Recent Publications
Wisam Sbeit, Anas Kadah, Amir Shahin, Samer Shbat, Moeen Sbeit, Tawfik Khoury: Scheduled percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy tube replacement did not reduce PEG-related complications (Scand J Gastroenterol .)
Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tube insertion is used for enteral nutrition. Each manufacturer has its own instructions for planned tube replacement. Accordingly, caregivers have adopted the policy of elective change at a fixed period of time (3-6 months). The current study aimed to assess whether retained PEG for more than 6 months was associated with a higher rate of PEG-related complications.
Mary C J Rudolf: Between-country analysis of implementing an obesity prevention intervention using RE-AIM: HENRY in Israel and UK (Health Promot Int .)
Health Exercise Nutrition for the Really Young (HENRY) is a UK community-based early childhood obesity prevention intervention that was adopted and implemented in Israel between 2013 and 2018. The aim of this study was to explore the implementation process in Israel and compare it with that of the 'parent' programme in the UK, in order to throw light on the challenges of introducing complex interventions into different countries and cultures.
Khalaf Kridin, Eran Shavit: Hidradenitis suppurativa and rheumatoid arthritis: evaluating the bidirectional association (Immunol Res .)
Despite some common pathogenic themes, the association of hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has been poorly investigated. We aimed to evaluate the bidirectional association between HS and RA.
Maamoun Basheer, Elias Saad, Hagai Rechnitzer, Simona Zisman-Rozen, David Azoulay, Nimer Assy: Clearance of the SARS-CoV-2 Virus in an Immunocompromised Patient Mediated by Convalescent Plasma without B-Cell Recovery (Int J Mol Sci .)
This case report presents a patient who had difficulty eradicating the corona virus due to being treated with Rituximab, which depletes B lymphocyte cells and therefore disables the production of neutralizing antibodies.
Nagib Dally, Celia Suriu, Andrei Braester, Shay Yeganeh: COVID-19 among patients with hematological malignancies: a national Israeli retrospective analysis with special emphasis on treatment and outcome (Leuk Lymphoma .)
This national Israeli multicenter retrospective study aimed to characterize the clinical course of COVID-19 infection among patients with hematological malignancies, with special emphasis on treatment efficacy and outcome.
Ariela Goldenshluger, Nasser Sakran: Weight Loss Outcomes and Lifestyle Patterns Following Sleeve Gastrectomy: an 8-Year Retrospective Study of 212 Patients (Obes Surg . )
Sleeve gastrectomy (SG) is an effective treatment for extreme obesity; however, long-term weight loss outcomes remain largely understudied. We aimed to examine the long-term weight changes following SG and patient characteristics and lifestyle patterns related to weight loss outcomes.
SARS-CoV-2 Immunogenicity in individuals infected before and after COVID-19 vaccination: Israel, January-March 2021 (Epidemiol Infect . )
We serially measured anti-spike IgG response in a cohort of vaccinated healthcare workers according to SARS-CoV2 infection status (never infected or infected before or after vaccination) in order to inform vaccination policy.
(Kamal Abu Jabal, Hila Ben-Amram, Karine Beiruti, Ira Brimat, Ashraf Abu Saada, Younes Bathish, Christian Sussan, Salman Zarka, Michael Edelstein)
Milana Frenkel Morgenstern, David Karasik: The "GEnomics of Musculo Skeletal Traits TranslatiOnal NEtwork": Origins, Rationale, Organization, and Prospects (Front Endocrinol (Lausanne) .)
Musculoskeletal research has been enriched in the past ten years with a great wealth of new discoveries arising from genome wide association studies (GWAS). In addition to the novel factors identified by GWAS, the advent of whole-genome and whole-exome sequencing efforts in family based studies has also identified new genes and pathways. However, the function and the mechanisms by which such genes influence clinical traits remain largely unknown. There is imperative need to bring multidisciplinary expertise together that will allow translating these genomic discoveries into useful clinical applications with the potential of improving patient care. Therefore "GEnomics of MusculoSkeletal traits TranslatiOnal NEtwork" (GEMSTONE) aims to set the ground for the: 1) functional characterization of discovered genes and pathways; 2) understanding of the correspondence between molecular and clinical assessments; and 3) implementation of novel methodological approaches.
