Fibrolamellar carcinoma transcriptomic-based treatment prediction: complete response after nivolumab and ipilimumab.

Fibrolamellar carcinoma (FLC) is a rare cancer of the liver that most commonly affects children and young adults. There is no clear standard of care for the disease, whose response to treatment seems to be very different from that of hepatocellular carcinoma. We present a case of FLC in a patient in her mid 30s that recurred and persisted despite resection and multiple lines of treatment.

Clinically oriented prediction of patient response to targeted and immunotherapies from the tumor transcriptome.

Background: Precision oncology is gradually advancing into mainstream clinical practice, demonstrating significant survival benefits. However, eligibility and response rates remain limited in many cases, calling for better predictive biomarkers.

Methods: We present ENLIGHT, a transcriptomics-based computational approach that identifies clinically relevant genetic interactions and uses them to predict a patient's response to a variety of therapies in multiple cancer types without training on previous treatment response data.

Identification of drugs associated with reduced severity of COVID-19 - a case-control study in a large population.

Background: Until coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) drugs specifically developed to treat COVID-19 become more widely accessible, it is crucial to identify whether existing medications have a protective effect against severe disease. Toward this objective, we conducted a large population study in Clalit Health Services (CHS), the largest healthcare provider in Israel, insuring over 4.7 million members.

Identification of drugs associated with reduced severity of COVID-19: A case-control study in a large population.

Background: Until COVID-19 drugs specifically developed to treat COVID-19 become more widely accessible, it is crucial to identify whether existing medications have a protective effect against severe disease. Towards this objective, we conducted a large population study in Clalit Health Services (CHS), the largest healthcare provider in Israel, insuring over 4.7 million members.

Fractional-Pixel CO Laser Treatment in Patients With Urodynamic Stress Urinary Incontinence: 1-Year Follow-Up.

Background And Objectives: Vaginal pixelated low power and long pulses (LPLP) CO laser has been suggested as an optional treatment for stress urinary incontinence (SUI) with many studies reporting short-term improvements. The objective of this study was to assess the 1-year subjective and objective efficacy of vaginal CO laser in women with urodynamic SUI.

Study Design/materials And Methods: This was a prospective multicenter study.

In vitro and in vivo identification of clinically approved drugs that modify ACE2 expression.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 has is a global health challenge. Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is the host receptor for SARS-CoV-2 entry. Recent studies have suggested that patients with hypertension and diabetes treated with ACE inhibitors (ACEIs) or angiotensin receptor blockers have a higher risk of COVID-19 infection as these drugs could upregulate ACE2, motivating the study of ACE2 modulation by drugs in current clinical use.

Assessment of a double freezing approach in the management of surplus embryos in IVF.

Research Question: What pregnancy rates are achieved after transfer of cryopreserved double slow-frozen embryos in IVF cycles? Patients in whom surplus thawed cleaved embryos (day 2 or 3) were grown to the blastocyst stage, re-frozen and then re-thawed for transfer (double freezing) were included.

Design: Data were collected on all patients who had undergone the above procedure at the IVF unit of Assuta Ramat Hachayal Hospital, Tel Aviv, during a 7-year period. For each patient in the study group, the two-consecutive, matched-by-age patients treated with frozen-thawed single blastocyst transfer were selected to form a 2:1 ratio control group.

Ovarian reserve after uterine artery embolization in women with morbidly adherent placenta: A cohort study.

Objective: To evaluate ovarian reserve in women after preservative cesarean delivery using uterine artery embolization due to morbidly adherent placenta.

Study Design: A historical cohort study including all women admitted to a single tertiary care center, with morbidly adherent placenta that had preservative cesarean delivery with bilateral uterine artery embolization. Inclusion criteria included gestational age >24 weeks, singleton pregnancy and placenta increta / percreta.

The Impact of Sperm and Egg Donation on the Risk of Pregnancy Complications.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate obstetric outcomes in relation to the extent of donor sperm exposure with and without egg donation.

Materials And Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study in a single tertiary care center. All women with a singleton pregnancy who conceived following sperm donation (SD) were included.

Quantitative assessment of physical activity in pregnant women with sonographic short cervix and the risk for preterm delivery: A prospective pilot study.

