Recent Publications
Afif Nakhleh, Rizan Sakhnini, Naim Shehadeh: Cardiometabolic risk factors among children and adolescents with overweight and Class 1 obesity: A cross-sectional study. Insights from stratification of Class 1 obesity (Front Endocrinol (Lausanne) .)
Severe childhood obesity is associated with increased prevalence of cardiometabolic risk factors (CMRFs). Among children with Class 1 obesity, higher BMI may indicate greater cardiometabolic risk. Class 1 obesity reflects a wide spectrum of BMI values. Each 10% increase in BMI above the 95th percentile is equivalent to an average increase of 2.15 kg/m2 and 2.75 kg/m2 in BMI among children and adolescents, respectively. Such increments may be of clinical importance. Objectives: The study aimed to determine the prevalence and clustering of CMRFs in children and adolescents with BMI 110%-119% of the 95th BMI percentile.
Nomy Dickman: Academic integrity in the HyFlex learning environment (Heliyon . )
This study analyzed how students' personality traits and course attendance preferences impact academic integrity in the HyFlex learning environment.
Chaim Putterman: Progress and unmet needs in understanding fundamental mechanisms of autoimmunity (J Autoimmun . )
The rising incidence of autoimmune diseases is straining the healthcare system's capacity to care for patients with autoimmunity. To further compound this growing crisis, this rise occurs at a time when virulent infectious diseases exacerbate pre-existing conditions. Despite some novel targeted therapies introduced over the preceding decades, current treatment strategies must often fall back on non-specific immunosuppression, inflicting its own toll on patient morbidity. To improve patient care, we must re-double our efforts to understand and target the fundamental mechanisms of autoimmune disease initiation and progression.
Shemy Carasso: The Role of Hand-Held Cardiac Ultrasound in Patients with COVID-19 (Biomedicines . )
The role of point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) in patient management has been established in recent years as an important tool. It is increasingly used by multiple medical disciplines in numerous clinical settings, for different applications and diagnostic purposes and in the guidance of procedures. The introduction of small-sized and inexpensive hand-held ultrasound devices (HUDs) has addressed some of the POCUS-related challenges and has thus extended POCUS' applicability. HUD utilization is even more relevant in the COVID-19 setting given the operators' infection risk, excessive workload concerns and general equipment contamination. This review focuses on the available technology, usefulness, feasibility and clinical applications of HUD for echocardiogram assessment in patients with COVID-19.
Yaron Berkovich, Eden Wiestov, David E Rothem: Cross-sectional Analysis Study Between SIGMA Knee System and ATTUNE in a Cruciate-Retaining Fixed-Bearing Total Knee Replacement, with no Patellar Resurfacing (Indian J Orthop .)
The purpose of our study was to compare the knee implant SIGMA to the ATTUNE knee implant in a cruciate-retaining (CR) fixed-bearing (FB) total knee replacement (TKR) surgery, with no patellar resurfacing.
Moti Ben-Shabat, Yaseen Awad-Igbaria, Shifra Sela, Bella Gross, Eilam Palzur: Predisposition to cortical neurodegenerative changes in brains of hypertension prone rats (J Transl Med . )
Substantial evidence suggests that hypertension is a significant risk factor for cognitive decline. However, it is unclear whether the genetic predisposition to hypertension is also associated with cellular dysfunction that promotes neurodegeneration.
Tarek Taha: First-line programmed death-1 inhibitor treatment for locoregionally advanced or metastatic cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma - A real-world experience from Israel (Front Oncol . )
Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) is the second most common non-melanoma skin cancer worldwide. It is usually treated surgically, with very high cure rates. However, in 3%-7% of cases, cSCC metastasizes to lymph nodes or distant organs. Many of the affected patients are elderly with comorbidities who are not candidates for standard-of-care curative-intent treatment with surgery and/or radio-/chemotherapy. Immune checkpoint inhibitors, which target programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) pathways, have recently emerged as a potent therapeutic option. The present report presents the Israeli experience with PD-1 inhibitors for the treatment of loco-regionally advanced or metastatic cSCC in a diverse and elderly population, with or without the addition of radiotherapy.
