Israel Medical Association Journal

Recent studies have implicated the dying cell as a potential reservoir of modified autoantigens that may initiate and drive systemic autoimmunity in susceptible hosts. The uridine-rich small nuclear ribonucleoprotein complex is a common target for autoantibodies present in the serum of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and SLE[1]-overlap syndromes. Four modifications occurring in this complex during apoptosis have been described to date: the caspase-mediated cleavage of the U1-70K protein, the U1 RNA and the Sm-F protein, and the association with hyperphosphorylated SR proteins. In addition, the U1 snRNP[2] complex has been shown to translocate from its normal subcellular localization to apoptotic bodies near the surface of cells undergoing apoptosis. This redistribution might facilitate exposure of the modified components of the U1 snRNP complex to the immune system when the clearance of apoptotic cell remnants is somehow disturbed. The modifications in the U1 snRNP components during apoptosis might represent the initial epitopes to which an immune response is generated and may be the trigger for the production of autoantibodies to this complex in patients with SLE or SLE-overlap syndromes. Therefore, it can be hypothesized that the exposure of elevated levels of apoptotically modified U1 snRNP to the immune system of a genetically susceptible individual might lead to the breaking of immunologic tolerance towards the U1 snRNP complex.

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The appearance of “new” infectious diseases, the reemergence of “old” infectious diseases, and the deliberate introduction of infectious diseases through bioterrorism has highlighted the need for improved and innovative infectious disease surveillance systems. A review of publications reveals that traditional current surveillance systems are generally based on the recognition of a clear increase in diagnosed cases before an outbreak can be identified. For early detection of bioterrorist-initiated outbreaks, the sensitivity and timeliness of the systems need to be improved. Systems based on syndromic surveillance are being developed using technologies such as electronic reporting and the internet. The reporting sources include community physicians, public health laboratories, emergency rooms, intensive care units, district health offices, and hospital admission and discharge systems. The acid test of any system will be the ability to provide analyses and interpretations of the data that will serve the goals of the system. Such analytical methods are still in the early stages of development.

Background: The ear is the most frequent organ affected during an explosion. Recognition of possible damage to its auditory and vestibular components, and particularly the recovery time of the incurred damage, may help in planning the optimal treatment strategies for the otologic manifestations of blast injury and preventing deleterious consequences.   

Objective: To report the results of the oto-vestibular initial evaluation and follow-up of 17 survivors of a suicidal terrorist attack on a municipal bus.

Methods: These 17 patients underwent periodic ear inspections and pure tone audiometry for 6 months. Balance studies, consisting of electronystagmography (ENG) and computerized dynamic posturography (CDP) were performed at the first time possible.

Results: Complaints of earache, aural fullness and tinnitus resolved, whereas dizziness persisted in most of the patients. By the end of the follow-up, 15 (55.6%) of the eardrum perforations had healed spontaneously. Hearing impairment was detected in 33 of the 34 tested ears. Recovery of hearing was complete in 6 ears and partial in another 11. ENG and CDP were performed in 13 patients: 5 had abnormal results on CDP while the ENG was normal in all the patients. The vertigo in seven patients resolved in only one patient who was free of symptoms 1 month after the explosion.

Conclusion:  Exposure to a high powered explosion in a confined space may result in severe auditory and vestibular damage. Awareness of these possible ear injuries may prevent many of the deleterious consequences of such injuries.
 

Southern Sinai, a mountainous desolated arid area, is inhabited by Bedouin nomad tribes composed of Arabic-speaking Moslems. Until the Six Day War between Egypt and Israel in 1967, healthcare services in the region were based on traditional medicine performed by the Darvish, a local healer. Over the course of Israeli rule (1967-1982) an elaborate healthcare service was established and maintained, providing modern, up to date, comprehensive medical services that were available to all free of charge.

Background: Long-term follow-up in apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is rare.

Objective: To study the natural history of the disease.

Methods: We followed 11 patients, 5 women and 6 men, for 5-20 years.

Results: At presentation all 11 patients had typical features of apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, with dyspnea in 3 and chest pains in 8, of whom 5 were typical of angina and 3 had myocardial infarction. R-wave voltage and T-wave negativity progressively decreased in magnitude at serial electrocardiograms in four patients. Perfusion defects were detected on thallium myocardial scintigraphy in three, increased apical uptake in two, and normal in one patient. Apical aneurysm with normal coronary arteries developed in a patient who had sustained ventricular tachycardia. All of the 10 catheterized patients had normal coronaries except for one with significant left anterior descending artery stenosis and another with a minor lesion. Symptomatic sustained ventricular tachycardia was found in two patients, one of whom required the implantation of an internal cardioverter-defibrillator.

