Mohamad Arow MD, Yonatan Shneor Patt MD, Zehavit Kirshenboim MD, Roy Mashiach MD, Howard Amital MD MHA
In this case report, we elucidated the complex etiology of new-onset ascites through the unusual presentation of a 32-year-old female with abdominal swelling, oliguria, and acute renal failure. This patient's ascites was attributed to urinary bladder rupture, a rare but critical consideration in differential diagnoses. Highlighting the significance of this case, bladder rupture without recent trauma history, especially post-gynecological surgery, poses a diagnostic challenge due to its rarity and potential for severe morbidity and mortality if not promptly recognized and managed. Our patient's journey, from initial symptoms to the eventual discovery of bladder rupture, underscores the necessity of considering this diagnosis in similar clinical scenarios. The case uniquely demonstrates pseudo-renal failure, a phenomenon resulting from reversed dialysis across the peritoneal membrane, which further complicated the diagnostic process.
Matan Mor MD, Nadav Kugler MD, Moshe Betser MD, Miki Moskovich MD, Yifat Wiener MD, Ron Maymon MD
Background: On 7 October 2023, Hamas lunched a massive terror attack against Israel. The first weeks after were characterized with great uncertainty, insecurity, and fear.
Objectives: To evaluate the effect of the first 2 months of the Iron Swords war on obstetrical emergency attendance and the corresponding perinatal outcomes.
Methods: We conducted a single center retrospective cohort study of all singleton births between 7 October and 7 December 2023. Prenatal emergency labor ward admission numbers and obstetric outcomes during the first 2 months of the war were compared to the combined corresponding periods for the years 2018–2022.
Results: During the initial 2 months of the conflict 1379 births were documented. The control group consisted of 7304 deliveries between 2018 and 2022. There was a decrease in daily emergency admissions to the labor ward during the first 5 weeks of the conflict compared to the corresponding periods in the preceding years (51.8 ± 15.0 vs. 57.0 ± 13.0, P = 0.0458). A notable increase in stillbirth rates was observed in the study group compared to the control group (5/1379 [0.36%] vs. 7/7304 [0.1%]; P = 0.014). Both groups exhibited similar gestational ages at birth, rates of preterm and post-term delivery, neonatal birthweights, mode of delivery, and induction of labor rates.
Conclusions: In the initial weeks following Hamas's attack on Israel, there was a notable decrease in admissions to the prenatal emergency labor ward. This decline coincided with an increase in the rate of stillbirths among a population not directly involved in the conflict.
Moshe Salai MD, Yoram Sandhaus MD, Eitan Lunenfeld MD, Naomi Levine-Rahimi MD, Shai Ashkenazi MD, Avinoam Tzabari MD, Ahuva Golik MD, Zachi Grossman MD, Talma Kushnir PHD
War is a chaotic situation for most of the public sectors in the countries involved. These sectors also include the medical systems, especially medical education, of which medical communication is often neglected or forgotten due to objective and subjective causes on either side of the involved countries. By planning lessons on various aspects of medicine for countries at war and close mentoring and utilization of modern communications technologies, these difficulties can be minimized without jeopardizing the quality of medical studies nor medical communication. In this perspective article, we describe the objective and subjective measures taken by our team to achieve these goals during the Iron Swords war in our region.
Moaad Farraj MD, Igor Waksman MD, Tatyana Arzumanov MD, Anna Vakarev MD, Hisham Hussein MD, Zakhar Bramnick MD, Ron Dar MD
Background: Local anesthetics are used in various sites and mechanisms to maximize perioperative analgesia and reduce opioid use and side effects. Pain management in the bariatric setting is challenging and the efficacy of local anesthetics intraoperatively is under current evaluation.
Objectives: To determine the safety and efficacy of a new intra-abdominal anesthetic technique performed during laparoscopic bariatric operations: visceral block.
Methods: During this prospective randomized double-blinded pilot study, 16 patients undergoing bariatric surgery were treated with the injection of ropivacaine to the anterior esophagogastric junction fat, and 15 were injected with saline as control.
Results: The procedure was shown to be safe, and no adverse events nor side effects were encountered. A non-statistically significant trend toward the use of a non-opioid analgesia was documented during the first postoperative hours.
Conclusions: Visceral block is a safe and feasible intraoperative procedure. A trend toward its efficacy warrants future larger scale studies.
Naama Srebnik MD, Jennia Michaeli MD, Rosa Ruchlemer MD, Rivka Farkash MPH, Keren Rotshenker-Olshinka MD, Sorina Grisaru-Granovsk MD PhD
Background: Fetal weight estimation at term is a challenging clinical task.
