S. Eventov-Friedman, H. Leiba, O. Flidel-Rimon, A. Juster-Reicher and E.S. Shinwell
Background: The American Academy of Pediatrics recently published recommendations for the red reflex assessment in the newborn period to detect and treat ocular disorders as early as possible, and to prevent lifelong visual impairment and even save lives. The test is technically simple to perform, non-invasive, requires minimal equipment and can detect a variety of ocular pathologies including cataracts and retinal abnormalities. No specific national guidelines exist on this issue.
Objectives: To document the implementation of red reflex examination in routine neonatal care and present the findings.
Methods: Our clinical experience following implementation of the red reflex test into the newborn physical examination in a single center was reviewed. In addition, an electronic mail questionnaire was sent to all neonatology departments in Israel regarding the performance of the red reflex test.
Results: During 2007–2008, five infants were identified with congenital cataracts at days 2–6 of life prior to discharge from hospital. Surgery was performed in one infant at age 2 months and all infants underwent a thorough follow-up. The incidence of congenital cataract in our center was 1:2300. Less than half the neonatology departments have endorsed the AAP[1] recommendation and perform the red reflex test routinely.
Conclusions: Abnormal red reflex test after delivery enables a rapid ophthalmologic diagnosis, intervention and close follow-up. We recommend that red reflex screening be performed as part of the newborn physical examination if abnormal, an urgent ophthalmologic referral should be made.
[1] AAP = American Academy of Pediatrics
O. Toker, S. Schwartz, G. Segal, N. Godovitch, Y. Schlesinger and D. Raveh
Background: Ritual circumcision in neonates may cause a urinary tract infection within 2 weeks of the procedure.
Objectives: To evaluate the prevalence of urinary tract infection among Jewish male circumcised neonates (¡Ü 28 days old) evaluated for fever in the emergency room.
Methods: All available medical records of neonates presenting to the pediatric emergency room for evaluation of fever over a 10 year period were reviewed. Data included gender, ethnic background, age in days on presentation to the emergency room, age in days when circumcision was performed (in males ¡Ý 8 days of age), and results of urine, blood and cerebrospinal fluid cultures. Families of males older than 8 days of age who had a UTI[1] were contacted by telephone to verify the circumcision status when the infant presented to the ER[2], to ascertain whether the circumcision was performed ritually by a mohel* or by a physician, and, when not recorded in the chart, to verify the day of life on which circumcision was performed.
Results: Among neonates older than 8 days of age, 60 (24.7%) of the 243 febrile Jewish males had a UTI, as compared to 12 (8.4%) of 143 females (P < 0.0001). In 39 of 54 male neonates (72%) for whom circumcision was performed ritually on the eighth day of life, UTI occurred within 9 days of the circumcision. For females, there was no such clustering of UTI cases in the second week of life, nor during any other time period.
Conclusions: Febrile male neonates who have undergone ritual circumcision have a high prevalence of UTI and must be evaluated and treated accordingly.
[1] UTI = urinary tract infection
[2] ER = emergency room
* Mohel is a Jewish man trained in the practice of Brit milah (circumcision).
E. Israeli, T. Hershcovici, I. Grotto, Z. Rouach, D. Branski and E. Goldin
Background: In the last decade the diagnosis of celiac disease has increasingly been made in adults.
Objectives: To determine disease prevalence (including silent and potential disease) in this population group.
Methods: We performed serologic screening of celiac disease in a representative and homogenous sample of a young adult general population in Israel, namely, 18 year old military conscripts, in 2003. Serologic screening was performed on serum samples randomly obtained from 850 healthy recruits (male/female = 1.1). Immunoglobulin A anti-tissue transglutaminase was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. In cases of IgA[1] deficiency, IgG anti-endomysial antibodies were determined. A small intestinal biopsy was offered to all patients with positive serology.
Results: The prevalence of overt CD[2] diagnosed prior to recruitment was 0.12% (0.1% in men and 0.14% in women). The overall prevalence based on positive serology was 1.1%. Six of nine subjects with positive serology agreed to undergo endoscopy and intestinal biopsies. In all cases, biopsies were compatible with celiac disease (five biopsies were graded as Marsh 3a and one as Marsh 3b). One subject previously reporting irritable bowel-like symptoms was diagnosed with overt atypical CD. The prevalence of overt CD diagnosed by screening was 0.12%. The ratio of overt to silent CD was 1:8. No cases of potential disease were encountered.