Amir Mari, Tawfik Khoury: Diagnosis and Management of Achalasia: Updates of the Last Two Years (J Clin Med . )
The aim of the current review is to provide a practical clinical approach to dysphagia and to shed light on the most recent improvements in diagnostics and treatment of achalasia over the last two years.
Ala Aiob, Hector I Cohen, Karina Naskovica, Renee Tendler, Avishalom Sharon, Jacob Bornstein: Coexisting Epithelioid Trophoblastic Tumor and Placental Site Trophoblastic Tumor During Asymptomatic Relapse: A Case Report and Literature Review (Int J Gynecol
Gestational trophoblastic neoplasms are a group of trophoblastic tumors that include choriocarcinoma (CC), epithelioid trophoblastic tumors (ETTs), and placental site trophoblastic tumors (PSTTs). Mixed gestational trophoblastic neoplasms include combinations of CCs with ETTs and/or PSTTs; combinations of ETTs and PSTTs have also been described. This report describes the case of a 49-yr-old female with mixed ETT and PSTT discovered due to menstrual delay and a positive beta-human chorionic gonadotropin in serum 11 yr after normal pregnancy; it is an asymptomatic recurrence of the neoplasm after 2 yr.
Offer Amir: Predictors of Hypoxemia and Related Adverse Outcomes in Patients Hospitalized with COVID-19: A Double-Center Retrospective Study (J Clin Med .)
Hypoxemia is a hallmark of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) severity. We sought to determine predictors of hypoxemia and related adverse outcomes among patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in the two largest hospitals in Jerusalem, Israel, from 9 March through 16 July 2020.
Offer Amir: Improving Diuretic Response in Heart Failure by Implementing a Patient-Tailored Variability and Chronotherapy-Guided Algorithm (Front Cardiovasc Med . )
Heart failure is a major public health problem, which is associated with significant mortality, morbidity, and healthcare expenditures. A substantial amount of the morbidity is attributed to volume overload, for which loop diuretics are a mandatory treatment. However, the variability in response to diuretics and development of diuretic resistance adversely affect the clinical outcomes. Morevoer, there exists a marked intra- and inter-patient variability in response to diuretics that affects the clinical course and related adverse outcomes. In the present article, we review the mechanisms underlying the development of diuretic resistance.
Seema Biswas, Oren Dahan, Evgeny Solomonov, Igor Waksman, Orit Braun Benyamin: Advancing global health through engineering: a perspective on teaching an online global health course to engineers during a global pandemic (Biomed Eng Online .)
The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on higher education has been felt worldwide. There are many lessons to be learned about teaching and learning in the digital age. While we evaluate the full impact and prepare ourselves for the new normal, it is worth reflecting on some of the positive aspects of online teaching and learning and understanding how students, teachers and the wider faculty have been able to support each other through the challenges of the pandemic. In this article, we offer a perspective on teaching an online Global Health course to engineering students.
Matan Kyzer, Liza Grosman-Rimon, Fabio Kusniec, Offer Amir, Shemy Carasso:Factors associated with prehospital delay in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (Coron Artery Dis .)
Longer ischemia time is known to be related to adverse outcomes in patients with acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Delay in time from symptom onset to emergency department (ED) has been studied less. The aim of this study was to define the clinical, transportation and residential factors associated with longer pre-hospital delay in STEMI events.
Trishna Saha, Hava Gil-Henn: Invadopodia, a Kingdom of Non-Receptor Tyrosine Kinases (Cells .)
Non-receptor tyrosine kinases (NRTKs) are crucial mediators of intracellular signaling and control a wide variety of processes such as cell division, morphogenesis, and motility. Aberrant NRTK-mediated tyrosine phosphorylation has been linked to various human disorders and diseases, among them cancer metastasis, to which no treatment presently exists. Invasive cancer cells leaving the primary tumor use invadopodia, feet-like structures which facilitate extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation and intravasation, to escape the primary tumor and disseminate into distant tissues and organs during metastasis. A major challenge in metastasis research is to elucidate the molecular mechanisms and signaling pathways underlying invadopodia regulation, as the general belief is that targeting these structures can potentially lead to the eradication of cancer metastasis. Non-receptor tyrosine kinases (NRTKs) play a central role in regulating invadopodia formation and function, but how they coordinate the signaling leading to these processes was not clear until recently. Here, we describe the major NRTKs that rule invadopodia and how they work in concert while keeping an accurate hierarchy to control tumor cell invasiveness and dissemination.