Usage of blood products in multiple-casualty incidents: the experience of a level I trauma center in Israel.

Objective: To predict how much blood will be needed based on the number of injured patients arriving after a multiple-casualty incident.

Design: A retrospective study evaluating data collected in 18 consecutive terrorist attacks in the city of Tel Aviv between January 1997 and February 2005.

Setting: A large, urban trauma center.

Diagnosing cystic fibrosis--asthma and failure to thrive as indications for a sweat test.

Children with asthma or failure to thrive (FTT) are frequently referred for the quantitative pilocarpine iontophoresis sweat test (QPIT) for diagnosing cystic fibrosis (CF). The aim of our study was to compare the prevalences of asthma and FTT among patients with a confirmed diagnosis of CF. Two-hundred and fifty-five children, who were referred for QPIT between 1991-1996 in order to rule out CF were studied retrospectively.

The effect of Ras inhibition on the proliferation, apoptosis and matrix metalloproteases activity in rat hepatic stellate cells.

In vivo inhibition of Ras by its antagonist farnesylthiosalicylic acid (FTS) prevents and reverses liver fibrosis in a rat model. In this study we showed the in vitro effects of Ras inhibition in a rat hepatic stellate cell line, HSC-T6. The IC(50) of FTS that inhibited PDGF-induced proliferation was 15 microM.

Laparoscopic implantation of the Tenckhoff catheter for the treatment of end-stage renal failure and congestive heart failure: experience with the pelvic fixation technique.

Background: Peritoneal dialysis is a widely accepted route for renal replacement. With the advent of endoscopy, many surgical techniques for the prevention of catheter failure have been proposed.

Objectives: To evaluate the outcomes of patients undergoing laparoscopic Tenckhoff catheter implantation using the pelvic fixation technique.

Budd-Chiari syndrome and acute portal vein thrombosis: management by a transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) and portal vein interventions via a TIPS.

Acute portal vein thrombosis (PVT) is a devastating complication of Budd-Chiari syndrome (BCS). Conservative approach, anticoagulation, systemic or transarterial thrombolysis, and urgent liver transplantation were applied in this scenario but with poor results. We present and discuss an approach to treat BCS complicated by acute PVT.

Treatment of intra-gastric band migration following laparoscopic banding: safety and feasibility of simultaneous laparoscopic band removal and replacement.

Background: Intra-gastric band migration (band erosion) following laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB) is a known complication requiring revisional surgery. Management has most often involved band removal and suturing of the stomach wall, followed by delayed replacement at a third operation. We report our experience with simultaneous band removal and replacement.

The yield of flexible fiberoptic bronchoscopy in pediatric intensive care patients.

Study Objective: To evaluate the contribution of flexible fiberoptic bronchoscopy (FFB) and BAL to the clinical management of patients in a pediatric ICU (PICU).

Setting And Design: A retrospective study based on medical records in a six-bed pediatric ICU of a tertiary care children's hospital serving as a referral center for airway surgery.

Patients And Participants: One hundred consecutive infants and children hospitalized in a PICU, who underwent FFB with or without BAL.

Soluble CD14 as a predictor of subsequent development of recurrent wheezing in hospitalized young children with respiratory syncytial virus-induced bronchiolitis.

Background: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection in infancy that causes severe bronchiolitis had been implicated as potentially responsible for the subsequent development of asthma. The CD14 receptor responds to the microbial burden in the environment and modulates the development of the allergic phenotype.

Objective: To investigate the relationship between the serum level of soluble CD14 (sCD14) in children hospitalized because of RSV-induced bronchiolitis and the subsequent development of recurrent wheezing.