The Effect of Mineralocorticoid Receptor Antagonists on Recruitment and Function of Endothelial Progenitor Cells in Patients with Congestive Heart Failure.

Background: Circulating endothelial progenitor cells have an important role in the process of vascular repair. Impaired recruitment and function of endothelial progenitor cells is related to the pathophysiology of congestive heart failure. Endothelial progenitor cells have been shown to express the mineralocorticoid receptor.

Icatibant Outcome Survey in Patients with Hereditary Angioedema: Experience in Israel Compared with Other Countries.

Background: Management of patients with hereditary angioedema with C1-inhibitor deficiency (C1-INH-HAE) is evolving worldwide. Evaluating the Israeli experience may provide valuable insights.

Objectives: To compare demographics and icatibant treatment patterns and outcomes in patients with C1-INH-HAE enrolled in the Icatibant Outcome Survey (IOS) in Israel with those in other countries.

Use of Aromatase Inhibitors in IVF for Fertility Preservation of Non-Breast Cancer Patients: A Case Series.

Background: Controlled ovarian hyperstimulation (COH) followed by oocyte retrieval is a leading option for fertility preservation before chemotherapy, yet this procedure causes excessive serum levels of estradiol (E2), which are often detrimental for cancer patients. Aromatase inhibitors are often used in breast cancer patients during COH to prevent elevated levels of E2.

Objectives: To describe our experience with COH for oocyte cryopreservation in non-breast cancer patients using aromatase inhibitors.

How Prevalent is Hydronephrosis Secondary to Acute Appendicitis: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Right hydronephrosis secondary to acute appendicitis is an under-reported phenomenon with only several case reports published.

Objectives: To assess the incidence of this phenomenon in our database of patients diagnosed with acute appendicitis.

Methods: Data were collected on 1092 patients who underwent surgery due to acute appendicitis between 2003 and 2007 in our tertiary medical center.

The Woven EndoBridge (WEB) for endovascular therapy of intracranial aneurysms: Update of a systematic review with meta-analysis.

Objectives: Endovascular treatment of wide-neck intracranial aneurysms (IAs) is challenging, especially in bifurcation location. The intra-saccular flow-disruptor Woven EndoBridge (WEB) offers a new concept of endovascular therapy for wide-neck IAs. We performed an update of a systematic review aimed to report the feasibility, effectiveness and safety of WEB device therapy.

Thrombectomy outcomes for acute stroke patients with anterior circulation tandem lesions: a clinical registry and an update of a systematic review with meta-analysis.

Background And Purpose: Although mechanical thrombectomy (MT) appears to be superior in stroke patients with extracranial carotid disease (ECD) compared to thrombolysis alone, the impact of emergent carotid stenting during MT remains unclear. The MT outcomes were assessed in anterior stroke patients with ECD, especially when combined with carotid stenting.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of our registry was performed and an update of a systematic review and meta-analysis of MT studies with or without stenting for anterior circulation stroke with ECD published between November 2010 and April 2017 was conducted.

Thalassemia Major and Intermedia in Patients Older than 35 Years: A Single Center Experience.

Background: During the past decades, beta thalassemia major (TM) and beta thalassemia intermedia (TI) have transformed from a universally fatal disease at a young age into a chronic disease. This advancement is attributed to improved chelation therapy as well as enhanced management strategies, with focused attention on disease and treatment-related complications.

Objectives: To describe characteristics of adults with thalassemia as well as treatment modalities, disease and treatment-related complications, and socioeconomic information of the patients.

Metal-on-Metal Hip Replacement: MRI Signal Intensities of Different Body Tissues and Their Relations to Blood Metal Ion Levels.

Background: Metal-on-metal total hip prostheses (MoM-THR) have been shown to produce hypersensitivity reactions and fluid collection (pseudotumor) by the hip as well as high blood metal ions levels (BMILs).

Objectives: To evaluate the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) in selected body tissues around the hip of patients who underwent MoM hip replacement and to correlate to BMILs.

Methods: Sixty-one MRI hip examinations in 54 post-MoM-THR patients (18 males, 36 females, mean age 65 years) were retrospectively evaluated independently by two readers.

Derivation and Implementation of a Protocol in Israel for Organ Donation after Cardio-Circulatory Death.

Background: Strategies aimed at expanding the organ donor pool have been sought, which has resulted in renewed interest in donation after cardio-circulatory death (DCCD), also known as non-heart beating donors (NHBDs).

Objectives: To describe the derivation and implementation of a protocol for DCCD in Israel and report on the results with the first six cases.

Methods: After receiving approval from an extraordinary ethics committee, Ministry of Health, the steering committee of the National Transplant Center defined and reached consensus on the unique challenges presented by a DCCD program.

[BISPHOSPHONATES AS A PREVENTATIVE TREATMENT FOR OSTEOPOROTIC HIP FRACTURES: A MIXED BLESSING].

