A comparison of enriched culture and Xpert polymerase chain reaction assay of Group B streptococcus carrier status at 35-37-week gestation to labor onset: a prospective controlled study.

Objectives: (1) To compare the accuracy of vagino-rectal enriched culture (EC) and a rapid polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test for the detection of Group B streptococcus (GBS) carrier status at 35-37-week gestation and at onset of labor. (2) To assess the conversion rate of GBS carrier status between 35-37 weeks to the onset of labor according to the EC/PCR tests. A prospective study was performed at a women's health clinic, referred to give birth at one medical center.

Advanced Hepatic Fibrosis in Fatty Liver Disease Linked to Hyperplastic Colonic Polyp.

. Our study aims to determine possible association between biopsy-proven nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and hyperplastic polyps (HP) of the colon. .

5,6-δ-DHTL, a stable metabolite of arachidonic acid, is a potential EDHF that mediates microvascular dilation.

Objective: Prominent among the endothelium-derived hyperpolarizing factors (EDHFs) are the Cytochrome P450 (CYP) epoxygenase-derived arachidonic acid metabolites-the epoxyeicosatrienoic acids (EETs), that are known as vasodilators in the microcirculation. Among the EET isomers, 5,6-EET undergoes rapid lactonization in aqueous solution to the more stable 5,6-δ DHTL (5,6-dihydroxytrienoic lactone) isomer. It is unclear whether this metabolic transformation maintains its vasodilator potential and what is the mechanism of action.

A cheap, simple high throughput method for screening native Helicobacter pylori urease inhibitors using a recombinant Escherichia coli, its validation and demonstration of Pistacia atlantica methanolic extract effectivity and specificity.

Helicobacter pylori is the most frequent and persistent bacterial infection worldwide, and a risk factor for active gastritis, peptic ulcers, mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma, and gastric cancer. Although combined antibiotics treatment is effective cases of antibiotic resistance are reported at an alarming rate. The H.

Peripartum maternal transmission of extended-spectrum β-lactamase organism to newborn infants.

The aim of this study was to determine whether the route of extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) transmission to hospitalized newborns was from their mothers during delivery. Neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) hospitalized newborns were sampled for ESBL presence by stool cultures on the first and fourth days of life. Mothers of ESBL-positive newborns were sampled for possible correlation detection.

Seriously clowning: Medical clowning interaction with children undergoing invasive examinations in hospitals.

This qualitative study examined the subjective experience of children undergoing an invasive examination in the hospital when accompanied by a medical clown. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine such children and nine of their accompanying parents. The children were patients in two outpatient departments (Pediatric Gastroenterology and a Center for the Sexually Abused) in a hospital in Israel.

Autonomy and dignity of patients with dementia: Perceptions of multicultural caretakers.

Background: A key message in the World Health Organization's report on dementia emphasizes the need to improve public and professional attitudes to dementia and its understanding, while acknowledging the fact that the workforce in dementia care is becoming increasingly diverse culturally.

Objectives: To explore possible differences among formal caretakers from varied cultural background in their attitudes toward the autonomy and human dignity of patients with dementia.

Research Design: Semi-structured interviews and content analysis, utilizing two fictional vignettes for eliciting caretakers' attitudes toward dignity and autonomy of their patients.

The use of Buccal fat pad free graft in regenerative treatment of peri-implantitis: A new and predictable technique.

Introduction: Peri-implantitis is a common condition, but no particular treatment protocol has shown to be definitively effective. Fat tissue in the oral cavity is widely available and easily accessed. The aim of the current study is to present a novel technique in the treatment of peri-implant lesions, utilizing a free fat tissue graft from the buccal fat pad (BFP).

Primary Oral Malignancy Imitating Peri-Implantitis.

Purpose: To describe new cases of primary malignancy arising around dental implants.

Materials And Methods: Three patients presented with asymptomatic lesions around longstanding dental implants that resembled peri-implantitis. One case was primary large B-cell lymphoma and the remaining cases were primary squamous cell carcinoma in patients with oral lichen planus.

Sugammadex: An Update.

The purpose of this update is to provide recent knowledge and debates regarding the use of sugammadex in the fields of anesthesia and critical care. The review is not intended to provide a comprehensive description of sugammadex and its clinical use.

Association between second-hand smoking and acute coronary heart disease among Arab women with multiple risk factors.

Background: Active smoking is a well-established risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD). However, the role of second-hand smoking (SHS) needs further investigation. We aimed to study the association between SHS and CHD in Arab women in Israel.

The Therapy Beneath the Fun: Medical Clowning During Invasive Examinations on Children.

Objective: The qualitative research presented here is part of a larger project on the significance of medical clowning during invasive examinations in children in the Department of Gastroenterology and the Center for the Sexually Abused in a hospital in Israel. It investigated what makes up the essence of medical clowning, what skills and techniques are used by medical clowns, and whether their work contains therapeutic elements.

Methods: A total of 9 children undergoing invasive examinations and 9 of their accompanying parents participated in semistructured interviews, which were analyzed using a thematic analysis methodology assisted by an Atlas-ti software program.

Reconsidering the Current Preterm Premature Rupture of Membranes Antibiotic Prophylactic Protocol.