Conclusions: Apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy may develop morphologic and electrocardiographic changes with life-threatening arrhythmias necessitating close follow-up and treatment.

Background: The emergency department is one of the hospital’s busiest facilities and is frequently described as a bottleneck. Management by constraint is a managerial methodology that helps to focus on the most critical issues by identifying such bottlenecks. Based on this theory, the benefit of adding medical staff may depend on whether or not physician availability is the bottleneck in the system.

Objective: To formulate a dynamic statistical model to forecast the need for allocating additional medical staff to improve the efficacy of work in the emergency department, taking into account patient volume.

Methods: The daily number of non-trauma admissions to the general ED[1] was assessed for the period 1 January 1992 to 1 December 1995 using the hospital computerized database. The marginal benefit to shortening patient length of stay in the ED by adding a physician during the evening shift was examined for different patient volumes. Data were analyzed with the SAS software package using a Gross Linear Model.

Results: The addition of a physician to the ED staff from noon to midnight significantly shortened patient LOS[2]: an average decrease of 6.61 minutes for 80–119 admissions (P<0.001). However, for less than 80 or more than 120 admissions, adding a physician did not have a significant effect on LOS in the ED.

Conclusions: The dynamic model formulated in this study shows that patient volume determines the effectiveness of investing manpower in the ED. Identifying bottleneck critical factors, as suggested by the theory of constraints, may be useful for planning and coordinating emergency services that operate under stressful and unpredictable conditions. Consideration of patient volume may also provide ED managers with a logical basis for staffing and resource allocation.

Background: Visual interpretation of fetal heart rare monitoring is subject to intra and inter observer variability.

Objective: To examine the effect of intrapartum administration of meperidine and promethazine on fetal heart activity measured by a computerized system.

Methods: Fourteen healthy women with normal pregnancies at term were studied during the active phase of labor. Fetal heart rate was recorded with the Oxford Sonicaid system 8000. Recordings were performed for 40 minutes prior to and after maternal intravenous administration of meperidine 50 mg with promethazine 25 mg.

Results: The combination of meperidine and promethazine caused a significant decrease in the number of accelerations of 10 beats per minute (9.7 versus 2.6, P = 0.002) and 15 beats per minute (5.2 vs. l.4, P = 0.003), time spent in episodes of high variation (14.8 vs. 2.0, P = 0.005) and short-term variation (7.8 vs. 5.0, P = 0.003). On the other hand there was an increase in the time spent in episodes of low variation (5.3 vs. 19.7, P = 0.009).

Conclusions: Maternal administration of meperidine with promethazine has a significant effect on FHR[1] indices during the active phase of normal labor.

Background: Each winter influenza activity is a major cause of morbidity and mortality both in Israel and worldwide.

Objectives: To identify the influenza viruses active in Israel during the winter season and to assess the extent of influenza morbidity.

Methods: Information was collected on a population of 18,684 individuals enrolled in two community clinics in central Israel. It included the total number of visits for acute respiratory infection – including influenza and influenza-like illness (ARI/flu-like) – during a 20 week surveillance period (23 November 1997 to 27 March 1998) and the percent of influenza virus isolates in nasopharyngeal specimens from a sample of patients with ARI/flu-like collected on a weekly basis during the same period.

Results: A total of 5,947 visits for ARI/flu-like were recorded among 18,684 enrolled patients in two community clinics (18.1%). The progressive increase in the number of visits for ARI/flu-like reached a peak on week 2/98 with 597 visits and a rate of 31.95 visits per 1,000 population. After this, a decrease to the initial values was evident by week 12/98. Most affected patients were in the age groups 5–14 and 65 years and over, with a rate of 733.5 and 605.3 visits per 1,000 population, respectively. Influenza virus was isolated from 92 of the 426 nasopharyngeal specimens (21.6%). The most commonly detected strain was A/Sydney/5/97(H₃N₂) like (77.2%). The peak rate of isolates was recorded at the beginning of January (01/98).

Conclusions: A/Sydney/5/97(H₃N₂) like-strain was the dominant influenza virus. Its presence did not prevent the simultaneous activity of influenza A/H₁N₁ virus. The dynamic of the clinical disease as expressed by the weekly visit rate for ARI/flu-like was similar to the temporal pattern of the virological findings. The extent of morbidity suggests moderate epidemic activity.