Objective: Bed rest or activity restriction is a common obstetrical practice, despite a paucity of data to support its efficacy. The aim of this study was to determine whether physical activity, as assessed by a smart band activity tracker, is associated with preterm birth in pregnant women at high risk for preterm delivery.

Methods: This was a pilot prospective cohort study including pregnant women at high risk for preterm delivery between 24 and 32 weeks-of-gestation.

Sonographic large fetal head circumference and risk of cesarean delivery.

Background: Persistently high rates of cesarean deliveries are cause for concern for physicians, patients, and health systems. Prelabor assessment might be refined by identifying factors that help predict an individual patient's risk of cesarean delivery. Such factors may contribute to patient safety and satisfaction as well as health system planning and resource allocation.

First delivery in a leukemia survivor after transplantation of cryopreserved ovarian tissue, evaluated for leukemia cells contamination.

Objective: To describe a successful autologous ovarian tissue re-transplantation in a sterile leukemia survivor after evaluation for minimal residual disease and provide a review of the current literature.

Design: Presentation of a carefully designed workup taken to evaluate tissue for minimal residual disease, its limitations, and applicability to other patients. To date, there have not been any publications of auto-transplantations in leukemia survivors, owing to an estimated high risk for malignancy induction.

Sonographic Signs of Adenomyosis Are Prevalent in Women Undergoing Surgery for Endometriosis and May Suggest a Higher Risk of Infertility.

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of ultrasound features suggestive of adenomyosis in women undergoing surgery for endometriosis compared with a control group of healthy women without endometriosis.

Methods: Retrospective case-control study comparing women with intractable pain or infertility, who underwent transvaginal ultrasound and subsequent laparoscopic surgery, with a control group of healthy women without a previous history of endometriosis. A diagnosis of adenomyosis on TVUS was made based on asymmetrical myometrial thickening, linear striations, myometrial cysts, hyperechoic islands, irregular endometrial-myometrial junction, parallel shadowing, and localized adenomyomas and analyzed for one sign and for three or more signs.

Does antenatal steroids treatment prior to elective cesarean section at 34-37 weeks of gestation reduce neonatal morbidity? Evidence from a case control study.

Objective: To determine whether antenatal corticosteroids administration prior to an elective cesarean section (ECS) at 34-37 weeks gestation is associated with improved neonatal outcome.

Materials And Methods: A case control study of women with singleton pregnancies who underwent ECS between 34 and 37 weeks of gestation including two groups: (1) study group in which patients were treated with betamethasone prior to ECS (n = 58) and (2) control group matched for gestational age at delivery in which patients did not receive betamethasone (n = 107). Neonatal measures including respiratory distress syndrome (RDS), transient tachypnea of the newborn (TTN), oxygen requirement, admission to the special care unit, hypoglycemia, hyperbilirubinemia and length of hospitalization were determined in both groups.

Applying a statistical method in transvaginal ultrasound training: lessons from the learning curve cumulative summation test (LC-CUSUM) for endometriosis mapping.

Background: Methods available for assessing the learning curve, such as a predefined number of procedures or direct mentoring are lacking. Our aim was to describe the use of a statistical method to identify the minimal training length of an experienced sonographer, newly trained in deep infiltrating endometriosis (DIE) mapping by evaluating the learning curve of transvaginal ultrasound (TVUS) in the preoperative assessment of endometriosis.

Methods: A retrospective study in a tertiary referral center for endometriosis.

Feasibility and efficacy of repeated hysteroscopic cesarean niche resection.

Objective: Cesarean-induced niche can cause symptoms such as abnormal postmenstrual bleeding, pain and associated infertility. Hysteroscopic niche resection is usually a successful treatment, but can result in a failure to improve symptoms or symptoms can recur. In the present study we aim to evaluate the feasibility, effectiveness, and safety of a second hysteroscopic niche resection for patients in whom an initial hysteroscopic resection failed to improve symptoms.

Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis-should we use ICSI for all?

