The History of Plastic Surgery in Israel.

Today, plastic surgery is a well-known profession with highly respected surgeons from institutions all over the world. Over the last several decades numerous clinical and technological advances have been made, thanks to the dedication and hard work of these outstanding professionals; however, things were not always this way. At the turn of the 20 century, Israel had yet to be introduced to the field of plastic surgery.

Axial Disease in Psoriatic arthritis: The presence and progression of unilateral grade 2 sacroiliitis in a psoriatic arthritis cohort.

Background/purpose: A universally accepted definition of axial psoriatic arthritis (axPsA) is lacking. We aimed to 1) assess the presence of axial involvement as defined by "at least unilateral grade 2 sacroiliitis (Uni2SI)" and 2) assess the radiographic progression of Uni2SI and identify risk factors for progression.

Methods: PsA patients participating in a prospective observational cohort were classified according to their highest sacroiliitis grade.

[THE EFFECT OF BIOLOGIC THERAPY ON THE LIPID PROFILE OF RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS (RA), PSORIATIC ARTHRITIS (PSA) AND ANKYLOSING SPONDYLITIS (AS) PATIENTS].

Cardiovascular (CV) morbidity and mortality is elevated in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriatic arthritis (PSA) and ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients. The inflammation not only accelerates atherosclerosis, but also influences CV risk factors such as lipid profile, blood pressure and insulin resistance. RA and PSA patients are initially treated with DMARDS (disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs).

Aldosterone synthase gene polymorphism as a determinant of atrial fibrillation in patients with heart failure.

We analyzed the possible association between aldosterone synthase (CYP11B2) T-344C polymorphism, which is associated with increased aldosterone activity, and the prevalence of atrial fibrillation (AF) in 196 consecutive patients who had symptomatic systolic heart failure (HF; left ventricular ejection fraction <40%) for > or =3 months before recruitment. Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood leukocytes using a standard protocol. Subjects were genotyped for the CYP11B2 polymorphism using the polymerase chain reaction/restriction fragment length polymorphism approach.

Relation between AT1R gene polymorphism and long-term outcome in patients with heart failure.

Objectives: Angiotensin II plays a key role in the pathophysiology of heart failure (HF). This study examined the angiotensin II type 1 receptor (AT1R) polymorphism in patients with systolic HF and its relation to clinical manifestations and patient outcome.

Methods: We genotyped 134 patients with HF and reduced systolic function for the AT1R A1166C genotype using polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism.

Usefulness and predictive value of circulating NT-proBNP levels to stratify patients for referral and priority treatment in a specialized outpatient heart failure center.

Background: Serum natriuretic peptide levels are useful diagnostic and prognostic markers in patients with acute decompensated heart failure, but have been little used to stratify urgency of treatment in the outpatient situation.

Objectives: To examine the use of natriuretic peptide to guide priority of patient referral to a heart failure center.

Methods: We analyzed data from 70 consecutive patients with chronic heart failure (NYHA class 2-4) referred for first evaluation in a specialized outpatient heart failure center.

Prednisone treatment for vestibular neuritis.

Objective: To evaluate the value of corticosteroids in the treatment of vestibular neuritis (VN).

Design: Prospective controlled randomized.

Methods: Thirty VN patients, 15 in the study and 15 in the control group, were the subjects of the study.