Knowledge of the Serological Response to the Third BNT162b2 Vaccination May Influence Compliance of Healthcare Workers to Booster Dose.

Background: Previous studies showed that the fourth SARS-CoV-2 vaccine dose has a protective effect against infection, as well as against severe disease and death. This study aimed to examine whether knowledge of a high-level antibody after the third dose may reduce compliance to the fourth booster dose among healthcare workers (HCWs).

Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study among HCWs vaccinated with the first three doses at Rambam Healthcare Campus, a tertiary hospital in northern Israel.

Immunogenicity and SARS-CoV-2 Infection following the Fourth BNT162b2 Booster Dose among Health Care Workers.

Introduction: The fourth SARS-CoV-2 vaccine dose was found to protect against infection and more importantly against severe disease and death. It was also shown that the risk of symptomatic or severe disease was related to the antibody levels after vaccination or infection, with lower protection against the BA.4 BA.

Third BNT162b2 Vaccine Booster Dose against SARS-CoV-2-Induced Antibody Response among Healthcare Workers.

This study assessed humoral response to the third BNT162b2 dose among healthcare workers (HCW). This prospective cohort study of HCW tested for anti-spike antibodies (LIAISON SARS-CoV-2 S1/S2 IgG assay) at 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months after receiving the second BNT162b2 vaccine dose (tests 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, respectively). A third (booster) vaccination dose was introduced before test 4.

Association between IgG antibody levels and adverse events after first and second Bnt162b2 mRNA vaccine doses.

Objectives: This study sought to correlate the SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody response level to the BNT162b2 (Pfizer BioNTech) mRNA vaccine after the first and second doses with the reported adverse events.

Methods: This cohort study examined the adverse events profiles of people vaccinated with BNT162b2 in our institute between late 2020 and May 2021. Adverse events, age, and sex were reported using an electronic questionnaire, and their SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody levels were retrieved from the hospital database.

COVID-19: Healthcare Workers May Be at Greater Risk Outside Their Work Environment-A Retrospective Observational Study.

Background: With the availability of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine, concerns have been raised regarding pre-vaccination seroprevalence in healthcare workers (HCW). This study examines the seroprevalence of HCW at an Israeli tertiary medical center before first BNT162b2 vaccination.

Methods: This was a retrospective observational study.

Minimally Invasive Parathyroidectomy: Can Intraoperative Parathyroid Hormone Monitoring be Omitted?

Background: Intraoperative PTH (ioPTH) monitoring has become widely accepted in the era of minimally invasive parathyroidectomy (MIP). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the need for ioPTH during parathyroidectomy in patients with positive preoperative imaging.

Methods: The charts of patients who underwent parathyroidectomy at three tertiary centers between the years 2012 and 2021 were retrospectively reviewed.

Immunogenicity trends 1 and 3 months after second BNT162B2 vaccination among healthcare workers in Israel.

Objectives: We evaluated the antibody response to the BNT162B2 vaccine among healthcare workers (HCWs) to identify factors associated with decreased immunogenicity.

Methods: This prospective cohort study included consenting HCWs who completed a questionnaire regarding background illnesses, medications, and post-vaccination allergic reactions or rash. All HCWs were tested for anti-spike antibodies (LIAISON SARS-CoV-2 S1/S2 IgG assay) 1 and 3 months after the second vaccine dose.

Validation of TIRADS ACR Risk Assessment of Thyroid Nodules in Comparison to the ATA Guidelines.

Objectives: The prevalence of thyroid nodules in adults, detected by ultrasound (US), is reported as high as 68%. US-guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) is the test of choice used to determine the nature of the nodules. However, not more than 15% are found to be malignant.

Teaching During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Experience of the Faculty of Medicine at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology.

Background: The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic forced drastic changes in all layers of life. Social distancing and lockdown drove the educational system to uncharted territories at an accelerated pace, leaving educators little time to adjust.

Objectives: To describe changes in teaching during the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gastric and urinary bladder pressures correlate with intra-abdominal pressure in patients with morbid obesity.

Intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) affects cardio-respiratory and hemodynamic parameters and can be measured directly or indirectly by measuring gastric or urinary bladder pressure. The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between IAP, gastric pressure and urinary bladder pressure in patients with morbid obesity, at normal and elevated levels of IAP in two positions. As well, to examine the effects of increasing IAP and patient's position on hemodynamic and respiratory parameters.

Hospital solution for COVID-19 isolation facility.

Objective: In response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the Israeli government strategy initially focused on containment. The Ministry of Health mandated isolation of COVID-19 patients in hospitals and instructed healthcare institutions to make necessary arrangements. As the second Israeli hospital to establish a COVID-19 department, this article describes our experience in its rapid establishment, while maintaining normal medical center activities.

Israeli underground hospital conversion for treating COVID-19 patients.

Objective: This paper describes how a large academic medical center solved the challenges of war preparedness and subsequently adapted them for the COVID-19 pandemic.

