Isr Med Assoc J
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The increased susceptibility of cancer patients to coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) infections and complications calls for special precautions while treating cancer patients during COVID-19 pandemics. Thus, oncology departments have had to implement a wide array of prevention measures. ⋯ Oncology departments in Israel were able to prepare and adapt their services to guidelines and requirements related to the COVID-19 pandemic with little harm to their treatment capacity.
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Up to 60% of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients treated with infliximab develop antibodies to infliximab (ATI), which are associated with low drug levels and loss of response (LOR). Hence, mapping out predictors of immunogenicity toward infliximab is essential for tailoring patient-specific therapy. Jewish Sephardi ethnicity, in addition to monotherapy, has been previously identified as a potential risk factor for ATI formation and infliximab failure. ⋯ Contrary to previous findings, Sephardi Jewish ethnicity was not identified as a risk factor for ATI formation compared with Ashkenazi Jewish ethnicity. Other risk factors remained unchanged.
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Comparative Study
Accelerated Versus Standard Corneal Collagen Crosslinking in the Treatment of Keratoconus: One-Year Results.
Keratoconus is a non-inflammatory disease characterized by progressive corneal steepening, which leads to decreased visual acuity secondary to high irregular astigmatism. ⋯ Accelerated and standard CXL are both safe and effective techniques. Accelerated CXL confers the added benefit of being a faster procedure to both patients and surgeons.
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Patients with high-risk prostate cancer are at higher risk of treatment failure, development of metastatic disease, and mortality. There is no consensus on the treatment of choice for these patients, and either radical prostatectomy (RP) or external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) is recommended. Surgery is less common as the initial treatment for high-risk patients, possibly reflecting the concerns regarding morbidity as well as oncological and functional outcomes. Another high-risk group includes patients with failure of previous EBRT or focal treatment. For these patients, salvage radical prostatectomy (SRP) can be offered. ⋯ Radical prostatectomy and SRP are safe options for patients presenting with high-risk prostate cancer, with good functional and oncological outcomes.
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New direct acting antiviral agent (DAA) therapies are associated with a high sustained virological response rate (SVR) in hepatitis C virus (HCV) patients. The understanding of the impact of SVR on fibrosis stage is limited. ⋯ Following successful DAA treatment, the majority of our HCV patients with advanced fibrosis demonstrated significant improvement, as assessed by non-invasive methods. Advanced fibrosis stage was a negative predictor of fibrosis regression. Longer follow-up periods are required to further establish the impact of DAAs treatment in HCV patients with advanced fibrosis.