Search

Background: The majority of patients with severe blunt chest trauma is successfully treated with supportive measures and thoracostomy tube; only few cases need urgent thoracotomy. Lung-sparing techniques are treatments of choice but major pulmonary resections are necessary in case of injuries involving hilar vessels or bronchi. Currently the mortality associated with pulmonary lobectomy performed for chest trauma is 40%., Methods: Over a 2-year period [2013-2014], 210 patients with chest trauma were hospitalized at our Institution. Mechanism of injury was blunt in 204 (97.1%) patients and penetrating in 6 (2.9%). In 48 (22.8%) patients was necessary a ventilatory support and 37 (17.6%) patients were treated with thoracostomy tube. Nineteen (9%) patients needed urgent thoracotomy: 4 (1.9%) cases for penetrating injury and 15 (7.1%) cases for blunt trauma. Three (1.4%) patients treated with urgent thoracotomy required concomitant laparotomy for intra-abdominal injuries. The overall mortality rate was 1.4%., Results: We report three cases of urgent lobectomies for chest trauma without mortality and with postoperative complete restoration of respiratory function. The anatomical lobectomies were performed for: massive hemothorax with bronchial disruption, expanding pulmonary hematoma with hypovolemic shock, and massive hemothorax in deep parenchymal laceration., Conclusions: Mortality rate after major pulmonary resections for trauma is very high and increases with the presence of multivisceral injuries, the severity of hypovolemic shock and extent of lung resection. Anterolateral thoracotomy was the approach employed in case of cardiac arrest. In hypovolemic patients a posterolateral incision with a double lumen intubation was performed. The absence of mortality in this series may be related to the prompt diagnosis, short operative time and absence of associated severe neurological or abdominal injuries.

Malignant vascular tumors are uncommon sarcomas that arise from endothelial cells of small blood vessels and may affect every organ. Pleural localization is very exceptional, and only 48 cases have been reported in the English literature to date. Even if etiological factors implicated in the development of vascular sarcomas are still unclear, the strongest association with the disease was a history of chronic tuberculous pyothorax, observed only in Japanese patients, while prior radiotherapy and occupational exposure to asbestos have been reported in few Western cases. The mean age at diagnosis was 58 years, and the male to female ratio was 6:1. The overall prognosis was poor, and most of the patients died of disease soon after diagnosis. Histological features and clinical presentation often cause several problems in the differential diagnosis, particularly with mesothelioma and metastasis from poorly differentiated carcinomas. Immunohistochemistry plays an important role in identifying these rare entities, confirming the endothelial origin of the neoplasm with the expression of at least one of the vascular markers CD31, CD34, or factor VIII-related antigen. We report herein a further case of a 62-year-old man who presented with progressive dyspnea and bilateral massive hemothorax. The overall pathological and immunohistochemical features of the pleural specimens supported the diagnosis of epithelioid angiosarcoma., (2009 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.)

Primary tumours of the pleura are commonly divided into two major categories: diffuse and localised. Whereas the diffuse variant is known for its association with asbestos and its poor outcome, the localised one is rare and remains a subject of controversy. Electron microscopy and immunohistochemistry have recently demonstrated that these tumours are of mesenchymal rather than mesothelial origin, and therefore the term "localised mesothelioma" was abandoned. Such tumours are now called solitary fibrous tumours of the pleura (SFTP). The Authors describe a series of 6 cases of benign solitary fibrous tumours of the pleura, surgically treated over the period 1982-2000.

Background: Diaphragmatic invasion from lung cancer (T3-diaphragm) is a rare occurrence reported to portend a poor prognosis., Methods: Fifteen patients with T3-diaphragm (14 males, 1 female; median age, 64 years) were surgically treated over a twenty-year period by en bloc resection (14 patients). One patient was only explored. Pathologic stage IIB (T3N0) was found in 11 patients. A partial infiltration of the diaphragm was observed in 3 patients, whereas full-depth invasion was found in 12. Diaphragmatic reconstruction was done primarily in 9 patients, and, by prosthetic material in 5., Results: Two patients are still alive without evidence of disease at 88, and, 114 months from surgery. Overall median survival was 23 months (range, 3 to 168). The actuarial 5-year survival was 20%, when all patients were considered, and, 27%, for T3N0 patients. Univariate analysis showed that prosthetic replacement of the muscle (p = 0.018) was significantly related to survival., Conclusions: T3-diaphragm is best treated with en bloc resections with wide tumor-free margins and prosthetic replacement of the diaphragm.

