Baruch Vainshelboim

Rabin Medical Center · Pulmonary Institute

Dyspnea is a disabling symptom presented in approximately half of all cancer survivors. From a clinical perspective, despite the availability of pharmacotherapies, evidence-based effective treatments are limited for relieving dyspnea in cancer survivors. Preliminary evidence supports the potential of respiratory muscle training to reduce dyspnea in...

Purpose To assess the association between cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and incidence of digestive system cancers (DSCs) in men. Methods A prospective cohort of 4,540 men aged 55.2 ± 13.1 years who were free from malignancy at baseline was studied. Exposure was CRF quantified from treadmill exercise testing (individualized ramp protocol) in meta...

Background: Dyslipidemia is a well-established cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factor, although its association with mortality is less clear. This study aimed to assess the association between established dyslipidemia criteria [National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) Expert Panel on Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Choles...

Background: Non-exercise estimated cardiorespiratory fitness (NEE-CRF) has been shown to be associated with mortality, although its association with cancer incidence is unknown. The study aimed to assess the prospective association between NEE-CRF and cancer incidence in a large cohort of men and women. Methods: The National Institutes of Health...

Purpose: To investigate the association between sarcopenia with the number of all-cause mortality, hospitalizations, and cardiovascular diseases in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Methods: 247 patients with ESRD (women, n = 97) (66.6 ± 3.53 years) participated in this study. At baseline, all participants were measured with dual-ene...

Objectives: To assess the association between poor handgrip strength (HGS) determined by clinical criterion and incidence of falls in older women. Methods: The cohort included 195 women (68.1±6.2 years) who were assessed for HGS (Jamar Dynamometer) at baseline and were prospectively followed for 18 months. FNIH Sarcopenia threshold of HGS adjust...

Objective To determine population-attributable risk (PAR) and exposure impact number (EIN) for mortality associated with impaired cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), physical inactivity, and other risk markers among veteran subjects. Methods The sample included 5890 male subjects (mean age 58±15) who underwent a maximal exercise test for clinical rea...

OBJECTIVES We evaluated associations of endobronchial stenting with airway bacterial colonization, the antimicrobial resistance profile, hospitalizations for pneumonia and survival in lung transplant recipients. METHODS This is a retrospective single-centre study of 582 recipients of lung transplant during 2002–2018. We compared outcomes of 57 pat...

Aims Impractical methods and relatively small cohort have limited the applications of non-exercise estimated cardiorespiratory fitness (NEE-CRF). This study aimed to assess the association between a pragmatic NEE-CRF method and mortality outcomes in a large prospective cohort. Methods and results A total of 330 769 participants [men (n = 186 469)...

Background Dynapenic abdominal obesity (D/AO) has been associated with negative outcomes in older people, including trait of falls. Aims To assess the association between D/AO and the incidence of falls over 18 months in older community-dwelling women. Methods A total of 201 older women (67.97 ± 6.02 years; 27.70 kg/m²) underwent waist circumfere...

Background Leukocytosis (white blood cell count >12 000/µL) in the delayed postoperative period (4-7 days) after lung transplantation is due to diverse etiologies. We aimed to describe the etiologies of delayed postoperative leukocytosis in lung transplant recipients and to evaluate the association of leukocytosis causes with short-term survival....

Background: Cardiovascular disease and cancer share similar risk factors and are the leading causes of death worldwide. This study aimed to assess the association between cardiorespiratory fitness, cancer incidence and cancer mortality in men with cardiovascular disease. Methods: Baseline cardiorespiratory fitness (treadmill exercise test) was a...

Background A previous study showed a strong and independent association between hemodynamic gain index (HGI) and all-cause mortality in a large cohort of men. The current study aimed to validate the association between HGI and all-cause mortality in a pilot cohort of women. Methods The cohort included 606 women aged 54.1 ± 12 years who were prospe...

Purpose Survival benefits could be potentially improved by adding cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) to lung cancer screening. The current pilot study aimed to assess the association between CRF and adverse outcomes in current male smokers who are meeting the American Cancer Society (ACS) criteria for lung cancer screening. Methods A total of 260 men...

Background: Invasive aspergillosis is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in lung transplant recipients (LTRs). Early diagnosis may improve outcome, yet is challenging. We assessed the diagnostic yield of a routine, comprehensive, prospectively-employed Aspergillus screening strategy in LTRs. Methods: During a 6-months period, all bro...

