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A 62-year-old male experienced anti -MDA5 dermatomyositis with lung involvement, treated with immunosuppressive therapy leading to chronic cavitary pulmonary aspergillosis in left upper lobe. Patient's history was complicated by complete left pneumothorax due to alveolar-pleural fistula occurring because of the rupture of the pulmonary cavitation. Left lung failed to re-expand despite a four-week period of pleural drainage. In addition to antifungal therapy, patient received endobronchial valve therapy in the anterior segmental bronchus of the left upper lobe leading to air leak cessation, left lung re expansion and aspergillosis cavitation closure., Competing Interests: The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests:FAURE Morgane - Support for attending meetings and/or travel by ERS Milano- Astra Zeneca Receipt of equipment, materials, drugs, medical writing, gifts or other services by Lowenstein ventilation., (© 2024 The Authors.)

Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Background: The RAPID [Renal (urea level), Age, Pleural fluid purulence, source of Infection and Denutrition (albumin level)] score classifies patients with pleural infection according to mortality risk at 3 months. This study aims to assess the applicability of this score in a thoracic surgery department and to determine the impact of surgery in the management of pleural infection depending on the Rapid score., Methods: In this single center retrospective study, patients managed for pleural infection, from January 1st 2013 to June 30th 2019, were included. The primary endpoint was the probability of survival at 6 months and 12 months depending on the RAPID score. Secondary endpoint was the probability of survival at 6 and 12 months in patients who had surgeries (surgical treatment group) and patients who didn't have surgery (medical treatment group)., Results: Seventy-four patients were included, with a median age of 54.5 years. According to the RAPID score, the low-, medium- and high-risk groups had 30, 30 and 14 patients respectively. The probability of survival at 6 and 12 months in the low- and medium-risk groups were both 0.967 [95% confidence index (CI95): 0.905-1] whereas, the probabilities of survival at 6 and 12 months in the high-risk group was significantly lower at 0.571 (CI95: 0.363-0.899) and 0.357 (CI95: 0.177-0.721) respectively (P<0.0001). The probabilities of survival at 6 months and 12 months in the medical treatment group was 0.875 (CI95: 0.786-0.974) and 0.812 (CI95: 0.704-0.931) respectively compared to the surgical treatment group where probabilities of survival at 6 and 12 months were both 0.923 (CI95: 0.826-1) (P=0.26)., Conclusions: In our study, patients with pleural infection, classified as high-risk according to the RAPID score, had a lower survival rate compared to low- and medium-risk patients. No difference in survival rate was found between patients classified as low- and medium-risk. In selected patients, surgical management seems to decrease mortality compared to exclusive medical management: this result should be confirmed in larger prospective studies., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at https://jtd.amegroups.com/article/view/10.21037/jtd-22-1599/coif). The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare., (2023 Journal of Thoracic Disease. All rights reserved.)

Background: There is no robust data regarding rib fixation in elderly patients. The aim of this study is to compare the postoperative outcomes of patients aged less and more than 65 years old., Methods: Patients operated from January 2012 to December 2018 were retrospectively analyzed. The following data were collected: age, sex, comorbidities, smoking habit, Injury Severity Score (ISS), number of fractured ribs, indication for surgery, associated injuries, time from trauma to surgery, number of fixed ribs, intrathoracic injuries, duration of intubation, ICU stay, postoperative cardiopulmonary complications, blood transfusion, overall and 30-day mortality, length of stay., Results: There was no difference regarding the ISS ( p  = 0.09), the number of rib fractures ( p  = 0.291), the indication for surgery, the number of fixed ribs ( p  = 0.819), the ICU stay ( p  = 0.096), the postoperative intubation duration ( p  = 0.059), the cardiopulmonary complications ( p  = 0.273) and perioperative blood transfusions ( p  = 0.34). Elderly patients presented more postoperative cognitive complications ( p  < 0.001). There was no difference in terms of overall mortality ( p  = 0.06) and 30-day mortality ( p  = 0.69). Elderly patients stayed longer in the hospital ( p  < 0.001)., Conclusions: The outcomes of rib fixation in the elderly patients are comparable to younger patients. However, elderly patients experience more frequently postoperative cognitive complications and their hospitalizations are longer.

