Ori Samuel Duek MD BSBME, Yeela Ben Naftali MD, Yaron Bar-Lavie MD, Hany Bahouth MD and Yehuda Ullmann MD
Background: Pneumonia is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in burn patients with inhalation injuries. An increased risk of pneumonia has been demonstrated in trauma and burn patients urgently intubated in the field vs. emergency departments (EDs).
Objectives: To compare intubation setting (field vs. ED) and subsequent development of pneumonia in burn patients and to evaluate the indication for urgent intubation outside the hospital setting.
Methods: A retrospective medical records review was conducted on all intubated patients presenting with thermal (study group, 118 patients) or trauma (control group A, 74 patients) injuries and admitted to the intensive care unit of a level I trauma and burn center at a single institution during a 15 year period. Control group B (50 patients) included non-intubated facial burn patients hospitalized in the plastic surgery department.
Results: Field intubation was less frequent (37% field vs. 63% ED), although it was more frequent in larger burns (total body surface area > 50%; 43% field vs. 27% ED). More field intubated patients developed pneumonia during hospitalization (65% field vs. 36% ED [burns]; 81% field vs. 45% ED [multi-trauma]; 2% non-intubated, P < 0.05), with a significantly higher all-cause mortality (49% field vs. 24% ED, P < 0.05) and dramatically lower rates of extubation within 3 days (7% field vs. 27% ED, P < 0.05).
Conclusions: Field intubation is associated with a higher risk of subsequent development of pneumonia in burn and multi-trauma patients and should be applied with caution, only when airway patency is at immediate risk.
Daphna Katz-Talmor B Med Sc, Shaye Kivity MD, Miri Blank PhD, Itai Katz B Med Sc, Ori Perry BS, Alexander Volkov MD, Iris Barshack MD, Howard Amital MD MHA, Yehuda Shoenfeld MD FRCP MaACR
Dvir Shalem, Asaf Shemer, Ora Shovman MD, Yehuda Shoenfeld MD FRCP MACR and Shaye Kivity MD
Background: Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is an autoimmune disease of the peripheral nervous system with a typical presentation of acute paralysis and hyporeflexia. Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) and plasma exchange (PLEX) are treatments that have proven to expedite recuperation and recovery of motor function.
Objectives: To describe our experience at one tertiary medical center treating GBS with IVIG and to compare the efficacy of IVIG as the sole treatment versus combined therapy of IVIG and plasma exchange.
Methods: We reviewed the records of all patients diagnosed with GBS and treated with IVIG at the Sheba Medical Center from 2007 to 2015 and collected data on patient demographics, disease onset and presentation, and treatments delivered. The motor disability grading scale (MDGS) was used to evaluate the motor function of each patient through the various stages of the disease and following therapy.
Results: MDGS improvement from admission until discharge was statistically significant (P < 0.001), as was the regainment of motor functions at 3 and 12 months follow-up compared to the status during the nadir of the disease. The effectiveness of second-line treatment with IVIG following PLEX failure and vice versa was not statistically significant (P > 0.15).
Conclusions: The majority of patients included in this study experienced a significant and rapid improvement of GBS following treatment with IVIG. Combined therapy of PLEX and IVIG was not proven to be effective in patients who encountered a failure of the first-line treatment.
Hadas Ganer Herman MD, Zviya Kogan MD, Amran Dabas MD, Ram Kerner MD, Hagit Feit MD, Shimon Ginath MD, Jacob Bar MD MsC and Ron Sagiv MD
Background: Different clinical and sonographic parameters have been suggested to identify patients with retained products of conception. In suspected cases, the main treatment is hysteroscopic removal.
Objectives: To compare clinical, sonographic, and intraoperative findings in cases of hysteroscopy for retained products of conception, according to histology.
Methods: The results of operative hysteroscopies that were conducted between 2011 and 2016 for suspected retained products of conception were evaluated. Material was obtained and evaluated histologically. The positive histology group (n=178) included cases with confirmed trophoblastic material. The negative histology group (n=26) included cases with non-trophoblastic material.