Background: During cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET), Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) patients do not reach their direct maximum voluntary ventilation (MVV) and have deranged gas exchange. Their exercise limitation is therefore attributed to a pulmonary vascular mechanism. Methods: We studied two cohorts (derivation and validation) of...

Background: To assess the joint and stratified associations between cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), incidence, and mortality from cancer in never, former, and current male smokers. Methods: CRF (treadmill exercise test) was assessed in 4694 men (never smokers [n = 1715]; former smokers [n = 1602], 32.4 [30.5] pack-years; and current smokers [n...

Background: Established reference standards for the ventilatory threshold (VT) are lacking. The aim of this study was to develop reference standards for the VT derived from cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPX) using treadmill and cycle ergometry. Methods: Seven laboratories experienced in CPX administration with established quality control pro...

Background Knee extensor strength assessment has been especially emphasized in older people, but lack of reference values limits its usefulness in geriatric evaluation. Aims The aim of this study was to develop a reference equation for knee extensor isokinetic strength standards in older women. Methods Knee extensor isokinetic tests at 60°/s were...

Background/aim: Digestive system cancers are the leading cause of cancer mortality and have poor survival particularly in men. The study aimed to assess the association between pre-diagnosis cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and cancer mortality in a pilot sample of men who developed digestive system cancers. Patients and methods: Pre-diagnosis CR...

Introduction: The preventive role of cardiorespiratory fitness in lung cancer among smokers is unknown. This study aims to evaluate the association between cardiorespiratory fitness and lung cancer incidence and cancer mortality in former and current male smokers. Methods: From 1987 to 2014, cardiorespiratory fitness (quantified from treadmill e...

The purpose of this study was to assess the behavioral and physiological health-related risk factors in college students. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 1620 college students (21.3 ± 1.7 years, 897 males, and 723 females). Physical activity (PA), sitting time, body composition, cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), muscular endurance (ME), and...

Background: The preventive role of precancer diagnosis cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and physical activity (PA) in cancer mortality is poorly characterized. The aim of this study was to assess the association between CRF, PA at precancer-diagnosis and cancer mortality in men who diagnosed with cancer later in life. Methods: A total of 699 men...

Although hemodynamic responses to exercise have been studied for decades, comprehensive and definitive prognostic markers are lacking. The present study aimed to assess the association between a new hemodynamic index and all-cause mortality in men. Treadmill exercise testing was performed between 1987 and 2012 in 11,455 men aged 58.5 ± 11 years who...

Interstitial lung diseases (ILDs) represent a group of diverse chronic lung conditions characterized by scaring, inflammation, and restrictive pathophysiology. Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is the most common form of ILDs and is associated with severe signs and symptoms, exercise intolerance, impaired quality of life, and poor prognosis. Exer...

Purpose To assess the prognostic value of the 8-foot-up-and-go test (8-FUGT) in pilot cohort of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Methods Thirty-four patients with IPF (68 ± 8 years) underwent 8-FUGT at baseline and were followed for up to 40 months. Receiver operating characteristics and age-adjusted Cox hazard ratios (HR) were a...

Purpose: To assess the association between cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and the incidence and mortality from cancer in women, and to evaluate the potential public health implications for cancer prevention. Methods: Maximal exercise testing was performed in a pilot cohort of 184 women (59.3 ± 15.2 years) who were followed for 12.0 ± 6.9 years....

Objectives: To evaluate the association between cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), lung cancer incidence and cancer mortality in men. Design: Prospective cohort study. Methods: Maximal exercise testing was performed in 4920 men (59.2±11.4years) free from malignancy at baseline. Multivariate Cox hazard models adjusted for established cancer risk...

Purpose: This pilot study aimed to compare physiological responses between cycle cardiopulmonary exercise tests (CPETs) and 6-min walk tests (6MWTs) and to assess their prognostic value among patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Methods: Thirty-four patients with IPF (68 ± 8 yr) underwent CPETs and 6MWTs and were followed up for 40...

Introduction: Exertional desaturation is a cardinal manifestation of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) which raises concerns for serious complications OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the safety of clinically significant desaturation (CSD) during exercise and to assess whether abnormal electrocardiographic (ECG) changes are associated with mortality and...

