[REHABILITATION FOR POST-COVID-19 PATIENTS IN HADASSAH DURING 2020-2022].

Aims: The COVID-19 pandemic has long-lasting deleterious effects on many aspects of the survivors' life. However, the correlations between the severity of COVID-19 infection and rehabilitation outcomes are still unknown.

Methods: Sixty-one post-acute COVID-19 patients underwent a customized rehabilitation program in a rehabilitation daycare facility.

Correlations between Disease Severity and Rehabilitation Outcomes in Patients Recovering from Covid-19 Infection.

Objective: Based on long-term follow-up of patients with COVID-19, to evaluate whether the severity of acute COVID-19 infection affects rehabilitation outcomes.

Design: Observational cohort study.

Subjects: A total of 61 post-acute COVID-19 patients underwent inpatient and outpatient customized rehabilitation treatment.

Correlations between Electro-Diagnostic Findings, the Severity of Initial Infection, and the Rehabilitation Outcomes among COVID-19 Patients.

Patients with Coronavirus-2019 (COVID-19) manifest many neuromuscular complications. We evaluated the correlations between electromyography and nerve conduction measurements among COVID-19 patients and the severity of the initial infection, as well as the rehabilitation outcomes, and searched for the factors which best predict the rehabilitation outcomes. A total of 19 COVID-19 patients (16 men; mean ± SD age 59.

Characteristics of ataxic gait in familial dysautonomia patients.

Introduction And Objectives: Progressive ataxic gait is a common symptom in individuals with Familial Dysautonomia (FD). At least 50% of adults with FD require assistance with walking. Our aims were to describe the medical condition of individuals with FD (ii) compare their gait characteristics to healthy individuals, and (iii) assess correlations between gait measures, presence of unstable gait pattern and frequency of falls.

Tocotrienol Treatment in Familial Dysautonomia: Open-Label Pilot Study.

Familial dysautonomia (FD) is an autosomal recessive congenital neuropathy, primarily presented in Ashkenazi Jews. The most common mutation in FD patients results from a single base pair substitution of an intronic splice site in the IKBKAP gene which disrupts normal mRNA splicing and leads to tissue-specific reduction of IKBKAP protein (IKAP). To date, treatment of FD patients remains preventative, symptomatic and supportive.

A novel technique for conduction studies of the infrapatellar nerve.

Objective: To introduce a noninvasive method for electrodiagnostic evaluation of the infrapatellar nerve (IPN).

Design: A prospective cohort study.

Setting: Electrodiagnostic laboratory, rehabilitation department, Hadassah University Hospital.

Rehabilitation outcomes of stroke patients treated with multi-modal endovascular reperfusion therapy.

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of multi-modal endovascular reperfusion therapy (MMRT) on functional outcomes following rehabilitation.

Methods: Data from 14 MMRT-treated patients were analyzed and compared to MMRT-ineligible, age and stroke severity-matched patients treated at the same Neurological and Rehabilitation departments. Neurological evaluation was assessed with the NIH stroke scale (NIHSS).

Rehabilitation outcomes of stroke patients treated with tissue plasminogen activator.

Objective: To investigate the influence of thrombolysis on functional outcomes after rehabilitation.

Background: Systemic thrombolysis with tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) is considered the mainstay of acute stroke therapy and was found to improve short-term outcome.

Design: Matched case-controlled design.

[Rehabilitation outcomes of terror victims with multiple trauma: the experience in Hadassah University Hospital 2000-2004].

From late September 2000 until 2005, the State of Israel was attacked by continuing acts of terrorism known as the Al Aqsa Intifada. During this period the number of terror victims treated in rehabilitation facilities has escalated significantly. The city of Jerusalem has a unique place in the heart of the Israel-Palestinian conflict and, therefore, almost 20% of national atrocities have been carried out in Jerusalem.

CD38 facilitates recovery from traumatic brain injury.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major cause of death and disability worldwide. It causes progressive tissue atrophy and consequent neurological dysfunctions. TBI is accompanied by neuroinflammation, a process mediated largely by microglia.

Incensole acetate: a novel neuroprotective agent isolated from Boswellia carterii.

Boswellia resin has been used as a major anti-inflammatory agent and for the healing of wounds for centuries. Incensole acetate (IA), isolated from this resin, was shown to inhibit the activation of nuclear factor-kappaB, a key transcription factor in the inflammatory response. We now show that IA inhibits the production of inflammatory mediators in an in vitro model system of C6 glioma and human peripheral monocytes.

Dynamic changes in the recovery after traumatic brain injury in mice: effect of injury severity on T2-weighted MRI abnormalities, and motor and cognitive functions.

Memory and neurobehavioral dysfunctions are among the sequelae of traumatic brain injury (TBI). The Neurological Severity Score (NSS) includes 10 tasks and was previously designed to assess the functional status of mice after TBI. The object recognition task (ORT) measures specific episodic memory and is expressed by the percent time spent by an animal at a novel, unfamiliar object (Discrimination Index [DI]).

Cognitive and functional outcomes of terror victims who suffered from traumatic brain injury.

Primary Objective: To describe the outcomes of terror victims suffered from traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Research Design: Retrospective chart review of 17 terror and 39 non-terror TBI patients treated in a rehabilitation department during the same period.