Objectives: To evaluate the association between peripheral white blood cell (WBC) count of the laboring women and neonatal birth weight (BW) for term uncomplicated pregnancies.
Methods: We conducted a single-center, retrospective cohort study (2006–2021) of women admitted in the first stage of labor or planned cesarean delivery. Complete blood counts were collected at admission. BW groups were categorized by weight (grams): < 2500 (group A), 2500–3499 (group B), 3500–4000 (group C), and > 4000 (group D). Two study periods were used to evaluate the association between WBC count and neonatal BW.
Results: There were a total of 98,632 deliveries. The dataset analyses showed a lower WBC count that was significantly and linearly associated with a higher BW; P for trend < 0.001 for women in labor. The most significant association was noted for the > 4000-gram newborns; adjusted odds ratio 0.97, 95% confidence interval 0.96–0.98; P < 0.001; adjusted for hemoglobin level, gestational age, and fetal sex. The 2018–2021 dataset analyses revealed WBC as an independent predictor of macrosomia with a significant incremental predictive value (P < 0.0001). The negative predictive value of the WBC count for macrosomia was significantly high, 93.85% for a threshold of WBC < 10.25 × 103/µl.
Conclusions: WBC count should be considered to support the in-labor fetal weight estimation, especially valuable for the macrosomic fetus.
Raneen Abu Shqara MD, Maya Frank Wolf MD, Jawad Karram MD, Inshirah Sgayer MD, Ala Aiob MD, Lior Lowenstein MD, Susana Mustafa Mikhae MD
Background: Pelvic organ prolapse in pregnancy is rare. Consequent complications include cervical infection, spontaneous abortion, and premature birth. Conservative management by means of a pessary have been described as improving maternal symptomatology and minimizing gestational risk. The delivery mode is controversial.
Objective: To describe the clinical courses of patients diagnosed with pelvic organ prolapse during pregnancy, and to present our multidisciplinary approach.
Methods: In this retrospective case series, we summarized the obstetrical outcomes of women diagnosed with pelvic organ prolapse during pregnancy in a single university-affiliated hospital.
Results: We identified eight women with advanced uterine prolapse at a mean age of 30.3 years. Seven were diagnosed with advanced uterine prolapse (Pelvic Organ Prolapse Quantification [POPQ] stage ≥ 3). All were treated by pessary placement, which was tolerable and provided symptomatic relief. The pessary type was chosen according to the prolapse stage. In women with cervical prolapse POPQ stage > 2 and cervical edema, a support pessary was less beneficial. However, the prolapse was well-controlled with a space-filling Gellhorn pessary. Low complication rates were associated with vaginal deliveries. The few complications that were reported included minor cervical laceration, postpartum hemorrhage, and retained placenta.
Conclusions: Treatment of pelvic organ prolapse during pregnancy must be individualized and requires a multidisciplinary approach of urogynecologists, obstetricians, dietitians, pelvic floor physiotherapists, and social workers. Conservative management, consisting of insertion of a vaginal pessary when prolapse symptoms appeared, provided adequate support for the pelvic floor, improved symptomatology, and minimized pregnancy complications. Vaginal delivery was feasible for most of the women.
Andrei Braester MD, Artyom Bilyk MD, Celia Suriu MD, Luiza Akria MD, Najib Dally MD, Masad Barhoum MD
Background: Preeclampsia is a unique vascular disease during pregnancy that generally appears after 20 of weeks gestation or until 6 weeks after delivery. Left undiagnosed, preeclampsia can lead rapidly to death of both mother and fetus.
Objectives: To verify the efficacy of peripheral blood inflammatory markers (BIMs)in diagnosing preeclampsia and compare them with results from other studies.
Methods: Our retrospective case-control study comprised two patient groups. Pregnant women with preeclampsia and pregnant women without preeclampsia were compared for BIMs: neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and mean platelet volume (MPV). The primary endpoint of our research was to assess the predictive power of BIMs for preeclampsia diagnosis.
Results: The sample size was calculated based on expected differences of BIMs between the control and study groups. Comparison of quantitative variables was conducted with independent sample t-test or alternatively by Wilcoxon rank sum test. The MPV values were slightly higher in the preeclampsia group, but not statistically significant. NLR and PLR did differentiate between study and control groups.
Conclusions: The diagnostic accuracy of BIMs is unsatisfactory for preeclampsia diagnosis. Discrepancies concerning these values need to be clarified. Further large prospective studies are necessary to validate the potential factor accuracy in preeclampsia diagnosis.