Introduction Step climbing is a potentially useful modality for testing exercise capacity. However, there are significant variations between test protocols and lack of consistent validation against gold standard cycle ergometry cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET). The purpose of the study was to validate a novel technique of exercise testing us...

The purpose of the present study was to assess the association between different stages of sarcopenia and the incidence of falls over 18 months in older community-dwelling women. 246 women (68.1 ± 6.2 years) underwent body composition using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry, knee extensors isokinetic peak torque, and Timed Up-and-Go assessments. The...

Background and Purpose: Lower-limb strength is required for everyday activities and thus its evaluation has been especially emphasized in older people. Isokinetic testing is a gold standard method to assess muscle strength; however, lack of reference values limits its usefulness in geriatric evaluation and rehabilitation. The aim of this study was...

Methods: A total of 196 women (68.6 ± 6.5 years) underwent body composition (Dual-energy X-ray Absorptiometry), muscle strength (isokinetic), and functional (Timed Up-and-Go) assessments. Sarcopenia was classified according to European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People. Center of pressure (CoP) sway, risk, and fear of falling were assess...

Objective: This study sought to evaluate the association between cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and cancer mortality in men with overweight and obesity. Methods: Maximal exercise testing was performed in 3,610 men (58.8 ± 17.5 years) (n = 2,100 with overweight and n = 1,510 with obesity) free from malignancy at baseline who were followed for 12...

Background: Lifestyle behaviors are not well-characterized in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Objectives: To assess the association between lifestyle behaviors and clinical outcomes in patients with IPF. Methods: A total of 34 IPF patients (median age 68 years) were assessed for daily sitting and weekly walking times using the Internation...

Background Although both cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and physical activity (PA) are associated with mortality, whether they are associated with all-cause mortality independent of each other is unclear. Methods CRF was assessed by a maximal exercise test and PA was measured by self-report in 8,171 male veterans. The predictive power of CRF and...

Introduction: Determination of exercise oscillatory ventilation (EOV) is subjective and the inter-reviewer agreement has not been reported. The purpose of this study was, among patients with heart failure (HF): (1) determine the inter-reviewer agreement for EOV; and (2) describe a novel, objective, and quantifiable measure of EOV. Methods: This...

Background: Exercise oscillatory ventilation (EOV) has been shown to be a powerful prognostic marker in chronic heart failure (CHF). However, EOV is poorly defined, its measurement lacks standardization and it is underutilized in clinical practice. The purpose of this pilot study was to investigate the prognostic value of a modified definition of...

Purpose: To investigate the effects of exercise training on ventilatory efficiency and physiological responses to submaximal exercise in subjects with small abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). Methods: Sixty-five male patients (72.3 ± 7.0 years) were randomized to exercise training (n = 33) or usual care group (n = 32). Exercise subjects participat...

Purpose The preventive role of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) in cancer is not well-established. The current study sought to evaluate the association between CRF and cancer incidence in men. Methods Maximal exercise testing was performed in 4,920 men (59.2±11.4 years) free from malignancy at baseline who were followed for 12.7±7.5 years. Relative...

The preventive role of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and physical activity (PA) in cancer mortality is not well-established. This study sought to evaluate the association between CRF, PA and cancer mortality in men. Maximal exercise testing was performed at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System in 5876 male veterans (60.5±11years) free from maligna...

Purpose: The ventilatory threshold (VT) is an objective physiological marker of the capacity of aerobic endurance that has good prognostic applications in preoperative settings. Nevertheless, determining the VT can be challenging due to physiological and methodological issues, especially in evaluating surgical risk. The purpose of the current stud...

Background: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic, progressive and fatal interstitial lung disease associated with cardiovascular impairments which compromise exercise tolerance and worsen prognosis. Aim: To examine the effect of participating in supervised exercise training (ET) program on cardiovascular function in patients with IPF...

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic lung disease that manifests in hypoxemia, inactivity, and poor prognosis. This study aimed to assess the prognostic role of physical activity (PA) and exertional desaturation (ED) with mortality in IPF. At baseline, 34 IPF patients (68 (50-81) years) were interviewed using the International Physical...

Background: Studies in lung transplantation demonstrate that the ancestry and gender dissimilarities of donor–recipients lead to a decrease in survival of the recipient. Objectives: To evaluate the survival of lung transplant recipients in Israel based on whether the donors and recipients are of Jewish or Arab ancestry, as well as survival based on...