Methods And Procedure: Variables include demographic data, Injury Severity Scale (ISS), length of stay (LOS) and imaging results.

Differential neuroprotective properties of endogenous and exogenous erythropoietin in a mouse model of traumatic brain injury.

Both heat acclimation (HA) and post-injury treatment with recombinant human erythropoietin (Epo, rhEpo, exogenous Epo) are neuroprotective against traumatic brain injury (TBI). Our previous data demonstrated that HA-induced neuroprotection includes improved functional recovery and reduced cerebral edema formation. Additionally, in earlier Western-blot analyses, we found that HA mice display increased expression of the specific erythropoietin receptor (EpoR) and of hypoxia-inducible factor-1 alpha (HIF-1 alpha), the inducible subunit of the transcription factor, which regulates Epo gene expression, but not of Epo itself.

Akt phosphorylation is required for heat acclimation-induced neuroprotection.

Long-term heat exposure, known as heat acclimation (HA; 30 days at 34 +/- 1 degrees C) is neuroprotective against traumatic brain injury. Acclimated mice were previously found to display improved functional recovery as well as an increase in the levels of the specific erythropoietin receptor. As the activation of this receptor is known to facilitate functional recovery on one hand and the phosphorylation and activation of Akt, an intracellular kinase which regulates anti-apoptotic pathways on the other, in this study we investigated whether HA affects Akt phosphorylation prior to and following injury and whether this step is required for development of HA-induced neuroprotection.

Rehabilitation outcomes of terror victims with multiple traumas.

Objectives: To describe the rehabilitation outcomes of terror victims with multiple traumas, and to compare those outcomes with those of patients with nonterror-related multiple traumas treated in the same rehabilitation facility over the same time period.

Design: Retrospective chart reviews.

Setting: Rehabilitation department in a university hospital in Jerusalem, Israel.

D-cycloserine improves functional recovery and reinstates long-term potentiation (LTP) in a mouse model of closed head injury.

Traumatic brain injury triggers a massive glutamate efflux, activation of NMDA receptor channels, and cell death. Recently, we reported that NMDA receptors in mice are down-regulated from hours to days following closed head injury (CHI), and treatment with NMDA improved recovery of motor and cognitive functions up to 14 d post-injury. Here we show that a single injection of a low dose of D-cycloserine (DCS), a partial NMDA receptor agonist, in CHI mice 24 h post-injury, resulted in a faster and greater recovery of motor and memory functions as assessed by neurological severity score and object recognition tests, respectively.

Erythropoietin is neuroprotective, improves functional recovery, and reduces neuronal apoptosis and inflammation in a rodent model of experimental closed head injury.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in young people in industrialized countries. Although various anti-inflammatory and antiapoptotic modalities have shown neuroprotective effects in experimental models of TBI, to date, no specific pharmacological agent aimed at blocking the progression of secondary brain damage has been approved for clinical use. Erythropoietin (Epo) belongs to the cytokine superfamily and has traditionally been viewed as a hematopoiesis-regulating hormone.

CuZn-SOD deficiency, rather than overexpression, is associated with enhanced recovery and attenuated activation of NF-kappaB after brain trauma in mice.

Superoxide-dismutases (SOD) catalyze O2- conversion to hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and with other antioxidant enzymes and low molecular weight antioxidants (LMWA) constitute endogenous defense mechanisms. We first assessed the effects of SOD1 levels on outcome after closed head injury (CHI) and later, based on these results, the effects of SOD1 deficiency on cellular redox homeostasis. Superoxide-dismutase 1-deficient (SOD1-/-) and -overexpressing (transgenic (Tg)) mice and matched wild-type (WT) controls were subjected to CHI and outcome (neurobehavioral and memory functions) was assessed during 14 days.

Heat acclimation increases hypoxia-inducible factor 1alpha and erythropoietin receptor expression: implication for neuroprotection after closed head injury in mice.

Experimental evidence indicates that long-term exposure to moderately high ambient temperature (heat acclimation, HA) mediates cross-tolerance to various types of subsequently applied stress. The transcriptional activator hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) has been implicated in playing a critical role in HA. It also regulates the expression of Erythropoietin (Epo), whose neuroprotective effects have been shown in a variety of brain injuries.

Dynamic changes in N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors after closed head injury in mice: Implications for treatment of neurological and cognitive deficits.

Traumatic brain injury is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity among young people. For the last couple of decades, it was believed that excess stimulation of brain receptors for the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate was a major cause of delayed neuronal death after head injury, and several major clinical trials in severely head injured patients used blockers of the glutamate N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor. All of these trials failed to show efficacy.

Experimental pressure pain in patients with complex regional pain syndrome, Type I (reflex sympathetic dystrophy).

Research in animals shows that the levels of neuropathic pain expression is genetically associated with a characteristic response profile to sensory stimuli. The aim of the present investigation was to examine if pressure algometry can identify a specific pain sensitivity profile in patients with complex regional pain syndrome, Type I (reflex sympathetic dystrophy), and to distinguish complex regional pain syndromes from other chronic pain dysfunction syndromes. Pressure pain threshold and pain tolerance measured at the sternum in 17 patients with complex regional pain syndrome, Type I (reflex sympathetic dystrophy), were compared with values obtained in 13 patients suffering from other chronic pain dysfunction syndromes and in a control group of 24 pain-free volunteers.