Recent Publications
Alon Yulevich: Delayed Diagnosis of Pediatric Appendicitis During the COVID-19 Pandemic (Acta Paediatr .)
Presents seven pediatric patients with appendicitis, all with late diagnosis resulting from different aspects of the fear from the current global COVID-19 pandemic.
Gershon Volpin: Indications and Interventions of Damage Control Orthopedic Surgeries: An Expert Opinion Survey (Eur J Trauma Emerg Surg .)
The objectives of this study were to gather an expert opinion survey and to evaluate the suitability of summarized indications and interventions for damage control orthopedics (DCO).
Elon Glassberg, Avi Benov: Mass-surveillance Technologies to Fight Coronavirus Spread: The Case of Israel (Nat. Med)
As the COVID-19 pandemic escalates, teams around the world are now advocating for a new approach to monitoring transmission: tapping into cellphone location data to track infection spread and warn people who may have been exposed. Here we present data collected in Israel through this approach so far and discuss the privacy concerns, alternatives and different ‘flavors’ of cellphone surveillance. We also propose safeguards needed to minimize the risk for civil rights.
Omry Koren: Attributes of Physical Activity and Gut Microbiome in Adults: A Systematic Review (Int J Sports Med . )
Growing evidence shows the contribution of physical activity interventions to the gut microbiome. However, specific physical activity characteristics that can modify the gut microbiome are unknown. This review's aim was to explore the contribution of physical activity intervention characteristics on human gut microbiome composition, in terms of diversity, specific bacterial groups, and associated gut microbiome metabolites.
Shaul Atar: Subcutaneous Selatogrel Inhibits Platelet Aggregation in Patients With Acute Myocardial Infarction (J Am Coll Cardiol .)
Oral P2Y12 receptor antagonists exhibit delayed onset of platelet inhibition in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Selatogrel is a potent, highly selective, and reversible P2Y12 receptor antagonist with a rapid onset and short duration of action. This study sought to assess inhibition of platelet aggregation following subcutaneous administration of selatogrel in patients with AMI.
Netta R Blondheim Shraga, Dafna Perry, Itzhak Haviv: Identification of Tumor Antigens in the HLA Peptidome of Patient-Derived Xenograft Tumors in Mouse (Mol Cell Proteomics.)
Personalized cancer immunotherapy targeting patient-specific cancer/testis antigens (CTA) and neoantigens may benefit from large-scale tumor human leukocyte antigen (HLA) peptidome (immunopeptidome) analysis, which aims to accurately identify antigens presented by tumor cells. While significant efforts have been invested in analyzing the HLA peptidomes of fresh tumors, it is often impossible to obtain sufficient volumes of tumor tissues for comprehensive HLA peptidome characterization. This work attempted to overcome some of these obstacles by using patient-derived xenograft tumors (PDX) in mice as the tissue sources for HLA peptidome analysis.
There's No Place Like Home? The Psychological, Physiological, and Cognitive Effects of Short Visits to Outdoor Urban Environments Compared to Staying in the Indoor Home Environment, a Field Experiment on Women From Two Ethnic Groups (Environ Res .)
The home environment is regarded as a safe, comfortable environment, however, home can also be a stressful place. Compared to staying in the indoor home environment, the effects of short visits to outdoor urban environments on short-term psychological, physiological and cognitive responses were not studied previously. This study evaluates whether visits to different urban and ethnic environments, in comparison to staying in the home indoor environment, leads to short-term changes in psychological, physiological and cognitive responses and whether these responses are independent of ethnicity. (Keren Agay-Shay)
Microsurgery for Management of Primary and Secondary Lymphedema: First Experience in Israel (J Vasc Surg Venous Lymphat Disord .)