Artificial intelligence (AI) technology is becoming prevalent in many areas of everyday life. The healthcare industry is concerned by it even though its widespread use is still limited. Thoracic surgeons should be aware of the new opportunities that could affect their daily practice, by direct use of AI technology or indirect use via related medical fields (radiology, pathology and respiratory medicine). The objective of this article is to review applications of AI related to thoracic surgery and discuss the limits of its application in the European Union. Key aspects of AI will be developed through clinical pathways, beginning with diagnostics for lung cancer, a prognostic-aided programme for decision making, then robotic surgery, and finishing with the limitations of AI, the legal and ethical issues relevant to medicine. It is important for physicians and surgeons to have a basic knowledge of AI to understand how it impacts healthcare, and to consider ways in which they may interact with this technology. Indeed, synergy across related medical specialties and synergistic relationships between machines and surgeons will likely accelerate the capabilities of AI in augmenting surgical care., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest: H. Etienne has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: S. Hamdi has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: M. Le Roux has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: J. Camuset has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: T. Khalife-Hocquemiller has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: M. Giol has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: D. Debrosse has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: J. Assouad has nothing to disclose., (Copyright ©ERS 2020.)

Introduction: There is no data regarding the incidence and treatment of deep infection affecting the surgical implants after rib fixation. The aim of this study is to share our experience in the management of infected material after surgical rib fixation., Methods: The medical records of operated patients from January 2012 to December 2018 were retrospectively analyzed., Results: Three patients out of 87 (3.44%) developed an infection. One patient was treated conservatively and two patients were operated for hardware removal., Conclusions: The lack of evidence prompts for the design of surgical databases to share experience and enhance available data., Competing Interests: None declared., (Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.)

Background: Video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) is usually performed using three ports. Uniportal VATS has not yet been widely developed. We report our single institution experience in uniportal VATS for the surgical management of 351 patients with pneumothorax., Methods: Between November 2009 and February 2016, we conducted a study in 351 patients treated for pneumothorax using uniportal VATS. Resection of apical bullae associated with partial pleurectomy, pleural abrasion, or talc effusion was performed., Results: The mean age was 29.6 ± 10.1 years. Surgical indications were mainly persistence or recurrence of pneumothorax. Sixty-seven patients (19%) presented with complications. At the 30-day control, 60.1% of patients were asymptomatic; 85% of patients were satisfied with the single small scar. The recurrence rate was 3.6% at 24 ± 13 months., Conclusions: Uniportal VATS is feasible, safe, and reproducible in the treatment of pneumothorax. Morbidity is similar to multiport VATS. The recurrence rate is comparable with best results after multiport VATS or thoracotomy. Patients were satisfied with the single small scar., (Copyright © 2017 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: Mediastinoscopy remains the gold standard for surgical exploration of the mediastinum. The use of this approach to access the left thoracic cavity could be complicated by vascular or neurological lesion. The aim of this experimental work was to describe a new approach to the left thoracic cavity through a cervical incision and retrosternal space using a flexible endoscope as a unique instrument., Methods: We conducted an experimental work on 12 refrigerated and non-embalmed cadavers. Through a cervical incision, we dissected the retrosternal space to the level of Louis angle and then opened the left mediastinal pleura. We introduced the flexible endoscope through this pleural window into the left thoracic cavity. We defined three distances between the borders of the endoscope entry point, the phrenic nerve and the mammary artery: Distance 1: between the medial edge of the endoscope entrance point and the medial edge of the left mammary artery, Distance 2: between the top of the endoscope entrance point and the penetration of phrenic nerve in the left thoracic cavity and Distance 3: between the lateral edge of the entrance point of the endoscope and the medial edge of the phrenic nerve. To measure these distances, we performed a left postero-lateral thoracotomy., Results: Procedure was successfully executed in 10 of the 12 studied subjects. The mean distances 1, 2 and 3 were 17.1 (range 2-40), 39.5 (17-80) and 19.1 mm (10-40), respectively. The minimal Distance 1 was in two subjects 0.2 and 0.5 mm., Conclusions: This approach avoids the para-aortic and supra-aortic zone; this access could be less dangerous than already described access techniques. Despite the limits of our work on cadavers, and the two failures in the application of the access, the mean distances we calculated show the potential safety of our approach concerning the phrenic nerve and the mammary artery. An experimental protocol on living animals is currently underway with the aim of confirming the safety of our approach., (© The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery. All rights reserved.)

