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Biomedical subjects

A Israeli

Publications and source records attributed to A Israeli.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Management of severe hypokalemia in hospitalized patients: a study of quality of care based on computerized databases.

BACKGROUND: While administrative databases are used to assess general indicators of quality of care, a detailed audit of the process of clinical care usually requires review of hospital medical records. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the feasibility of assessing the management of severe hypokalemia using computerized administrative and laboratory databases. METHODS: The study included all patients hospitalized in 1997 who experienced serum potassium levels of less than 3.0 mmol/L at Hadassah University Hospital, Jerusalem, Israel, a tertiary care center. Using the computerized databases, we measured the following: (1) whether a subsequent serum potassium test was performed, (2) time to the subsequent test and to normalization of the serum potassium level, (3) achievement of normokalemia, and (4) in-hospital mortality. In a random subsample of 100 patients, these measures were compared with the blinded assessment of the quality of medical management of hypokalemia, as determined from medical records, using predetermined criteria for adequate management. RESULTS: The computerized databases revealed that severe hypokalemia occurred in 866 patients (2.6% of the yearly hospitalizations): 55 patients (6.4%) had no subsequent serum potassium levels measured, and 260 (30.0%) were discharged from the hospital with a subnormal potassium level. The mean time to a subsequent test was 20 hours, and to normokalemia, 50 hours; both intervals varied by department. In-hospital mortality was 20.4%, or 10-fold that of the entire hospitalized population. A review of hospital medical records revealed inadequate clinical management of hypokalemia in 24%, which was associated with nonperformance of a subsequent test (likelihood ratio, 8.4), failure to normalize the serum potassium level (likelihood ratio, 4.2), discharge from the hospital with a subnormal potassium level (likelihood ratio, 2.1), and in-hospital death (likelihood ratio, 2.5), all of which could be determined by the computerized databases. CONCLUSIONS: The computerized laboratory database is useful in ascertaining the prevalence of severe hypokalemia and in assessing shortcomings in its management. Databases can be used to derive valid and efficient measures of the quality of the clinical management of electrolyte disorders.

Clinical Laboratory Information Systems↗
PubMed2001

Achilles tendon pain and related pathologies: diagnosis by ultrasonography.

BACKGROUND: When encountering complaints of pain in the area of the Achilles tendon, the clinician seldom reaches a correct and precise diagnosis based solely on the grounds of physical examination and standard X-rays. OBJECTIVES: To assess the usefulness of ultrasound in diagnosing pathologies of the Achilles tendon. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective review of patients presenting at our orthopedic clinics. RESULTS: Sonography was used to evaluate 41 patients with achillodynia. This modality enabled the diagnoses of 19 abnormal tendons (46%), peritendinous and other lesions; a complete rupture in two patients (5%); a partial rupture of the Achilles tendon in 3 (7%); various degrees of calcification of the tendon in 7 (17%); and peritendinous lesions discerned by the tendon's hypoechoic regions with disorganized arrangement of collagen fibrils in 4 patients (10%). Other lesions included tendonitis (3 patients, 7%), retrocalcaneal bursitis (3 patients, 7%), lipoma (1 patient, 2%), and foreign bodies (2 patients, 5%). The mean diameter of the pathological tendons was 10.4 +/- 2.7 mm, while normal tendons measured 5.2 +/- 0.8 mm (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: As in many other soft tissue lesions, ultrasonography is a useful tool in the evaluation of the underlying pathology in patients presenting with achillodynia.

Achilles Tendon↗
PubMed2000

Mortality differentials among women: the Israel Longitudinal Mortality Study.

The first aim of this study was to examine differentials in mortality among Israeli adult women with respect to ethnic origin, marital status, number of children and several measures of socio-economic status; the second was to compare mortality differentials among women with those found for Israeli men. Data are based on a linkage of records from a 20% sample of the 1983 census with the records of deaths occurring until the end of 1992. The study population includes 79,623 women and the number of deaths was 14,332. Measures of SES included education, number of rooms, household amenities and possession of a car. Results indicated higher mortality among women originating from North Africa compared with Asian and European women. Adjustment to SES eliminated the excess mortality among North African women and revealed a lower mortality of Asian women, relative to Europeans. Among women aged 45-69, substantial and consistent mortality differentials were evident for all SES indicators examined where mortality declined with improved socio-economic position. Mortality was related to women's childbearing history, with the highest mortality among childless women. Mortality differentials among women aged 70+ were generally narrower than those found for younger women. Gender differences in mortality differentials varied by the socio-demographic indicator and age.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Bone allograft in revision total knee replacement.

