[OBJECTIVES - Blindness represents a significant health and economic burden worldwide as well as in Hungary. The aim of this research was to estimate medical and nonmedical expenses related to blindness of elderly patients (>60 years) in Hungary so that the results can be used for further analyses. METHODS - The data required for determining the socioeconomic burden of disesase were derived from the published literature, statistical databases and estimations of relevant experts. We divided the social burden of elderly blindness into public and private medical and nonmedical costs. In addition to direct costs (social care and subvention, conduct recourse, medical costs) indirect costs and lost revenues (unemployment, support to activities of daily living) were also calculated. RESULTS - The social burden of elderly blind patients was estimated as 53.35 million USD in 2009, 0.03% of the Hungarian GDP (1 USD = 128.19 HUF in purchasing power parity exchange rate). Social care and subventions (20.04 million USD) and support to everyday activities (15.91 million USD) represented the largest proportion of expenses of the 6051 elderly blind people. The burden on the public sector was 55% of the total burden, which means that the population bears almost half of the burden. Social subventions represented two-third of the public burden. CONCLUSION - Blindness of the elderly means a significant economic burden, which is further exacerbated by the health loss - excess mortality, deterioration of quality of life - not evaluated in our study. Prevention and treatment of blindness in the elderly and social integration of blind people is an important task from a social as well as a health policy aspect.]

[Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is meant to optimalise cardiac status, that is, short-term and long-term outcomes. It is known from large Western databases that stent implantation is performed in 77-85% of coronary interventions, which means hundreds of thousands of new patients with stent every year. The great majority of these patients has to take platelet aggregation inhibitors, namely acetylsalicylic acid and thienopyridin, most often clopidrogel. It presents a major therapeutic dilemma when these patients require noncardiac surgery. First, surgery should be performed with the least possible blood loss, which would be optimal if the platelet aggregation inhibitor therapy - that is indispensable for a certain period because of the stent - was suspended. Second, stent thrombosis has to be avoided, which can only be achieved if platelet aggregation inhibitor therapy is continued. The aim of our paper is to summarise the current guidelines and the risk estimation on the basis of our current knowledge in the perioperative management of patients with coronary stent. In the first part, we overview the platelet aggregation inhibitor agents, their mechanisms of effect, stent types and the minimal therapeutic period to be strictly observed, which depends on the type of stent.]