Background: Rabbit antithymocyte globulin (rATG) therapy has been shown to be beneficial in lung transplant recipients as induction therapy for treating acute lung rejection; however, its role in chronic lung rejection has been reported only rarely. We evaluated the effectiveness of rATG therapy in slowing the progression of chronic lung allograft...

Key points: Exercise training has been proven to be a safe and effective behavioural intervention for prevention and rehabilitation of chronic conditions.Despite the complexity of the signs and symptoms presented in IPF, supervised exercise training is a feasible and effective treatment for clinical improvement.Emerging data show significant enhan...

Background: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic, progressive, and fatal interstitial lung disease associated with poor prognosis and limited effective treatment options. Reliable predictors of outcome in daily clinical practice are needed to determine high-risk patients for urgent lung transplantation referral. This study aimed to ide...

Non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis (NCFBr) is a major cause of morbidity due to frequent infectious exacerbations. We analyzed the influence of patient age and bronchiectasis location on the bacterial profile of patients with NCFBr. This retrospective cohort study included 339 subjects diagnosed with an infectious exacerbation of NCFBr during the 9...

Purpose: This study aimed to describe the physiological profile and limiting factors during exercise among patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Methods: A descriptive study involving 34 patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (22 men) aged 68 ± 8 years was conducted. All patients completed a pulmonary function test, cardiopulmonary e...

Objective: To examine the effect of participating in a 12-week supervised exercise training (ET) program on physical activity and body composition in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) patients. Design: Randomized controlled trial assessing physical activity and body composition at baseline, after 12-weeks intervention and at 11 months follow u...

Purpose . The aim of this study was to evaluate the sensitivity of pleural C-reactive protein (CRP) biomarker levels in identifying parapneumonic effusions. Methods . A single-center, retrospective review of 244 patients diagnosed with pleural effusions was initiated among patients at the Rabin Medical Center, Petah Tikva, Israel, between January 2...

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic devastating interstitial lung disease associated with exercise intolerance, dyspnea, hypoxemia, diminished quality of life and poor prognosis. A growing body of evidence with respect to short-term effects of exercise training has demonstrated clinical benefits in IPF patients. A recent systematic rev...

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic, progressive and fatal interstitial lung disease characterized by severe signs and symptoms during exertion and associated with inactivity in order to avoid these episodes. PURPOSE: To examine the effect of 12-week supervised exercise training (ET) program on physical activity (PA) level in IPF patie...

Poor exercise tolerance and peripheral muscle dysfunction are two of the most common things reported in moderate to severe COPD patients. Aerobic training improves exercise tolerance but has no major consequences on muscle weakness. On the other hand, resistance training of the lower limbs by itself can improve strength. Therefore a combination of...

Mild pulmonary hypertension (PH) in patients with advanced COPD is common, but its effects on exercise capacity are controversial. The objective of our study was to investigate the effects of mild PH (35 > mPAP ≥ 25 mmHg) on exercise capacity in patients with advanced emphysema, candidates for lung transplantation. We retrospectively reviewed and c...

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic, devastating, lung disease, with few therapeutic options. Data are limited with respect to the long-term effect of exercise training (ET) in IPF. This study sought to evaluate the long-term effects of a 12-week ET program on clinical outcomes in IPF patients. Thirty-four IPF patients were randomly al...

Introduction: Pneumonectomy results in impairments of pulmonary function and exercise intolerance associated with respiratory limitations. However, exercise capacity and functional capacity are less known at long-term followup. The aims of this study were to assess exercise tolerance and functional capacity among long-term postpneumonectomy patien...

Background: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic, devastating, interstitial lung disease, with few therapeutic options. IPF is characterized by pulmonary restriction, dyspnea, hypoxemia, exercise intolerance and poor quality of life (QOL). Objectives: We aimed to examine the effect of exercise training (ET) on clinical outcomes in IP...

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is the most common interstitial lung disease (ILD) characterized by exertional dyspnea, hypoxemia and exercise intolerance. The pathophysiology of IPF usually presents restrictive physiology of lung volume and impaired gas exchange. Most of the research which supports the effectiveness of pulmonary rehabilitation...