Conclusions: Our findings suggest that CD is highly prevalent in the young adult population in Israel. Serologic screening for CD is a reliable and simple method for diagnosing this disease before symptoms or complications develop.
[1] Ig = immunoglobulin
[2] CD = celiac disease
A. Stepansky, A. Halevy and Y. Ziv
Background: An accurate preoperative definition of tumor and lymph node status is needed for reaching the correct decision regarding rectal cancer treatment. Transrectal ultrasonography is the most commonly used diagnostic modality for the local staging of rectal cancer.
Objectives: To determine the accuracy of TRUS[1] in the staging of rectal cancer.
Methods: We conducted a retrospective study on 95 patients evaluated by TRUS. The rectum was subdivided into two parts (lower and upper).
Results: Sixty patients underwent radical surgery. Of these, 34 received no preoperative chemo-irradiation owing to µT1, µT2 tumor or the patient’s choice (neo-adjuvant treatment was suggested to patients with adenocarcinoma that proved to be µT3). The overall accuracy rate was 80% for T stage. Overstaging was found in 13.3% and understaging in 6.7%.The N-stage was correctly assessed in 70%. The overall accuracy rate for tumors was 73.9% in the lower part and 90.9% in the upper. A trend towards a lower accuracy rate for low-lying tumors compared to high-located rectal tumors was found (P = 0.532), which did not reach statistical significance.
Conclusions: TRUS gave better results for T1 and T3 stage rectal tumors but was inaccurate for stage T2, indicating the possible need for local excision in order to base the final treatment for T2 tumors on pathologic staging.
[1] TRUS = transrectal ultrasonography
H. Vaknin-Assa, A. Assali, E. Lev, I. Ben-Dor, D. Brosh, I. Teplitsky and R. Kornowski
Background: The best therapeutic alternative for patients suffering from in-stent restenosis after drug-eluting stent implantation remains to be elucidated.
Objective: To characterize the pattern, treatment and outcomes of DES[1]-related in-stent restenosis in patients treated at our institution.
Methods: We determined the incidence and major adverse clinical events in 71 consecutive patients with DES failure among 2473 patients who were treated with 2548 drug-eluting stents between 2004 and 2007. We analyzed the clinical data, procedural parameters and clinical outcomes.
Results: The type and number of stents implanted were as follows: Cypher (n=1808), Endeavor (421) and Taxus (319) of these, 53 (2.9%), 10 (2.4%), and 8 (2.5%) patients respectively presented with restenosis. The mean time to restenosis was 11.3 ± 9.9 months. Patients’ mean age was 65 ± 11 years 75% were male, and 68% had diabetes mellitus. Unstable angina was the clinical presentation in 52 (73%). At 6 months, 3 patients had developed myocardial infarction (4.2%), repeat restenosis at follow-up was diagnosed in 8 patients (11.3%), the overall major adverse clinical events rate was 18.3% (13 patients), and 2 patients died (2.8%).
Conclusions: Drug-eluting stent-related restenosis is relatively infrequent but remains a clinical challenge. It occurs more frequently in complex lesion subsets, but the overall intermediate-term prognosis is tolerable.
[1] DES = drug-eluting stent
D. Miron, Y. Horovitz, A. Luder, F.S. Ohnona and Y. Schelisinger
Background: Human parvovirus B19 is a global and common infectious pathogen in humans, primarily in children.
Objectives: To assess the immunoglobulin G seroprevalence of B19 in children in Israel.
Methods: Overall, 128 previously healthy children (1.5–17 years old) hospitalized for various diseases other than acute human parvovirus B19 infection were assessed for IgG[1] to the virus by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
Results: The IgG seroprevalence increased from 22% in children aged 1.5–9 years to 52% in older children (P = 0.001).
Conclusions: Our data suggest that most acute parvovirus B19 infections in Israel occur in the early school years, and that by 18 years of age 50% of Israeli children have been infected by the virus.
[1] IgG = immunoglobulin G
H. Rosenblum, Y. Bar-Dayan, Z. Dovrish, S. Lew, N. Weisenberg, A. Neumann, T. Klein and H. Amital
Background: Obstruction of urine outflow can result from mechanical blockade as well as from functional defects. In adults, urinary tract obstruction is due mainly to acquired defects, such as pelvic tumors, calculi, and urethral stricture. In childhood it is mostly due to congenital malformations. In this article we present two rare cases of acute obstructive renal failure that presented with hydronephrosis. These cases underline the wide range of causes that may lead to this clinical feature.
