Estimates of the lead time in screening for bladder cancer.

Some studies have suggested a survival benefit from early treatment of bladder cancer (BC). This benefit may be due in part to a "lead-time" bias (LT), i.e.

COVID-19 vaccination is associated with reduced non-COVID in-hospital mortality.

We retrieved data on a cohort of medical patients at a regional Israeli hospital. The dependent variable was non-COVID-19 hospital mortality; the independent variables were vaccination status, age, and laboratory data. Serum sodium, age, serum creatinine, and COVID-19 vaccination status were the main independent variables associated with non-COVID-19 mortality.

Stop routine microscopic urinalysis in hospitalized patients with dipstick abnormalities?

Background: Restricting the performance of microscopic urinalyses only to patients in whom it was specifically requested has been shown to reduce their number in laboratories servicing both inpatients and outpatients.

Objective: To determine the effect of such restriction solely in in-patients in a 400-bed regional hospital.

Methods: In 2017, we discontinued routine ('reflex') microscopic urinalysis for all positive dipstick results, and restricted such testing to in-patients in whom it was specifically requested by a doctor.

Parameters of the complete blood count predict in hospital mortality.

Introduction: Mortality rates are used to evaluate the quality of hospital care after adjusting for disease severity and, commonly also, for age, comorbidity, and laboratory data with only few parameters of the complete blood count (CBC).

Objective: To identify the parameters of the CBC that predict independently in-hospital mortality of acutely admitted patients.

Population: All patients were admitted to internal medicine, cardiology, and intensive care departments at the Laniado Hospital in Israel in 2018 and 2019.

Randomized, placebo-controlled, phase 3 study of perifosine combined with bortezomib and dexamethasone in patients with relapsed, refractory multiple myeloma previously treated with bortezomib.

Perifosine, an investigational, oral, synthetic alkylphospholipid, inhibits signal transduction pathways of relevance in multiple myeloma (MM) including PI3K/Akt. Perifosine demonstrated anti-MM activity in preclinical studies and encouraging early-phase clinical activity in combination with bortezomib. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 3 study was conducted to evaluate addition of perifosine to bortezomib-dexamethasone in MM patients with one to four prior therapies who had relapsed following previous bortezomib-based therapy.

Graves' orbitopathy after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation in a patient with Fanconi anemia - side effect of alemtuzumab therapy?

A few cases of thyroid eye disease following alemtuzumab therapy have been described in patients with multiple sclerosis. Our patient is the first case of Graves' orbitopathy after alemtuzumab conditioning for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Levosimendan beyond inotropy and acute heart failure: Evidence of pleiotropic effects on the heart and other organs: An expert panel position paper.

Levosimendan is a positive inotrope with vasodilating properties (inodilator) indicated for decompensated heart failure (HF) patients with low cardiac output. Accumulated evidence supports several pleiotropic effects of levosimendan beyond inotropy, the heart and decompensated HF. Those effects are not readily explained by cardiac function enhancement and seem to be related to additional properties of the drug such as anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative and anti-apoptotic ones.

Aggregation of MBP in chronic demyelination.

Objectives: Misfolding of key disease proteins to an insoluble state is associated with most neurodegenerative conditions, such as prion, Parkinson, and Alzheimer's diseases. In this work, and by studying animal models of multiple sclerosis, we asked whether this is also the case for myelin basic protein (MBP) in the late and neurodegenerative phases of demyelinating diseases.

Methods: To this effect, we tested whether MBP, an essential myelin component, present prion-like properties in animal models of MS, as is the case for Cuprizone-induced chronic demyelination or chronic phases of Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis (EAE).

Universality of aging: family caregivers for elderly cancer patients.

The world population is aging, with the proportion of older people (65+ years) expected to reach 21% in 2050 and to exceed the number of younger people (aged 15 or less) for the first time in history. Because cancer is particularly a chronic disease of older people, a large increase in the number of elderly patients with cancer is anticipated. The estimated number of new cancer cases worldwide among people over 65 is expected to grow from about 6 million in 2008 to more than 11 million during the coming decade.

Patients with early-onset psoriasis achieve better results following Dead Sea climatotherapy.

Background: Plaque psoriasis has recently been divided in two types, which differ in severity and inheritance according to the age of the patient at the onset of the disease.

Aim: To compare the effect of Dead Sea climatotherapy (DSC) on these two types of disease, with early vs. late onset, and to determine the impact of this treatment on the response rate.

Dead Sea climatotherapy for vitiligo: a retrospective study of 436 patients.

Background: Vitiligo is an acquired idiopathic skin disorder characterized by depigmented macules and patches. Despite many therapies available today, treatment of vitiligo remains a challenge. Preliminary reports cite encouraging results for Dead Sea Climatotherapy (DSC) in vitiligo patients.

Lipid profile in consecutive pregnancies.

