Israel Medical Association Journal

Objectives: To evaluate the clinical course of four children with cricopharyngeal achalasia presenting to our clinic.

Methods: We conducted a 5 year retrospective chart review in a tertiary referral center.

Results: Four children were diagnosed with primary cricopharyngeal achalasia between 2006 and 2010. Diagnosis was established by videofluoroscopy and all underwent uneventful cricopharyngeal myotomy. Three children recovered completely and one child showed partial improvement. For residual UES spasm in a partially improved patient, botulinum toxin was injected into the UES which led to further improvement. Dysphagia recurred in one child who was successfully treated with botulinum toxin injection.

Conclusions: Cricopharyngeal myotomy is a safe procedure in infants and young children. Botulinum toxin injection of the UES was found to be effective in refractory cases. 

Objectives: To examine prospectively the feasibility of vessel sealing in tracheostomy.

Methods: A vessel-sealing device was used in 24 consecutive patients undergoing tracheostomy. There were no exclusion criteria for enrolling the patients. No other hemostatic technique was used for dividing the isthmus.

Results: There were no bleeding events throughout the postoperative period. The operating time savingwas 5–10 minutes.

Conclusions: Use of the vessel sealer was found to be straightforward, efficacious, rapid and safe. 

Background: With an aging population, healthcare of the elderly population is becoming increasingly important, however, the principles of geriatric medicine and issues of concern specific to geriatric otolaryngologic patients have not been widely applied.

Objectives: To qualitatively analyze otolaryngological (ENT) emergencies in a geriatric population in an ENT emergency department (ED).

Methods: In this retrospective study the medical records of patients ≥ 65 years of age who attended our ENT-ED between 3 pm and 8 am and who were observed and/or treated by the on-call otorhinolaryngologist at Sheba Medical Center in 2009 were reviewed for age, gender, main complaint, and preliminary diagnosis. Allergic reactions, balance disorders, epistaxis, head/facial trauma and swallowing-related complaints were considered true emergencies.

Results: The staff in the ENT-ED examined and treated 1–10 geriatric patients daily (mean 2.35). A total of 597 subjects met the study entry criteria (median age 75 years); 16.6% were ≥ 85 years old. There was approximately equal gender representation. More elderly patients presented to the ENT-ED on the weekends (37.9% of the total) compared to weekdays (62.1%). There were 393 patients (65.8%) with true emergencies, of which epistaxis, balance disorders and head and facial trauma were the most common diagnoses (20.1%, 15.75% and 13.7%, respectively), while 46.5% of all vestibulopathy cases involved benign paroxysmal positional vertigo.

Conclusions: More than 65% of visits of the elderly presenting to ENT-ED involve true emergencies. This growing population may benefit from the presence of geriatric specialists in emergency departments.

Background: There are two main approaches to breast reduction surgery today: the traditional long scar ("Wise-pattern") technique and the more recent short ("vertical") scar technique, which is becoming more popular. During the last two decades there has been a gradual shift between the two techniques, including in our institute.

Objectives: To evaluate the evidence behind this obvious trend.

Methods: We retrospectively collected data from archived hospital charts of all patients who underwent breast reduction surgery during the period 1995–2007. Epidemiological, clinical and postoperative data were analyzed and compared between patients who were operated on by means of the short scar vs. the long scar techniques.

Results: During the study period 91 patients underwent breast reduction surgery in our department: 34 with the Wise-pattern breast reduction technique and 57 with the short-scar procedure. There was no significant difference in operative and postoperative data, including length of hospital stay. In some of the categories there was even a slight advantage (but not statistically significant) to the former. The only significant difference was the size of reduction, with a tendency to prefer the long scar technique for larger reductions; however, with gained experience the limit for short scar reductions was gradually extended to a maximum of 1470 g.

Conclusions: We noticed a sharp increase in the safe and uneventful practice of the short scar technique in breast reduction in our institute for removing ≤ 1400 g – especially in young women without extreme ptosis. This observation, together with other advantages, namely, reduced scar length, prolonged shape preservation and better breast projection, support use of this technique.
 

Background: The fish-eating habits of Israelis who present with impacted fish bones in the aerodigestive tract are unknown.

Objectives: To retrospectively investigate the relation between an impacted fish bone in the aerodigestive tract, the species of fish, and the place of occurrence in an Israeli population.