Objective: The purpose of our study was to determine whether the current antibiotic regimen for preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM) is adequate for covering the current causative agents and sensitivities of chorioamnionitis and early-onset neonatal sepsis.

Study Design: During a 3-year period, we retrieved the results from placental and amniotic membrane cultures obtained at delivery in cases of maternal fever, chorioamnionitis, and PPROM, and from blood cultures obtained from neonates with early-onset sepsis (EOS) in three participating hospitals. Sensitivity of pathogens to antimicrobial agents was performed using routine microbiologic techniques.

The outcome of self-expanding metal stents in elderly patients.

Background And Objectives: Emergency surgery for large bowel obstruction is associated with high morbidity and mortality rates, especially in elderly patients. Colonic self-expanding metal stents may provide temporary relief of obstructions and enable preoperative evaluation. The aim of this retrospective study was to assess the clinical outcomes of emergency stenting in elderly patients with large bowel obstructions.

Calponin levels in term laboring women.

Objective: Calponin, a specific smooth muscle contraction regulatory troponin-like protein, is present in large quantities in uterine smooth muscle. Serum troponin levels rise in acute myocardial infarction, and creatine phosphokinase levels rise at high physical activity, both due to destruction of cardiac and striated muscle fibers. We hypothesize that the active labor process may cause uterine smooth muscle cell damage, which may result in rising maternal serum calponin levels.

The virtual neonate in The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: when twin number three adds up to error not imagination.

Background: During the administrative admittance of extreme premature twin neonates to the Hospital Information System (HIS), at an Israeli government general hospital, a third virtual baby was mistakenly admitted in addition to the twins. The third virtual baby's records were in department occupancy and transactions were performed in the HIS, such as "admittance" to Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), being appended to a mother as well as clinical orders.

Methods: Once noticed, the records of the third virtual baby were merged in the system with the second correct twin (Baby II), whose records were also in the department occupancy list.

Laparoscopic treatment of duodenal injury caused by gunshot.

Duodenal injury in most cases, presents as a complex trauma of all adjacent organs which it is generally treated with a midline laparotomy though laparoscopic treatment in selected cases might be beneficial. We present a case of haemodynamically stable patient who suffered abdominal gunshot injury causing grade II trauma of the liver and penetrating wound of the first part of the duodenum and was treated laparoscopically. We believe that laparoscopic primary or assisted repair of injured duodenum is an appropriate surgical option in haemodynamically stable patients who sustain focal abdominal trauma.

Serum corin is reduced and predicts adverse outcome in non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome.

Background And Objectives: The aim of the current study was to describe the role of corin, an enzyme that cleaves pro-atrial natriuretic peptide and pro-brain natriuretic peptide into their active peptides, in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS).

Methods: Serum corin level was studied in patients with non-ST-elevation ACS who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (n=152) and in control volunteers (n=103).

Results: The corin level was lower in acute coronary syndrome patients (798±288 pg/ml) than in the controls (1165±613 pg/ml, p<0.

Do wheelchairs spread pathogenic bacteria within hospital walls?

Transmission of nosocomial pathogens has been linked to transient colonization of health care workers, medical devices and other constituents of patients' environment. In this paper we present our findings concerning the presence of pathogenic bacteria on wheelchairs, and the possibility that wheelchairs constitute a reservoir of these bacteria and a means of spreading them. In this work we examined four wheelchairs, each from a different location: the internal medicine ward, the emergency department, the general surgery ward and wheelchair stockpile of the transportation unit of the hospital.

The use of sialendoscopy for the treatment of multiple salivary gland stones.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to document our experience with sialendoscopy for the treatment of multiple calculi of the salivary ducts, as well as to discuss the technique and indications for the procedure.

Patients And Methods: In this retrospective non-interventional study, 530 consecutive cases of sialolithiasis were investigated, and the cases with multiple calculi were selected for further analysis. These selected cases were analyzed from clinical and surgical aspects.

Depth of intrastromal corneal ring segments by OCT.

Purpose: To compare the depth of intrastromal corneal ring segments (ICRS) with the expected depth value using optical coherence tomography (OCT).

Methods: This was a retrospective comparative study in an ophthalmic unit in a government hospital, the Baruch Padeh Medical Center, Poriya, Israel. Ten eyes of 8 patients with 18 ICRS were reviewed.

Prenatal sonographic evaluation of the penile length.

Objective: To construct cross-sectional reference range of the penile length during pregnancy, measuring it from the proximal edge of the corpus cavernosum to the tip of the glans penis.

Methods: Fetal penile length was measured by high resolution transvaginal ultrasound at 14 to 16 weeks and by transabdominal ultrasound at 17 to 35 weeks' gestation.

Results: Fetal penile length increased significantly with gestational age (GA), from 7 mm at 14 weeks' to 50 mm at 35 weeks' gestation.

Sonographic evaluation of the fetal conus medullaris at 20 to 24 weeks' gestation.

Objective: To determine the normal level of the conus medullaris (CM) of the spinal cord of normal fetuses at 20 to 24 weeks' gestation using abdominal sonography.

Methods: Using a 4 to 8 MHz ultrasound abdominal transducer, CM was imaged in the midsagittal plane with the fetal spine facing toward the transducer. The CM ending level was located by counting the vertebrae caudal starting at T12, which was identified by lowest fetal rib.