respiratornog trakta. Kod veéine trudnica, liječenje infekcija bilo je neodgovarajuée.