Revision total knee replacement (TKR) is often associated with the necessity to reconstruct a certain amount of bone loss. In a retrospective study we reviewed the records of 137 patients who had undergone revision TKR in our department between 1990 and 1996, due to loosening or inflection. Bone allografts were used in 91 patients (67%) to accomplish stable, new prostheses. Three types of bone loss were identified in this group: Type I - minor, Type II - moderate, and Type III - large bone defects, located on either side of the knee joint - A, or both sides - B.The treatment results of these 91 patients, according to the type of bone loss, are presented, showing good functional outcome when utilizing bone allografts in revision TKR. However, careful preoperative planning, identification of bone loss type, and a well-equipped bone bank are mandatory to the success of the operation.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1999

Newly implemented health system reform in Israel: physicians' attitudes.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the attitudes of Israeli physicians towards the feasibility and potential consequences of the newly implemented health care reform. DESIGN: Physicians' attitudes were examined soon after the enactment of a National Health Insurance Law, the first element of the reform to be implemented. SETTING: A nationwide mail survey. SUBJECTS: A random sample of 2000 practicing physicians. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Attitudes towards the health care system prior to the reform; predicted effects of the reform on health care and medical practice. RESULTS: Most of the respondents think that the system requires a change. Quality of community-based care is expected to increase, in contrast to hospital care. The reform is believed to exert an adverse effect on medical practice. Attitude is significantly influenced by practice setting and speciality: community setting and general practice correlate with less desire for a major change. Specialists believe that reform elements which will shift the balance towards the hospitals will have the greatest benefit on the health system. GPs, compared to specialists, are more optimistic regarding quality and accessibility of services (P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Our survey suggested that Israeli physicians favor a change in the health care system, despite a perceived adverse effect of the reform on medical practice. Since the reform is believed to shift the balance from the hospitals to the community, respondents support changes that will compensate for the imbalance.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed1999

Expanding portal haematomata as a complication of knee arthroscopies in persons with haemophilia.

Recurrent haemarthroses stimulate the hypertrophy of synovial tissues that if left in situ will eventually cause joint destruction. Synovectomies have been the cornerstone of joint preservation and a number of different methods exist. We report two patients who suffered complications after an arthroscopic procedure. No previous complications of this nature have been reported in the literature.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Rationing: how and who?

Rationing health services, in the sense of denying care deemed of positive benefit by at least some health system actors, is a problem that politicians would like to avoid. Health policy analysis has offered a number of approaches, such as global budgeting, technology assessment, managed competition, legal recourse and public participation as palliatives for this difficult problem. Each of these approaches on its own falls short, but no country has yet designed a process for explicit rationing. Israel, in the context of its recent health reform, has gone as far as any country in this direction. However, significant political leadership will be required to frame the public discussion of these difficult issues.

Cost Control↗
PubMed1999

Twenty-five years of clinical experience with bone banking in Israel.

BACKGROUND: Bone banking and the clinical use of banked tissue are the most common forms of allopreservation and transplantation in modern medicine. OBJECTIVES: This article reviews 25 years (1973-98) of experience in bone banking in Israel. METHODS: A nationwide survey on the clinical application of the banked musculoskeletal tissues during 1996 was conducted by means of a written questionnaire sent to all orthopedic departments in Israel. RESULTS: The response rate to the questionnaire was 84%. A total of 257 cases were allocated bone allografts: the majority comprised 225 spongy bones, 26 were massive bone allografts and 6 were soft tissue allografts. CONCLUSION: Improvement of quality control and quality assurance of the banked tissues, together with development of skills in the use of osteoinductive and osteoconductive materials, cast the future of musculoskeletal tissue banking.

Bone Banks↗
PubMed1998

Emergency preparedness and response in Israel during the Gulf War.

We examined the effect of the emergency response on medical and public health problems during the 1991 Gulf War in Israel. On the first day of the conflict, the number of deaths from suffocation, asphyxiation, aspiration, myocardial infarction, cardiac arrest, and cerebrovascular accident increased abruptly, as did the number of sudden deaths associated with the use of tight-fitting masks with filters in sealed rooms. Much of the excess risk for death from cardiorespiratory complications during the first alert may have been a consequence of its duration (140 minutes). Mass evacuation and concrete buildings are believed to have kept the death toll from trauma down, and mask use may have protected against facial and upper-airway injuries. Falls and hip fractures, airway irritation from exposure to bleach, carbon monoxide intoxication from open kerosene heaters in sealed rooms, and self-injection with atropine syringes were also noted. A measles epidemic and increased death rates from automobile crashes were other preventable causes of death. Protection against biological warfare was limited to surveillance of trends for pneumonia and gastroenteritis. Emergency planners failed to anticipate the need for better mask fit, hands-on training in the use of masks, and special guidelines for older persons to prevent deaths from suffocation and other cardiovascular-respiratory problems in the first minutes of use. If masks are to be distributed as a protection against chemical warfare, a simpler model including the use of shrouds for whole-body skin protection might help avoid cardiorespiratory complications. Public health problems not adequately dealt with in the predisaster period are apt to emerge with greater severity during a crisis.

Accidents, Traffic↗
PubMed1998

Coding medical information: classification versus nomenclature and implications to the Israeli medical system.

The efficient retrieval of medical information is essential for all functional aspects of a health system. Such retrieval is possible only by coding data (as it is produced or after it is produced) and entering it into a data-base. The completeness and accuracy of retrieved information depend, therefore, on the coding system employed. The main coding system that is in use in Israel is the ICD-9: International Classification of Diseases and its clinical modification (ICD-9-CM). Using such a statistical classification system for coding has met the basic needs for statistical and administrative purposes, but causes distortion and loss of information. With the recent growth and availability of information technology, more detailed data can be coded and processed than was possible before. A detailed nomenclature system such as SNOMED (the Systematized Nomenclature Of Human and Veterinary Medicine) can be used as a coding system that enables a more comprehensive and flexible medical information data base. This article discusses some aspects of coding medical information and suggests that a national revision of medical coding systems be considered as the computerized-patient-record is further developed and implemented.

Abstracting and Indexing↗