Recent Publications

To investigate the etiology of pleural effusion, a variety of examinations are performed, including invasive ones: Thoracentesis is an invasive procedure to remove fluid or air from the pleural cavity for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes. Until now, there are no blood markers that can help us diagnose the type of pleural effusion without the need for pleural puncture or drainage. Aims: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship and the utility of the new inflammatory markers taken from complete blood count (CBC) to differentiate between the various types of pleural effusion before the invasive procedure decision.

Recent research has unveiled conflicting evidence regarding the link between aggression and the gut microbiome. Here, we compared behavior profiles of control, germ-free (GF) and antibiotic-treated mice, as well as re-colonized GF mice to understand the impact of gut microbiome on aggression using the resident-intruder paradigm. 

Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) have diverse effects on sodium and water homeostasis. They decrease thirst perception, potentially inhibit arginine vasopressin (AVP) production, and induce natriuresis. We present three cases of AVP deficiency (AVP-D) where GLP-1 RA initiation led to desmopressin dose reduction.

Biofilm formation and toxin production are some of the virulence factors of Clostridioides difficile (C. difficile), which causes hospital-acquired C. difficile infection (HA-CDI). This work investigated the prevalence and distribution of different strains recovered from HA-CDI patients hospitalized in 4 medical centres across Israel, and characterized strains' virulence factors and antibiotic susceptibility.

ERRATUM: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39333364/

To gather national level data on Israeli neonatal HSV (NHSV) infection and to evaluate the distinct clinical characteristics of NHSV and neonatal enteroviral meningitis (NEM). Israeli NHSV patients, hospitalized between January 2015 and April 2022 in 22 medical centers were assessed, together with NEM patients, hospitalized at Sheba Medical Center during the same period. 

Falls occur among old people and sometimes cause fractures in the hip. There are many reasons for falls. Objectives: To examine which ocular diseases are frequent among old people who fell and had hip fractures; to verify whether the use of glasses can prevent fall events.

Heart failure (HF) is an emerging pandemic associated with increased mortality, recurrent hospitalizations, and reduced quality of life. Guideline-directed medical therapy has been shown to improve outcomes, particularly in patients with HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). The main goal of HF clinics is optimizing medical therapy. Objectives: To assess the impact of our HF clinic on medical therapy and clinical outcomes.

Preeclampsia is a unique vascular disease during pregnancy that generally appears after 20 of weeks gestation or until 6 weeks after delivery. Left undiagnosed, preeclampsia can lead rapidly to death of both mother and fetus. Objectives: To verify the efficacy of peripheral blood inflammatory markers (BIMs)in diagnosing preeclampsia and compare them with results from other studies.

Pelvic organ prolapse in pregnancy is rare. Consequent complications include cervical infection, spontaneous abortion, and premature birth. Conservative management by means of a pessary have been described as improving maternal symptomatology and minimizing gestational risk. The delivery mode is controversial. Objectives: To describe the clinical courses of patients diagnosed with pelvic organ prolapse during pregnancy, and to present our multidisciplinary approach.

Local anesthetics are used in various sites and mechanisms to maximize perioperative analgesia and reduce opioid use and side effects. Pain management in the bariatric setting is challenging and the efficacy of local anesthetics intraoperatively is under current evaluation.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients can be divided according to the age of disease onset and classified as late-onset RA ≥ 60 years old or early-onset RA < 60 years old. Current treatment guidelines do not stipulate any preference regarding the biologic that should be used first in the late-onset group. This study aims to compare the drug survival times on first biological treatment between late and early-onset RA patients.

Depression significantly impacts recovery and return to daily activities in cardiac surgery patients. Assessing and managing depressive symptoms before and after surgery are crucial for improving surgical outcomes and timely return to daily activities, including work. The objectives of this study were to examine differences in patients' depression levels in relation to their return to daily activities in the early post-cardiac surgery period, and to assess predictors of delayed return to daily activities.

To the editor...

The prevalence of obesity is already a worldwide health concern. The development of straightforward guidelines regarding the whole available armamentarium (i.e., medical, endoscopic, and surgical interventions in conjunction with a guidance program) is paramount to offering the best multimodal approach to patients with obesity. 

(Nasser Sakran)

Examines the relation between maternal pre-delivery body mass index (BMI) and the accuracy of sonographic estimated foetal weight (EFW) in very preterm infants (<32 weeks gestation).