Evaluates the efficacy and safety of lymphaticovenular anastomosis in patients with lymphedema. (Assi Drobot , Ibrahim Abu Shakra, Fahed Merei, Kamal Khatib, Amitai Bickel, Samer Ganam, Grigori Bogouslavski, Nour Karra, Badran Mahran, Walid Kassis, Leonid Kogan, Denis Drobot, Michael Weiss, Eli Kakiashvili)
Avi Benov: Pausing Cancer Screening During the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 pandemic: Should We Revisit the Recommendations? (Eur J Cancer)
Letter to the Editor:
There is already broad recognition of the challenges of cancer screening during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, if the current situation last, we anticipate that thousands of cases will be diagnosed late or in some cases will be missed. Herein, we discuss the ramifications of pausing cancer screening programs and turn a spotlight to advocate for maintaining the early detection programs running. This will hopefully prevent a ‘cancer boom’ that will meet an exhausted health system after the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic will subside.
Tawfik Khoury, Anas Kadah, Amir Mari, Wisam Sbeit: Predictors of Endoscopic Intervention in Upper Gastrointestinal Bleeding Patients Hospitalized for Another Illness: A Multi-Center Retrospective Study (Panminerva Med .)
Characterizes variables that may predict the need for endoscopic intervention in inpatients admitted for several causes who during the hospitalization developed acute non-variceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding (NVUGIB).
Johnny S. Younis, Karl Skorecki: Is there an impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on male fertility? The ACE2 connection. (Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab.)
The viral pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), generated by a novel mutated severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), is turning into a serious worldwide public health emergency, evolving exponentially. While the main organ targeted in this diseased are the lungs, other vital organs such as the heart and kidney may be implicated. The main host receptor of the SARS-CoV-2 is angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), a major component of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS). The ACE2 is also involved in testicular male regulation of steroidogenesis, and spermatogenesis. As the SARS-CoV-2 may have the potential to infect the testis via ACE2, and adversely affect male reproductive system, it is essential to commence with targeted studies to learn from current pandemic, with the possibility of preemptive intervention depending on findings and the time course of the continued pandemic.
Nadav Graif, Said Abozaid, Avi Peretz: Trends in Distribution and Antibiotic Resistance of Bacteria Isolated from Urine Cultures of Children in Northern Israel Between 2010 and 2017. (Microb Drug Resist. )
Identifies the changing trends of uropathogens over the years 2010–2017 and examines the incidence of both antibiotic resistance and extended spectrum beta lactamases (ESBL)-producing Enterobacteriaceae in urine cultures from pediatric patients.
Early prediction of methotrexate treatment outcome in tubal ectopic pregnancy based on days 0 and 4 human chorionic gonadotropin levels (J Obstet Gynaecol Res.)
Methotrexate (MTX) is an efficient treatment for ectopic pregnancy, used according to ‘single‐dose’ protocol. Treatment success is evaluated on days 4 and 7 after dose administration, and defined as a decline of ≥15% in beta‐human chorionic gonadotropin (β‐hCG) levels, with a positive predictive value of 93%. A decrease on day 4 β‐hCG levels was determined to be a good predictor for treatment success. We retrospectively examined changes in β‐hCG levels between days 0 and 4 after MTX treatment as an early predictor for treatment outcome. (Noy Shatkin Hamish, Maya Wolf, Rene Tendler, Avishalom Sharon, Jacob Bornstein, Marwan Odeh)
Natalia Volinsky, Liza Grosman‐Rimon, Offer Amir: Differential expression of microRNA in serum fractions and association of Argonaute 1 microRNAs with heart failure. (J Cell Mol Med. )
The serum or plasma microRNA (miRNA) molecules have been suggested as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers, in various pathological conditions. However, these molecules are also found in different serum fractions, such as exosomes and Argonaute (Ago) protein complexes. Ago1 is the predominant Ago protein expressed in heart tissue. The objective of the study was to examine the hypothesis that Ago1-associated miRNAs may be more relevant to cardiac disease and heart failure compared with the serum.
Yair Heskiau Shteinberg, Netanel Eisenbach, Eyal Sela, Maayan Gruber & Ohad Ronen: Translation and cultural adaptation of the Hebrew version of the Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire: a prospective, non-randomized control trial. )
Left untreated, obstructive sleep-disordered breathing (OSDB) are associated with adverse effects on growth and development. History and physical examination alone are used for diagnosing children with OSDB, as polysomnography is not always feasible. Our objective was to develop and validate a Hebrew version of the Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire (PSQ) to help to diagnose and follow-up children before and after adenotonsillectomy surgery for OSDB.