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AIM: To report our experience with bronchial carcinoids. METHODS: From January 1990 to March 2003 we treated 42 such patients, 30 females and 12 males. All patients underwent preoperative total body computed tomography (CT), total body In-111 octreotide scintigraphy, and SPECT of the thorax, with evaluation of serum levels of CEA, CgA, NSE, and urinary 5-HIAA. Diagnosis was obtained in 28 patients with fibre-optic bronchoscopy and in 14 patients with CT-guided trans-thoracic needle biopsy. RESULTS: There were 26 typical and 16 atypical carcinoids. 30 lobectomies, 5 bilobectomies, 6 wedge resections, and 1 pneumonectomy were carried out. The 3-year and the 5-year survival rates in the typical and atypical carcinoid groups were 100 % and 96 % vs. 81 % and 68 %, respectively (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Long-term survival is based on histological completeness of surgical treatment. Octreotide scintigraphy and SPECT document N (1) and N (2) precisely.

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to evaluate the preservation of the lung using the cold flushing technique in association with continuous perfusion of the organ during static hypothermic storage. METHODS In the first phase, the hearts and lungs of 5 New Zealand rabbits were removed three hours after establishing brain death. The left lungs were each conserved in 200 ml of low-potassium UW solution at 10 degrees C for 3 hours of cold ischemia (control group I). The right lungs were also placed in cold storage but were perfused continuously for three hours with low-potassium UW solution at 10 degrees C (group II). In the second phase, ten rabbits underwent a right lung auto-transplant. Lungs were conserved using two techniques. Histoenzymatic and pathological tests were performed: lung function was evaluated. RESULTS In the first phase the histopathological examination carried out at the end of storage revealed fewer ischemic alterations in the second group compared to the first. In the second phase a significant hypoxia was observed in group I when both lungs and the right lung only were perfused. The histopathological examination revealed ischaemia/reperfusion lesions in both groups though mainly in group I and a good level of ATPase activity in group II though these results were not significant. CONCLUSIONS Cold flushing of the pulmonary artery and continuous perfusion during static hypothermic storage appears to guarantee a better partial arterial pressure of oxygen in this model of auto-transplant compared to the classical cold storage method.

OBJECTIVE: Aim of the study was to establish a noninvasive method for the preoperative characterisation of a pulmonary nodule when biopsy of the small mass is impossible. METHODS: From 1 January 2006 to 31 December 2008, we observed 124 asymptomatic patients with a noncalcified single lung nodule highlighted by computerised tomography (CT) of the thorax. Patients were divided into 2 groups: Group A consisted of 57 patients with lesion diameters between 0.5 cm and 0.99 cm; Group B consisted of 67 patients with lesion diameters between 1.0 cm and 1.5 cm. Fibreoptic bronchoscopy was negative for endobronchial neoformation in all patients. The topographic distribution of the lesions advised against CT-guided transthoracic needle biopsy or video-assisted thoracoscopy. All patients had preoperative 18-fluorine fluorodeoxyglucose ( 18 F-FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) associated with CT of the thorax, which was compared with CT for evaluation of the mass. RESULTS: Postoperative histological diagnosis revealed 54 primary lung cancers, 47 lung metastases and 23 benign lesions. In Group A the sensitivity of 18 F-FDG PET/CT and CT was 95 % and 73 % and the specificity was 72 % and 64 %, respectively ( P = 0.000001 for 18 F-FDG PET/CT; P = 0.000177 for CT). In Group B the sensitivity of 18 F-FDG PET/CT and CT was 95 % and 97 %, and the specificity was 80 % and 87 %, respectively ( P = 0.000001). CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows that 18 F-FDG PET/CT improves the identification and characterisation of potentially malignant pulmonary nodules with a diameter < 1 cm. This technique could be a valid alternative to a surgical approach, currently the main method to investigate indeterminate lung nodules.

Objective To examine the diagnostic and therapeutic role of fiber-optic and rigid bronchoscopy in pediatric patients with foreign body inhalations. Methods From January 1986 to December 2004, we observed 128 young patients with suspicion of foreign body aspiration. Patients were divided into 3 groups: group I, patients with negative chest X-ray; group II, patients with radiological direct signs; group III, patients with radiological indirect signs. Results Removal of the foreign body was effected in 105 patients by rigid bronchoscopy and in 13 patients by fiber-optic bronchoscopy. In 3 group II patients a thoracotomy with a bronchotomy was necessary. Conclusions Fiber-optic bronchoscopy showed a diagnostic accuracy rate of 100 % but played a poor therapeutic role with a case resolution of 10.7 %. Rigid bronchoscopy was the main technique, permitting the removal of the tracheobronchial foreign body in 97.2 % of patients.

Objective The diagnostic procedures, role of surgery and multimodal treatment for osteosarcoma pulmonary metastases are examined. Methods From January 2000 to June 2005, we observed 35 patients with osteogenic repetitions. Patients were studied by total-body computerised tomography (CT) and by thoracic single-photon emission computerised tomography (SPECT). Preoperative histological diagnosis was obtained by CT-guided transthoracic needle biopsy (23 cases) and fibre-optic bronchoscopy (12 cases). Results Four lower, 6 upper and 2 middle lobectomies were carried out using a thoracotomy approach. Video-assisted thoracoscopy was used in the other 23 patients who underwent 36 wedge resections. CT showed a sensitivity of 86 % and a specificity of 66 %; SPECT had a sensitivity of 80 % and a specificity of 100 %. Twenty-five patients are still living 25 +/- 11 months after the intervention. Conclusions SPECT was demonstrated to offer a better result in the individualisation of secondary pulmonary nodules after primary osteosarcoma. The excision of all resectable lung metastases, integrated in a multidisciplinary strategy, offers good results in terms of survival.

We report 5 cases of Boerhaave's syndrome with necrotizing mediastinitis and pleural empyema. We chose a surgical treatment characterized by manual suture and heterologous tissue to repair esophagus rupture. This option allows a better result in terms of morbidity and mortality.