Khalaf Kridin: Risk factors and sequelae of epidermolysis bullosa acquisita: A propensity-matched global study in 1,344 patients (Front Immunol . )
Identification of risk factors and sequelae of any given disease is of key importance. For common diseases, primary prevention and disease management are based on this knowledge. For orphan diseases, identification of risk factors and sequelae has been challenging. With the advent of large databases, e.g., TriNetX, this can now be addressed. We used TriNetX to identify risk factors and sequelae of epidermolysis bullosa acquisita (EBA), a severe and orphan autoimmune disease.
Galia Stemer: Lymphoid aggregates in the bone marrow biopsies of patients with myelodysplastic syndromes - A potential prognostic marker? (Front Oncol . )
Lymphoid aggregates (LA) are occasionally seen in bone marrow biopsies (BMB) of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) patients. Our aim was to evaluate their incidence and association with prognosis.
Comparison of Doppler Ultrasound and Computerized Tomographic Angiography in Evaluation of Cervical Arteries Stenosis in Stroke Patients, a Retrospective Single-Center Study (Diagnostics (Basel) .)
There are different diagnostic modalities to investigate atherosclerosis cervical artery disease in suspected stroke patients. We aimed to test the concordance of findings of the two most widely used diagnostic modalities in stroke patients: duplex ultrasound (DUS) and computerized tomographic angiography (CTA).
(Naaem Simaan, Tamer Jubeh, Karine Beiruti Wiegler, Adi Sharabi-Nov, Radi Shahien)
Tal Zadok, Otzem Chasid: Comparison of Biometry Measurements and Intraocular Lens Power Prediction Between Two Swept-source Based OCT Biometers (J Cataract Refract Surg .)
Evaluates the agreement in biometry measurements and intraocular lens (IOL) power prediction between the Eyestar 900 and the IOLMaster 700.
Peter Gilbey, Adi Sharabi-Nov, Omri Cohen: Burnout in Israeli medical students: a national survey (BMC Med Educ .)
Professional burnout is characterized by loss of enthusiasm for work, cynicism, and a low sense of personal efficacy. Burnout may adversely affect medical professionalism. Burnout is common in clinicians and varying rates have been reported in medical students. No data exist regarding the prevalence of burnout among Israeli medical students. The aims of this study were to assess the rate of burnout in Israeli medical students and to identify students who were particularly susceptible to burnout.
Hannan Rohana, Anat Hager-Cohen, Maya Azrad, Avi Peretz: Trend of Changes in Chloramphenicol Resistance during the Years 2017-2020: A Retrospective Report from Israel (Antibiotics (Basel) .)
Resistant bacteria limit treatment options. This challenge has awakened interest in antibiotics that are no longer in use due to side effects, such as chloramphenicol. This work investigated trends in chloramphenicol resistance rates during 2017-2020 in bacteria isolated from diverse clinical samples at the Baruch Padeh Medical Center, Poriya, Israel.
Ibrahim Marai, Rabea Haddad, Nizar Andria, Wadi Kinany, Yevgeni Hazanov , Bruce M Kleinberg, Edo Birati, Shemy Carasso: Left Ventricular "Longitudinal Rotation" and Conduction Abnormalities-A New Outlook on Dyssynchrony (J Clin Med . )
The complete left bundle branch block (CLBBB) results in ventricular dyssynchrony and a reduction in systolic and diastolic efficiency. We noticed a distinct clockwise rotation of the left ventricle (LV) in patients with CLBBB ("longitudinal rotation"). The aim of this study was to quantify the "longitudinal rotation" of the LV in patients with CLBBB in comparison to patients with normal conduction or complete right bundle branch block (CRBBB).
Meir Shamay: The LHX2-OTX2 transcriptional regulatory module controls retinal pigmented epithelium differentiation and underlies genetic risk for age-related macular degeneration (PLoS Biol)
Tissue-specific transcription factors (TFs) control the transcriptome through an association with noncoding regulatory regions (cistromes). Identifying the combination of TFs that dictate specific cell fate, their specific cistromes and examining their involvement in complex human traits remain a major challenge. Here, we focus on the retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE), an essential lineage for retinal development and function and the primary tissue affected in age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a leading cause of blindness.