Methods: The current prospective observational study included all patients with aerodigestive impacted fish bones who were treated in our emergency department from 1 September 2008 to 30 September 2009. The data retrieved from their medical records included age, gender, place of event (at home or elsewhere), species of fish, and method of removing the bone.

Results: A total of 108 patients aged 1.5–87 years (median 48 years), 52.8% female, met the study criteria. Most (87%) of the events occurred at home, and 50.9% occurred during the weekend (Friday- Saturday). The bones were from low-priced fish (e.g., carp, hake) in 62% of the cases, high-priced fish (e.g., salmon, red snapper) in 30.5%, and of unknown species in 10.2%. The proportion of cases in which the fish bone belonged to a high-priced fish eaten out of the home was significantly higher than the cases in which a low-priced fish was eaten at home (64.3% vs. 22.3%, P = 0.04). One hundred bones were removed during direct oral inspection and 8 bones were removed under general anesthesia by endoscopy.

Conclusions: Most fish bone impactions in the aerodigestive tract in central Israel involve low-priced fish and take place at home over the weekend.
 

Background: Epidemiological data show significant associations of vitamin D deficiency and autoimmune diseases. Vitamin D may prevent autoimmunity by stimulating naturally occurring regulatory T cells.

Objectives: To elucidate whether vitamin D supplementation increases Tregs[1] frequency (%Tregs) of circulating CD4+ T cells.

Methods: We performed an uncontrolled vitamin D supplementation trial among 50 apparently healthy subjects including supplementation of 140,000 IU at baseline and after 4 weeks (visit 1). The final follow-up visit was performed 8 weeks after the baseline examination (visit 2). Blood was drawn at each study visit to determine 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and %Tregs. Tregs were characterized as CD4+CD25++ T cells with expression of the transcription factor forkhead box P3 and low or absent expression of CD127.

Results: Forty-six study participants (65% females, mean age ± SD 31 ± 8 years) completed the trial. 25(OH)D[2] levels increased from 23.9 ± 12.9 ng/ml at baseline to 45.9 ± 14.0 ng/ml at visit 1 and 58.0 ± 15.1 ng/ml at visit 2. %Tregs at baseline were 4.8 ± 1.4. Compared to baseline levels we noticed a significant increase of %Tregs at study visit 1 (5.9 ± 1.7, P < 0.001) and 2 (5.6 ± 1.6, P < 0.001).

Conclusions: Vitamin D supplementation was associated with significantly increased %Tregs in apparently healthy individuals. This immunomodulatory effect of vitamin D might underlie the associations of vitamin D deficiency and autoimmune diseases. Hence, our finding provides a rationale for further studies to investigate vitamin D effects on autoimmunological processes.

Background: Interleukin-10 is an anti-inflammatory cytokine and consequently is considered by many to have a protective role in heart failure, as opposed to the notorious tumor necrosis factor-alpha.

Objectives: To test the hypothesis of the possible beneficial impact of IL-10[1] on mortality in systolic heart failure patients in relation to their circulating TNFα[2] levels.

Methods: We measured circulating levels of IL-10 and TNFα in 67 ambulatory systolic heart failure patients (age 65 ± 13 years).

Results: Mortality was or tended to be higher in patients with higher levels (above median level) of circulating TNFα (9/23, 39% vs. 6/44, 14%; P = 0.02) or IL-10 (10/34, 30% vs. 5/33, 15%; P = 0.10). However, mortality was highest in the subset of patients with elevation of both markers above median (7/16, 44% vs. 8/51, 16%; P = 0.019). Elevation of both markers was associated with more than a threefold hazard ratio for mortality (HR[3] 3.67, 95% confidence interval 1.14–11.78).

Conclusions: Elevated circulating IL-10 levels in systolic heart failure patients do not have a protective counterbalance effect on mortality. Moreover, patients with elevated IL-10 and TNFα had significantly higher mortality, suggesting that the possible interaction in the complex inflammatory and anti-inflammatory network may need further study.

Background: Severe hearing impairment can have devastating effects on social integration and vocational opportunities.

Objectives: To investigate how well – or poorly – individuals who underwent cochlear implantation as children integrated into the general Israeli hearing community.

Method: We sent a questionnaire to the 30 subjects ≥ 18 years old who underwent cochlear implants our department from 1990 to 2004 when they were < 18 years of age and had used their device for at least 3 years before replying.