Between January 1991 and March 1996, a total of 28 patients with postprimary tuberculosis underwent resection for disease progression (n = 8), multidrug resistance or noncompliance to the medical treatment (n = 11), parenchymal sequelae (n = 3), suspected cancer (n = 5), and for the correction of postpneumonectomy bronchopleural fistula and empyema (n = 1). On admission, eight patients presented with sputum positivity (28.6%). Similar to previous series, tubercular predilection for upper lobes was confirmed (21/28, 75%); accordingly, upper lobectomy through an extrapleural approach was the most common procedure (16/28, 57.1%). Atypical segmental resections or segmentectomies were performed in seven patients (25%), whereas a bilobectomy was necessary in another three patients (10.7%) and a completion pneumonectomy in one (3.6%). Additional procedures were an open-window thoracostomy with transpericardial closure of the main bronchus and a tailored thoracoplasty. No operative mortality was reported. Healing was achieved in 26 patients (93%). Bleeding, either from the chest wall or hilar dissection, was the only reported intraoperative complication. Median blood loss, inclusive of early postoperative collections from chest tubes, reached 1330 ml (range 100-3700 ml). Major postoperative complications included recurrent disease (2/28, 7%) in sputum-positive patients and segmental pulmonary embolism (3.5%). Causes of minor morbidity were air leaks resulting in residual space undergoing spontaneous resolution (18%), wound breakdown (14%), and, fever (11%). This limited series confirms the therapeutic value of the surgical treatment of postprimary tuberculosis, provided that correct indications, adequate pre- and post-operative medical coverage, and meticulous technique are applied.

Castleman's disease is an unusual condition characterized by uncontrolled growth of lymphoid tissue. The first case was recorded by Castleman in 1956. In this paper a case of the above-mentioned disease is reported with regard to its unusual clinica-histologic aspect (localized form of plasmacellular type) and surgical therapeutic strategies.

On the basis of recent literature, earlier contributions made by this department and personal experience, the A. report their findings and comments on mastalgia, a frequent symptom in modern female pathologies. They affirm that good results have been achieved through information, health education and treatment with non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs, without resorting to hormone therapy except in carefully selected cases.

The increasingly frequent use of invasive diagnostic and therapeutic procedures concerning the hepatobiliary system has led to a rise in the incidence of hemobilia as well as altering its etiological status. The authors report a clinical case of hemobilia secondary to percutaneous hepatic biopsy which was brought to their attention. This is followed by a short discussion of the etiopatogenesis and diagnostic and therapeutic strategies with special reference to the ratio between the advantages/limits of the methods now available.

The Authors briefly summarise their experience of using various types of mechanical staplers in abdominal and thoracic surgery with excellent results both in general and in terms of reducing operating times.

The paper reports a number of cases of uncommon metastasis confirmed by histological tests in surgical biopsies; following a brief discussion of the literature on this topic and in particular on the basis of an earlier study by one of the authors, the paper affirms that metastasis is related to general and local biological factors, that the diffusion of neoplastic cells is an early and generalised phenomenon opposed by organic defence mechanisms, and that the concept of uncommon metastasis should be revised, without resorting to fixed anatomical references, according to a general "impregnation" of tumour cells.

The paper reports the Authors' experience in over 12,000 patients affected by manifest or presumed breast pathologies examined using contact thermography and assess the number of correct responses. This technique proved reliable in patients aged under 30 with benign pathologies or palpable nodules. On the other hand, it was not reliable in the case of pathologies with negative objectivity, and therefore in the context of screening programmes for the early diagnosis of tumours.