Objective: Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) is commonly used during pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) in vitro fertilization (IVF), aiming to eliminate the risk of contamination from extraneous sperm DNA. Recently, ICSI "overuse" in non-male infertility has been doubted, since it does not offer an advantage over IVF. Prompted by the aforementioned observations, we sought to assess the accuracy of IVF vs ICSI in PGD cases, as might be reflected by a difference in the prevalence of discarded embryos as a consequent of parental contamination.

The Yield of Abdominal Ultrasound in the Evaluation of Elevated Liver Enzymes during the Second and the Third Trimester of Pregnancy.

Aims: To determine the clinical yield of abdominal ultrasound in the evaluation of elevated liver enzymes (ELEs) in the second and the third trimester of pregnancy.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study including all pregnant women admitted to a single tertiary care center was conducted between April 2011 and January 2015 with ELE. Inclusion criteria included gestational age above 24 weeks and ELEs, abdominal ultrasound report, and live fetus.

In-office Hysteroscopic Extraction of Intrauterine Devices in Pregnant Patients Who Underwent Prior Ultrasound-guided Extraction Failure.

Study Objective: To determine an effective method of intrauterine device (IUD) retrieval from pregnant women who had previous unsuccessful ultrasound-guided IUD extraction failure.

Design: A retrospective cohort study (Canadian task force classification II-1).

Setting: A gynecology department of an outpatient clinic.

Trial of labour after caesarean (TOLAC) is associated with increased risk for instrumental delivery.

Unlabelled: We compared the rates of instrumental delivery in a cohort of nulliparous women at term (n = 19,416), to primiparous women who attempted labour after prior caesarean (TOLAC) (n = 1747). The rate of instrumental deliveries was higher in the TOLAC group compared to nulliparous gravidas (17.3 vs.

Second dose of PGE vaginal insert versus Foley transcervical balloon for induction of labor after failure of cervical ripening with PGE vaginal insert.

Purpose: To determine the success rate of induction of labor (IOL) using Foley transcervical balloon (FTB) versus prostaglandin E (PGE) vaginal insert, following failure of cervical ripening with PGE vaginal insert.

Materials And Methods: A retrospective cohort study of all pregnant women admitted for IOL with either FTB or PGE vaginal insert. Either second dose of PGE vaginal insert or FTB was used as a second line treatment after failure (not giving birth in 24 h from insertion) of first PGE vaginal insert.

Hysteroscopically guided transvaginal ultrasound tubal catheterization-a novel office procedure.

Objective: Investigate a novel office hysteroscopic tubal catheterization therapeutic method for proximal tubal occlusion.

Study Design: Prospective cohort study in a tertiary referral center. We evaluated the procedure on a group of 27 patients that were referred to our unit for proximal tubal occlusion demonstrated by hysterosalpingography, 9 (33.

In Vitro Fertilization Outcomes After Placement of Essure Microinserts in Patients With Hydrosalpinges Who Previously Failed In Vitro Fertilization Treatment: A Multicenter Study.

Study Objective: To investigate whether hysteroscopic proximal tubal occlusion with Essure microinserts (Conceptus Inc.; Bayer, AG, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany) can improve pregnancy rates in patients with hydrosalpinges who had failed in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment.

Design: A prospective cohort study.

Transplantations of frozen-thawed ovarian tissue demonstrate high reproductive performance and the need to revise restrictive criteria.

Objective: To report the single-center results of orthotopic retransplantations of cryopreserved ovarian tissue in cancer survivors and evaluate the validity of commonly accepted procedure limitations.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Setting: Tertiary university-affiliated assisted reproduction technology (ART) and oncology centers.

Pregnancy and Birth Outcomes Among Primiparae at Very Advanced Maternal Age: At What Price?

Objectives: In light of the potential physical and emotional costs to both woman and child, this study was conducted to assess pregnancy complications and birth outcomes in primiparae at very advanced maternal age (VAMA, aged ≥45) compared to younger primiparae.

Methods: Retrospective cohort study comparing 222 VAMA primiparae and a reference group of 222 primiparae aged 30-35, delivering at Sheba Medical Center from 2008 through 2013.

Results: VAMA primiparae were more likely than younger primiparae to be single, to have chronic health conditions, and higher rates of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), gestational-hypertension (GHTN) and preeclampsia-eclampsia.