Early pain and persistent parietal disorders remains a major unresolved problem in thoracic surgery. Thoracotomy and the use of multiple ports in most Video Assisted Thoracic Surgery (VATS) procedures are the major cause of this persistent pain. For the last decade, a few publications describing the use of either single incision VATS and cervical thoracic approaches have been reported without significant results in comparison with current used techniques. Intercostals compression during surgery and early after by intercostals chest tube placement, are probably the major cause of postoperative pain. Flexible endoscope is currently used in several surgeries and will take more and more importance in our daily use in thoracic surgery. Instrument flexibility allows its use through minimally invasive approaches and offers a very interesting intra-thoracic navigation. We describe here the first use in France of a flexible endoscope in thoracic surgery through a single cervical incision to perform simultaneous exploration and biopsies of the mediastinum and right pleura using the original approach of Cervical Incision Thoracic Endoscopic Surgery (CITES)., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Background: To identify the Spanish scientific production amongst different areas of clinical knowledge, and to compare it with those of five other European Union countries., Method: Review of MEDLINE data base, for the period 1993-1997. Search limited to four journals, selected, for 10 different medical specialties (Cardiology, Endocrinology, Infectious Diseases, Gastroenterology-Hepatology, Haematology, Nephrology, Pneumology, Neurology, Oncology, Rheumatology). Articles published by authors from Germany, France, Italy, The Netherlands, Sweden and Spain. Journals included in the Internal Medicine subject classification were independently analysed. Data were also related with several econometric indexes., Results: A total of 1,763 original articles published by Spanish authors were identified in the journal's sample over the analysed period (2.08 articles per 100 all published articles). Spain contributes to the total achieved by the six European countries analysed with 9.07 articles per 100 published articles. Gastroenterology-Hepatology was the medical specially which has more articles published by Spanish authors (total: 338 articles; 4.15 articles/100 published articles); and Oncology the one with less articles published (1.26 articles/100 published articles). The mean IF value per journal by article is highest for Gastroenterology-Hepatology (4.86 FI/article) and lowest for Pneumology (2.42 FI/article). Spain is the last amongst all six European countries analyzed in Endocrinology, Oncology and Haematology, and second to last in all others except for Gastroenterology-Hepatology (4th place). Mean cost for each article produced by Spanish authors in the analyzed sample was 0.49 US $ according the health expenditures per capita, and 0.07 US $ according the R+D expenditures per capita. Data from the independent analysis of Internal Medicine journals also showed that Gastroenterology and Hepatology is the subspecialty with a higher number of papers published in those journals., Conclusions: All efforts devoted to improve the quality of Spanish biomedical research, specially in clinical research, had produced positive, but uneven, results, measured by the number and impact factor of original articles published in top ranked biomedical journals. The overall distribution of high impact factor scientific production by specialties is poor when compared to the European Union countries included in the analysis. Those results showed several improvement opportunities. Besides increasing the overall budget for R+D, its is likely that the time has come for backing the highest quality Spanish biomedical research, the one that offers greater and better chances for achieving scientifically valid results, and is published in high impact factor biomedical journals.