Background: The widespread use of bisphosphonates for treating osteoporosis in the last two decades has raised concern about the complication of atypical hip fractures secondary to bisphosphonate treatment. These fractures may be the result of a minor trauma to the hip or without any trauma at all. It may be heralded by prodromal groin or hip pain.

Rehospitalization Through Childhood and Adolescence: Association with Neonatal Morbidities in Infants of Very Low Birth Weight.

Objective: To evaluate the impact of major neonatal morbidities on the risks for rehospitalization in children and adolescents born of very low birth weight.

Study Design: An observational study was performed on data of the Israel Neonatal Network linked together with the Maccabi Healthcare Services medical records. After discharge from the neonatal intensive care unit, 6385 infants of very low birth weight born from 1995 to 2012 were registered with Maccabi Healthcare Services and formed the study cohort.

18F-FDG-PET/CT Pulmonary Infiltrates in Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma Patients Treated with Combined Immunochemotherapy: Incidence and Clinical Characteristics.

Background: Pulmonary infiltrates (PIs) detected in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) may present a diagnostic challenge due to their wide differential diagnosis, including infection, pulmonary lymphoma and immunochemotherapy-associated pulmonary toxicity.

Objectives: To characterize therapy-associated PIs by positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) imaging.

Methods: We conducted a historical analysis of fluorodeoxyglucose-PET/CT (18F-FDG-PET/CT) PIs in NHL patients treated with combined immunochemotherapy including rituximab.

The Management and Outcome of Hospitalized and Ambulatory Israeli Heart Failure Patients Compared to European Heart Failure Patients: Results from the ESC Heart Failure Long-Term Registry.

Background: The treatment of patients hospitalized with heart failure (HHF) and ambulatory chronic heart failure (CHF) differs in various countries.

Objectives: To evaluate the management and outcomes of patients with HFF and CHF in Israel compared to those in other European countries who were included in the ESC-HF Long-Term Registry.

Methods: From May 2011 to April 2013, heart failure patients - 467 Israelis and 11,973 from other countries - were evaluated.

The Relationship between Cigarette Smoking and Renal Function: A Large Cohort Study.

Background: Both cigarette smoking and chronic kidney disease (CKD) are linked to cardiovascular morbidity and development of atherosclerosis. However, the relationship between cigarette smoking and renal function is not clearly understood.

Objectives: To investigate the relationship between cigarette smoking and renal function, and determine whether the intensity of cigarette smoking influences renal function.

A Dedicated Follow-Up Clinic for BRCA Mutation Carriers.

Women who carry the BRCA gene mutation have an up to 80% chance of developing cancer, primarily of breast and ovarian origin. Confirmation of carrier status is described by many women as an overwhelming, life-changing event. Healthy individuals harboring a BRCA mutation constitute a high risk population with unique needs, often overlooked by health authorities.

Adaptation and Validation of the Israeli Version of the Chronic Urticaria Quality of Life Questionnaire (CU-Q2oL).

Background: Chronic urticaria (CU) is a common disabling disorder. The CU-Q2oL (Chronic Urticaria Quality of Life Questionnaire) is a specific questionnaire for evaluating quality of life in CU patients. It consists of 23 items divided into six quality-of-life dimensions.

Insights from 2D and 3D Quantitative Angiographic Assessment of Bioresorbable Everolimus-Eluting Vascular Scaffolds.

Background: Bioresorbable vascular scaffold (BVS) is a promising technology that potentially offers several advantages over contemporary coronary drug-eluting stents (DES). Crucial to BVS implantation is the correct choice of scaffold size (diameter and length) in order to avoid "geographic miss" in length, provide the maximal support to the vessel wall, and avoid leaving "free-floating" foreign material in the coronary vasculature.

Objectives: To assess the optimal method for measuring coronary stenosis prior to BVS implantation.

Syncope in Primary Prevention Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator Implantation.

Background: Syncope prognosis varies widely: 1 year mortality may range from 0% in the case of vasovagal events up to 30% in the presence of heart disease.

Objectives: To assess the outcomes and prognosis of patients with implantable cardiac defibrillator (ICD) and indication of primary prevention and compare patients presenting with or without prior syncope.

Methods: We reviewed the charts of 75 patients who underwent ICD implantation with the indication of primary prevention and history of syncope and compared them to a control group of 80 patients without prior syncope.

Long Term Outcomes of MGuard Stent Deployment in Saphenous Vein Grafts and Native Coronary Arteries: A Single Center Experience.

Background: The MGuard™ stent (InspireMD, Tel Aviv, Israel) is a bare metal mesh-covered stent, developed to prevent no-reflow phenomenon during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) of saphenous vein grafts (SVG) and acute myocardial infarction (MI), both associated with significant atherothrombotic lesions.

Objectives: To report on local experience with patients treated with the MGuard stent until follow-up at 1 year.

Methods: We followed 163 consecutive patients who underwent MGuard stent deployment during the period 2009 to 2014 in a large tertiary cardiac center in central Israel.