Publications by authors named "Menachem Itzchaki"

Patients with Gaucher disease suffering from the consequences of femoral head osteonecrosis deserve a treatment modality that will eliminate pain, preserve ambulation and hopefully will endure long enough to allow satisfactory daily life. Total hip arthroplasty fulfills these 3 objectives. The rate of complications during anesthesia and during surgical procedure is comparable to otherwise healthy population if the Gaucher patients are carefully evaluated pre-surgery and prepared by a medical team familiar with all aspects of the disease.

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Background: In spite of recent advances in post-operative pain relief, pain following orthopedic surgery remains an ongoing challenge for clinicians. We examined whether a well known and frequently prescribed homeopathic preparation could mitigate post-operative pain.

Method: We performed a randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy of the homeopathic preparation Traumeel S in minimizing post-operative pain and analgesic consumption following surgical correction of hallux valgus.

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The only prognostic markers in Gaucher disease, the most common lysosomal storage disorder, are young age at first symptom/sign and the presence of null/severe mutations, both being predictive of more severe phenotypes. Therefore, it would be helpful to know whether siblings with the same genotype can be expected to experience comparable phenotypic expression. All non-neuronopathic sibling pairs in our referral clinic (1993-2008) with the same genotype were included.

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Background And Purpose: Gaucher disease is heterogeneous. One of the most devastating complications is bone involvement, ranging from mild osteopenia to osteonecrosis, but no markers have been discovered to predict onset and/or progression. We describe our experience in a large referral center using drilling for juxta-articular osteonecrosis in young patients with Gaucher disease.

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We retrospectively assessed the clinical and radiologic outcomes of 15 primary cementless total hip arthroplasties performed in 12 young adults with type I Gaucher disease. Mean Harris Hip Score was 86.9 points; patient satisfaction was high.

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Bone-related complications in Gaucher disease are considered to be poorly responsive to specific enzyme replacement therapy. Polymorphisms of candidate genes associated with low bone density were investigated to see whether they are correlated with bone mineral density (BMD) and bone involvement in Gaucher disease. Genotyping for polymorphisms in candidate genes (interleukins 1alpha and 1beta, interleukin-1 receptor antagonist; cytochrome P450; collagen 1A1; low-density Lipoprotein Receptor; bone morphogenic protein 4; vitamin D receptor; and estrogen receptor 2beta) were performed using standard methodologies.

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Surgical site infection (SSI) after total knee replacement (TKR) is a devastating complication. We performed a retrospective study of all consecutive TKRs performed during a 2-y period. Surgical site infection (SSI) was defined by standard criteria.

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Kingella kingae is a beta-hemolytic gram-negative bacillus. It was first described in the 1960's by EO King and has been reported as a cause of osteo-articular pediatric infections since the early 1980's. We performed a retrospective review of all pediatric cases of invasive K.

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Bone involvement in Gaucher disease causes disability and reduced quality of life; loss of function and pain are important indications for enzyme replacement therapy. The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether osteoprotegerin (OPG), which decreases osteoclast activity, is indicative of incipient bone involvement by comparing OPG serum levels to Gaucher disease severity (SSI) and bone mineral density (BMD), and to correlate bone and disease markers to OPG polymorphisms: OPG1-2(A163G), OPG3-4(T129C) and OPG5-6(C1217T). Of 554 patients, 173 Ashkenazi Jewish patients with non-neuronopathic Gaucher disease were enrolled and 32 healthy Ashkenazi Jews served as controls.

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Gaucher disease, the most prevalent lysosomal storage disorder, is characterized by hepatosplenomegaly, hypersplenism, and rarely, neurological involvement. The most variable symptoms relate to skeletal disease, and both onset and progression are difficult to predict on the basis of genotype. This review describes findings from a large referral clinic (> 500 patients) and from the literature in the decade since the advent of specific enzyme replacement therapy.

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Gaucher disease is the most common lysosomal storage disease. Enzyme replacement therapy engenders improvement in hematological and visceral parameters; however, improvement in bone density (BMD) with treatment has not been confirmed. This study presents follow-up of BMD in the first ten patients in Israel treated with low-dose recombinant enzyme for up to 108 months.

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