Results: Eighteen implant users responded (14 males), yielding a 60% response rate. Their mean age was 13.3 ± 7.0 years (range 6–17) at implantation and 21.1 ± 3.6 years (range 18–34) when they filled in the questionnaire. Five were attending rabbinical school (yeshiva students), four were in regular military service, five were university students (three also held jobs), two were attending high school, one was employed (and had a university degree), and one had left the yeshiva and was unemployed when he returned the questionnaire. Fourteen respondents use the oral communication mode for conversation and the other 4 use both oral and sign languages. Longer daily implant use was significantly associated with coping with the difficulties in the setting in which they were currently active, with a higher level of satisfaction with their current lifestyle and with recognition of the implant’s contribution to this satisfaction (P = 0.037, P = 0.019 and P = 0.001, respectively).

Conclusions: Advances in cochlear implant technologies enable profoundly deaf implanted children to integrate well into the Israeli hearing society, albeit with a large inter-subject variability.

Background: Cardiac computed tomography scans influde several extra-cardiac structures such as mediastinum, lung parenchyma and upper abdominal organs. A variety of abnormalities in those structures might be clinically important and in some cases might explain the patient's complaints.

Objectives: To analyze consecutive cardiac computed tomography examinations for the prevalence and clinical significance of extra-cardiac findings.

Methods: Cardiac CT scans of 134 sequential patients (104 males, 30 females) aged 20–77 years (mean 54 years) with suspected coronary artery disease were prospectively and independently reviewed by a consensus of two radiologists for the presence of lung, mediastinal, pleural, upper abdominal and skeletal abnormalities. CT scans with extra-cardiac abnormalities were divided into two groups: group A – defined as "clinically significant" or "potentially significant findings" – consisted of patients requiring further evaluation or follow-up, and group B – "clinically non-significant findings."

Results: Extra-cardiac abnormalities were found in 103 of the 134 patients (76.8%). Group A abnormalities were found in 52/134 patients (39%), while group B abnormalities were seen in 85/134 (63%). The most common abnormalities in group A were non-calcified lung nodules (> 4 mm) noted in 17/134 patients (13%), followed by enlarged mediastinal lymph nodes (> 10 mm) in 14/134 (10%), diaphragmatic hernia (2 cm) in 12/134 (9%), moderate or severe degenerative spine disease in 12/134 (9%), and emphysema and aortic aneurysm in 6 patients each (4.5%). A malignant lung tumor was noted in one patient.

Conclusions: There is a high prevalence of non-cardiac abnormalities in patients undergoing CCT[1]. Clinically significant or potentially significant findings can be expected in 40% of patients who undergo CCT, and these will require further evaluation and follow-up. The reporting radiologist should be experienced in chest imaging and aware of the large variety of non-cardiac findings in CCT that might explain the patient's complaints. 

Background: Posterior glottic stenosis is a complication of prolonged intubation, manifesting as airway stenosis that may mimic bilateral vocal cord paralysis. It presents a variety of features that mandate specific surgical interventions.

Objectives: To summarize our experience with PSG[1] and its working diagnosis.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of a cohort of adult patients with PGS operated at the Sheba Medical Center between 1994 and 2006.

Results: Ten patients were diagnosed with PGS, 6 of whom also had stenosis at other sites of the larynx and trachea. Since 2000, all patients underwent laryngeal electromyographic studies and direct laryngoscopy prior to surgery. Surgical interventions included endoscopic laser procedures (in 2 patients), laryngofissure and scar incision (in 1), laryngofissure with buccal mucosa grafting (in 3) or with costal cartilage grafting (in 1), laryngofissure with posterior cricoid split and stenting (in 1); one patient was not suitable for surgery. Postoperative follow-up included periodical fiberoptic endoscopies. Voice analysis was evaluated by the GRBAS grading. Seven patients were successfully decannulated within one to three procedures. Voice quality was defined as good in 7 patients, serviceable in 2 and aphonic in 1.

Conclusions: Posterior glottic stenosis may be isolated or part of complex laryngotracheal pathologies. Electromyographic studies and direct laryngoscopy must be included in the diagnostic workup. Costal cartilage or buccal mucosa grafts are reliable, safe and successful with respect to graft incorporation and subglottic remodeling.