Dear Colleagues,
It is an honor to be the one to address you in the first issue of the Serbian Journal of the Medical Chamber for 2026, a journal whose quality is continuously improving and which, in this year, has set significant challenges before future authors, reviewers, the Editorial Board, and publishers. Through our joint efforts to date, we have succeeded in establishing a recognizable standard of quality in the published papers, with the conviction that this fruitful collaboration will continue to strengthen with each subsequent issue. The confirmation of this quality is reflected in the steady rise of the journal ranking, which, in the previous year, reached category M52, corresponding to the status of a national journal in the field of medical sciences. This achievement further obliges all of us to strive for even greater responsibility and dedication on the path toward attaining the status of an international journal. Since 2025, the journal has been indexed in the DOAJ (Directory of Open Access Journals) database, thereby ensuring that the papers published in it are visible and accessible to the broader international scientific community. The impact of our journal has become increasingly recognized among authors beyond the borders of our country and region, thus providing us with clear direction and guidance towards our future goals. I would like to express my gratitude to all the authors who have placed their trust in us by submitting their articles for publication in this issue and who, through their research, have further expanded the diversity of topics and fields covered by our journal.
An invited paper by Christopher A. Reis and Robert M. Jacobson presents the approaches to addressing vaccine hesitancy. The authors conclude that stronger recommendations by healthcare professionals have a greater effect on increasing vaccine acceptance.
At the invitation of the editorial board, Zhansaya Nurgaliyeva and Nataliya Glushkova present a
qualitative study on COVID-19 infection in pregnancy, conducted in Kazakhstan. The article clearly emphasizes the need to improve the safety of healthcare services for pregnant women and postpartum
mothers during infectious disease outbreaks, relying on the enhancement of continuity of care and the
reduction of delays in the escalation of healthcare for women during pregnancy.
The original article by Nikola Gavrilović provides insight into the manifestation of depressive symptoms among family members providing care to patients receiving home-based treatment. The results of
this cross-sectional study indicate that depressive symptoms are present in a significant proportion of
family caregivers, and that symptom intensity is associated with greater impairment in daily functioning.
In their original article, Dejan Munjiza et al. confirmed the proposed hypothesis that an increase in
the diameter of the interventricular septum and/or the posterior wall of the left ventricle is associated
with a higher likelihood of poorer outcomes in neuroangiological diseases.
The original article by Sonja Smiljić et al. reports on the prevalence of metabolic disorders and hypertension in premenopausal and menopausal women. Women in menopause were found to have a
significantly higher burden of hypertension, obesity, dyslipidemia, and type 2 diabetes mellitus, indicating the need for preventive examinations and the early detection and treatment of cardiometabolic
disorders in women.
A group of authors led by Danijela Jovanović presented five years of experience in diagnosing, monitoring the disease course, therapeutic response, and survival in patients with non-Hodgkin follicular
lymphoma. In their original article, they demonstrate a significant correlation between hemostatic parameters – fibrinogen and D-dimer, and disease progression.
A review article by Jasmina Đuretić addresses aging as a modulator of the pathophysiology of multiple sclerosis. The paper highlights the importance of understanding the interaction between aging
and the pathophysiological mechanisms of multiple sclerosis, which is essential for the development
of targeted therapeutic strategies for the growing population of older patients with multiple sclerosis.
In their case report, Stevan Čičić et al. emphasize the importance of recognizing radiation-induced
osteosarcoma as a rare but serious late complication of breast cancer radiotherapy, highlighting the
complexity and specificity of surgical treatment and reconstruction necessary for optimal outcomes.
A case report of a patient with penile fracture associated with urethral injury was presented by Nebojša Prijović et al. The authors note that this is a rare urological emergency and that timely recognition
and surgical management yield excellent functional outcomes.
The formation of an arteriovenous fistula under axillary block and sedation in a child with end-stage
renal disease was presented by Lazar Jakšić et al., describing a procedure that ensured adequate analgesia with minimal opioid use during AV fistula formation, while avoiding anticipated difficult intubation.
Margita Lučić and Dolika Vasović provided a literature review demonstrating that peribulbar anesthesia combined with targeted intravenous analgosedation using esketamine represents a safe and
effective contemporary anesthesiological approach for performing enucleation, particularly in elderly
patients and those with comorbidities.
In closing, I invite you to share your research ideas with us, so that our journal may serve as a platform for disseminating your findings to a wide readership.
Sincerely