Setting: A 1,000-bed academic medical center in Northern Israel has faced two extreme challenges since 2006: operating under missile attack during the 2006 Second Lebanon War, and rapid establishment of a scalable infrastructure for COVID-19 patients. The first challenge led to construction of a dual-use facility: a parking lot during peacetime, and a fully functioning fortified underground emergency hospital (FUEH) in times of emergency.

Delayed discharges from a tertiary teaching hospital in Israel- incidence, implications, and solutions.

Objectives: The Israeli health system is facing high workloads with average occupancy in certain hospital wards of around 100%. Since there is a shortage of hospitalization beds in institutions for continuous, long-term care, transferring patients from the general hospitals' wards is often delayed. This situation has many significant ramifications, to the waiting patients themselves, to other patients who are waiting to be treated and to the entire organization.

Preoperative localization modalities in primary hyperparathyroidism: Correlation with postoperative cure.

Background: Accurate preoperative localization is critical to the success of minimally invasive parathyroidectomy. This investigation aimed to assess the correlation among preoperative imaging results, intraoperative findings, and postoperative cure rates in patients undergoing operation for primary hyperparathyroidism.

Methods: A retrospective review of all patients who underwent operation for primary hyperparathyroidism between June 2010 and March 2016 was performed.

[SHOULD PATIENTS WITH PRIMARY HYPERPARATHYROIDISM AND NEGATIVE IMAGING STUDIES BE REFERRED TO SURGERY?].

Introduction: Parathyroidectomy is the only curative treatment for primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT). In cases where imaging fails to demonstrate an adenoma, a bilateral neck exploration (BNE) is performed. Negative imaging is thought to predict surgical failure, and patients with negative imaging are often not referred for surgery.

Computerized cytometry and wavelet analysis of follicular lesions for detecting malignancy: A pilot study in thyroid cytology.

Background: The cytologic diagnosis of indeterminate lesions of the thyroid involves much uncertainty, and the final diagnosis often requires operative resection. Computerized cytomorphometry and wavelets analysis were examined to evaluate their ability to better discriminate between benign and malignant lesions based on cytology slides.

Methods: Cytologic reports from patients who underwent thyroid operation in a single, tertiary referral center were retrieved.

Preoperative [Tc]MIBI SPECT/CT Interpretation Criteria for Localization of Parathyroid Adenomas-Correlation with Surgical Findings.

Purpose: Minimally invasive surgery for parathyroid adenomas (PTA) requires precise identification and localization of the diseased gland prior to exploration for optimal surgical planning. The Perrier classification allows for accurate, reproducible, and reliable description of PTA location and communication of clinically significant information to surgeons. The current study compares the Perrier localization of PTA on [Tc]methoxyisobutylisonitrile ([Tc]MIBI) single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT)/X-ray computed tomography (CT) with the results of surgery.

Negative Fine-Needle Aspiration in Patients with Goiter: Should We Doubt It?

Background: Epidemiologic studies demonstrated higher incidence of thyroid cancer in patients with multinodular goiters compared to the general population. The aim of this study was to evaluate the risk of finding significant thyroid cancer in patients undergoing thyroidectomy for presumed benign disease.

Methods: The records of 273 patients operated for indications other than cancer or indeterminate cytology were reviewed and analyzed.

Parathyroid carcinoma.

Parathyroid carcinoma is a rare form of endocrine malignancy accounting for only a small minority of cancer cases. Due to the rarity of this cancer, there are no generalized guidelines for its management; however, surgery remains to be the mainstay therapy. The purpose of this article is to review and summarize the available literature on parathyroid carcinoma, while discussing proposed staging systems and the role of available adjuvant therapies.

[4-dimensional computed tomography for localization of parathyroid adenoma].

Introduction: In about 85% of patients with primary hyperparathyroidism (pHPT) only a single parathyroid gland is diseased. The operation of choice in this group of patients is minimally invasive parathyroidectomy (MIP). In order to perform an MIP, the diseased gland should be identified prior to surgery.

Parathyroid surgery in the elderly: should minimally invasive surgery be abandoned?

Background: Single adenoma is the cause of 80 % of primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) resulting in wide acceptance of minimally invasive parathyroidectomy (MIP). The incidence of PHPT increases with age. Little information is available regarding the prevalence of multiglandular disease (MGD) in older patients.

Targeting BRAFV600E with PLX4720 displays potent antimigratory and anti-invasive activity in preclinical models of human thyroid cancer.

Purpose: B-Raf(V600E) may play a role in the progression from papillary thyroid cancer to anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC). We tested the effects of a highly selective B-Raf(V600E) inhibitor, PLX4720, on proliferation, migration, and invasion both in human thyroid cancer cell lines (8505c(B-RafV600E) and TPC-1(RET/PTC-1 and wild-type B-Raf)) and in primary human normal thyroid (NT) follicular cells engineered with or without B-Raf(V600E).

Experimental Design: Large-scale genotyping analysis by mass spectrometry was performed in order to analyze >900 gene mutations.