O. Hochwald, E.S. Bamberger, L. Rubin, R. Gershtein and I. Srugo
Background: An outbreak of pertussis occurred in a daycare center with 87.5% vaccination coverage.
Objectives: To assess the effectiveness of the acellular pertussis vaccine and prevention of pertussis after chemoprophylaxis with azithromycin.
Methods: We studied 31 daycare children aged 3–5.5 years exposed to a child with pertussis. Nasopharyngeal swabs were obtained for Bordetella pertussis culture and polymerase chain reaction initially, and at days 21 and 60 of follow-up, in cases exhibiting symptoms.
Results: Of the 31 daycare children 6 (19%) tested positive for B. pertussis by PCR[1], 4 of whom had not been vaccinated against the disease. Of the two vaccinated children who contracted pertussis, one had milder symptoms and the other was asymptomatic. The incidence of pertussis was significantly lower in the vaccinated group (2/27) than in the unvaccinated group (4/4) (P = 0.000), with efficacy of the vaccine calculated to be 92.5%. Azithromycin chemoprophylaxis was taken only by 14 of the 25 exposed children (56%). On day 21 follow-up, there was no further laboratory-diagnosed B. pertussis cases in any of the exposed children, regardless of whether or not chemoprophylaxis was taken.
Conclusions: Based on the children’s clinical manifestations and PCR findings a pertussis outbreak had occurred in the daycare center studied. Our findings support the importance of pertussis vaccination since all the unvaccinated children in the daycare center contracted the infection.
[1] PCR = polymerase chain reaction
A. Kesler, I. Haber and S. Kurtz
Background: Normal-tension glaucoma is a chronic progressive optic neuropathy of unknown etiology. Neuroimaging workup in these patients is controversial.
Objectives: To determine the value of routine neurologic and neuro-ophthalmologic evaluations in patients with NTG[1].
Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of all patients diagnosed with NTG in our institution between 2001 and 2006. Neurologic and neuro-ophthalmologic data were evaluated.
Results: Sixty-eight patients were considered suitable for the study (35 males, 33 females age range 43–90 years). Neurologic and neuro-ophthalmologic findings were normal in all of them. The computed tomography brain scan was normal in 88% and duplex carotid Doppler scan was normal in 92%.
Conclusions: Pathologic findings in neurologic and neuro-ophthalmologic assessments were uncommon in NTG. Therefore, contrary to earlier suggestions, neurologic and neuro-ophthalmologic evaluations in typical normal-tension glaucoma patients appear to have no added value.
R. Stackievicz, H. Paran, J. Bernheim, M. Shapira, N. Weisenberg, T. Kaufman, E. Klein and M. Gutman
Background: The prognostic significance of biologic markers in women with ductal carcinoma in situ is not fully understood. HER2/neu is a marker of prognostic significance that is routinely assessed in invasive cancer but its correlation with clinical outcome in DCIS[1] is still obscure.
Objectives: To evaluate the significance of HER-2/neu expression as a prognostic marker in DCIS.
Methods: Clinical and pathologic data from 84 patients treated for DCIS were analyzed. HER-2/neu expression was determined by immunohistochemical staining. Histopathologic parameters (nuclear grade, histologic subtype, necrosis, calcifications, margins) were reviewed by an experienced pathologist. Local recurrence and/or metastatic spread were used as endpoints to determine the prognostic significance of HER-2/neu expression.
Results: With a median follow-up of 94.8 months, nine recurrences were reported. Neither univariate nor multivariate analysis showed a significant correlation between HER-2/neu expression and disease recurrence or the time to disease recurrence. Although HER-2/neu expression demonstrated a significant association with high nuclear grade (P < 0.0001) and comedo subtype (P < 0.0001), there was no correlation between these histologic features and recurrence rate. The correlation between high nuclear grade and disease recurrence approached statistical significance (P = 0.07).
Conclusions: No significant association was found between HER-2/neu expression in DCIS and disease recurrence. However, HER-2/neu correlated with negative markers such as nuclear grading and comedo necrosis, and its role should therefore be investigated in larger studies.
[1] DCIS = ductal carcinoma in situ