Aim: To describe the lipid profile of women prior to, during and after pregnancy and to assess the effect of consecutive pregnancies on the plasma lipid profile.

Methods: Blood lipid levels of 1752 women aged 20-45 years who delivered between 1999 and 2005 were measured. The lipid profile included total cholesterol, LDL-C (Low density lipoprotein), HDL-C (High density lipoprotein-C), VLDL-C (Very low density lipoprotein) and triglycerides (TG).

Intraportal and systemic allogeneic cell therapy in a murine model of hepatic metastatic breast cancer.

Allogeneic immunocompetent splenocytes were tested for their ability to exert a GVT effect in a murine model of liver metastasis. Mammary carcinoma cells originating from an H-2(d) mouse were inoculated through the PV of F(1) (H-2(d/b)) mice, to mimic clinical hepatic involvement in malignant disease. Cell therapy was given either locally (PV) or systemically by IV inoculation to test differential efficacy of the GVT effect, and the differential expression of GVHD symptoms induced by diverse routes of administration.

Mucolipidosis IV: novel mutation and diverse ultrastructural spectrum in the skin.

Mucolipidosis IV, a severe neurologic and ophthalmologic progressive disorder has a clinical range of onset between early childhood and adolescence entailing clinically severe, moderate, and mild forms, all of them majorly affecting Ashkenazi Jewish patients in an autosomal-recessive fashion owing to mutations in the MCOLN1 gene which encodes a transmembrane protein called mucolipin 1. We report on one of two affected siblings, the older brother having died of ML IV at the age of 33 years, the younger recently at the age of 37 years. Biopsied skin disclosed several types of lysosomal residual bodies, membrane-bound vacuoles, avacuolar lamellar bodies resembling membraneous cytoplasmic bodies, and a diverse spectrum of lipopigments which include curvilinear and fingerprint profiles.

EsophaCoil: long-term results in 81 patients.

Background: Cancer of the esophagus and gastric cardia cause progressive dysphagia. Half of patients are not amenable to surgical resection; of those who are, about 20% will suffer either from local recurrence or anastomotic strictures. Self-expandable metallic stents of diverse characteristics have been used in these clinical conditions.

Characterization of the human cytomegalovirus UL97 gene product as a virion-associated protein kinase.

The cellular localization and virion association of the human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) UL97 protein were studied. UL97 protein demonstrated early nuclear localization followed by late perinuclear accumulation. It was found to be a structural virion constituent detected in all three enveloped forms of extracellular viral particles and shown to be phosphorylated by the virion-associated protein kinase.

Umbilical cord blood for use in transplantation.

Bone marrow transplantation has rapidly progressed over the last two decades offering cure and prolonged disease-free survival for patients suffering from certain hemato-oncological malignancies or metabolic disorders. However, bone marrow transplantation is limited by the paucity of major histocompatibility loci antigen (HLA)-matched donors, and the morbidity and mortality due to graft-versus-host disease. Recently it has been shown, that umbilical cord blood represents a unique source of transplantable hematopoietic progenitor cells.

Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome (LEMS) in association with lymphoproliferative disorders.

LEMS is a presynaptic neuromuscular junction disorder typically associated with small cell lung carcinoma. The characteristic electrophysiological abnormality is a low amplitude compound muscle action potential that shows a marked increment after short maximal contraction or brief tetanic nerve stimulation. Here we describe 3 patients who had LEMS in association with lymphoproliferative disorder.

The molecular basis of secondary hyperparathyroidism in chronic renal failure.

Renal osteodystrophy is a debilitating complication of chronic renal failure and secondary hyperparathyroidism (2HPTH) is one of its central features. 2HPTH develops as a result of the low levels of serum calcium and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D [1,25(OH)2D3] and the high serum phosphate that occur in chronic renal failure. 1,25(OH)2D3 markedly decreases PTH gene transcription and its lack leads to 2HPTH.

Fine needle aspiration biopsy for skull tumors: technical note and two demonstrative case reports.

Fine needle aspiration biopsy was performed in two case of infiltrating skull lesions. The role played by this relatively simple procedure in avoiding a major operation is discussed.

Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia in Younger Adults: Preliminary Results of a Study Based on 454 Patients-IWCLL/Working Group.

Whether all younger adult patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) should be offered intensive and/or experimental treatments is currently undecided. In order to investigate the natural history and prognosis of CLL in younger adults, information on 454 B-CLL patients less than 50 yrs old, from 13 different International groups was collected and analyzed. The male/female proportion is 1.

Isthmic spondylolisthesis in pycnodysostosis.

Pycnodysostosis is an inborn skeletal syndrome manifested by short stature with a concomitant spinal deformity and by dense sclerotic fragile bones. We report a 35-year-old woman with pycnodysostosis and isthmic spondylolisthesis. Pycnodysostosis should be added to the differential diagnosis of spondylolisthesis.