Results: Patient demographics were similar in the groups, and both underwent operative hysteroscopy an average of 7 to 8 weeks after delivery/abortion. A history of vaginal delivery was more common among the positive histology group. The main presenting symptom in all study patients was vaginal bleeding, and the majority of cases were diagnosed at their routine postpartum/abortion follow-up visit. Sonographic parameters were similar in the groups. Intraoperatively, the performing surgeon was significantly more likely to identify true trophoblastic tissue as such than to correctly identify non-trophoblastic tissue (P < 0.001).
Conclusions: Suspected retained trophoblastic material cannot be accurately differentiated from non-trophoblastic material according to clinical, sonographic, and intraprocedural criteria. Thus, hysteroscopy seems warranted in suspected cases.
Tzvika Porges MD, Tali Shafat MD, Iftach Sagy MD, Lior Zeller MD, Carmi Bartal MD, Tamara Khutarniuk MD, Alan Jotkowitz MD and Leonid Barski MD
Background: Erythema nodosum (EN) is the most common type of panniculitis, commonly secondary to infectious diseases.
Objectives: To elucidate the causative factors and the clinical presentation of patients with EN (2004–2014) and to compare their data to those reported in a previous study.
Methods: A retrospective study was conducted of all patients diagnosed with EN who were hospitalized at Soroka University Medical Center (2004–2014). The clinical, demographic, and laboratory characteristics of the patients were compared to those in a cohort of patients diagnosed with EN from 1973–1982.
Results: The study comprised 45 patients with a diagnosis of EN. The most common symptoms of patients hospitalized with EN were arthritis or arthralgia (27% of patients). Patients with EN, compared to those reported in 1987, has significantly lower rates of fever (18% vs. 62% P < 0.001), streptococcal infection (16% vs. 44%, P = 0.003), and joint involvement (27% vs. 66%, P < 0.001). In addition, fewer patients had idiopathic causes of EN (9% vs. 32%, P = 0.006).
Conclusions: In the past decades, clinical, epidemiological, and etiological changes have occurred in EN patients. The lowering in rate of fever, streptococcal infection, and joint involvement in patients with EN are probably explained by improvements in socioeconomic conditions. The significantly decreasing rate of idiopathic causes of EN is possibly due to the greater diagnostic accuracy of modern medicine. The results of the present study demonstrate the impact of improvements in socioeconomic conditions and access to healthcare on disease presentation.
Raviv Allon BsC, Yahav Levy MD, Idit Lavi MA, Aviv Kramer MD, Menashe Barzilai MD and Ronit Wollstein MD
Because fragility fractures have an enormous impact on the practice of medicine and global health systems, effective screening is imperative. Currently, dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), which has limited ability to predict fractures, is being used. We evaluated the current literature for a method that may constitute a better screening method to predict fragility fractures. A systematic review of the literature was conducted on computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and ultrasound to evaluate screening methods to predict fragility fractures. We found that ultrasound had sufficient data on fracture prediction to perform meta-analysis; therefore, we analyzed prospective ultrasound cohort studies. Six study populations, consisting of 29,299 individuals (87,296 person-years of observation) and including 992 fractures, were analyzed. MRI was found to be sensitive and specific for osteoporosis, but its use for screening has not been sufficiently evaluated and more research is needed on cost, accessibility, technical challenges, and sensitivity and specificity. CT could predict fracture occurrence; however, it may be problematic for screening due to cost, exposure to radiation, and availability. Ultrasound was found to predict fracture occurrence with an increased risk of 1.45 (95% confidence interval 1.21–1.73) to fracture. Ultrasound has not replaced DXA as a screening tool for osteoporosis, perhaps due to operator-dependency and difficulty in standardization of testing.
Kassem Sharif MD, Louis Coplan MD, Benjamin Lichtbroun MD and Howard Amital MD MHA
Micky Osovsky MD, Eric Barel MD and Dean D. Ad-El MD