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Introduction: the video-assisted thoracoscopy (VATS) is a minimally invasive approach to thoracic surgery with a great development in recent decades, allowing the performance of almost all thoracic surgical procedures. The aim of this study is to present our initial experience with the use of VATS, its results and review the literature. Material and methods: We reviewed a retrospective case series of all patients undergoing VATS in the Hospital Base Osorno between October 2005 and September 2011. Results: We performed 31 VATS in 29 patients. Eighteen (62%) patients were male and 11 (28%) female. The average age was 46.2 +16 years. The most frequent indications were: study of suspected pulmonary metastasis, pleural empyema and pleural effusion. The most frequently performed procedures were drainage, incisional biopsy and wedge biopsy of lung nodules. The mean operative 1 Cirujano General, Hospital Base de Osorno. Profesor Adjunto, Campo Clinico Osorno, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Austral de Chile (UACh). 2 Cirujano General, Hospital Luis Tisne Bousse, Santiago. 3 Medico Etapa de Destinacion y Formacion. Hospital Rio Negro. Servicio Salud Osorno. 4 Interno de Medicina. Campo Clinico Osorno, Facultad de Medicina, UACh. Correspondencia a: Dr. Jaime Jans B., jaimejans@gmail.com ARTICULO DE INVESTIGACION Cuad. Cir. 2011; 25: 25-30 Experiencia inicial en videotoracoscopia. Hospital Base Osorno. J. Jans et al. 26 time was 80.1 +43.4 minutes. The mean postoperative hospital stay was 10 +10.1 days (range 1 to 36 days). There was no mortality. Discussion: Our results are satisfactory and consistent with those reported in the literature. (

Introduction: Melanoma is a malignant tumor of the epidermal melanocytes. It’s frequency has increase significantly in the last decades, doubling their prevalence every 10 years. It presents a similar prevalence in men and women and the largest known risk factor is exposure to UV rays. Early diagnosis is essential to avoid the high mortality that it has, when presents systemic dissemination.