Re-evaluation and operative indications after induction therapy for thymic epithelial tumors.

Thymic epithelial tumors (TETs), encompassing thymoma and thymic carcinoma, represent a rare and heterogeneous group of thoracic malignancies with varying prognoses and treatment strategies. Surgical resection is the cornerstone of therapy for localized stages, but the management of locally advanced or unresectable TETs often involves induction therapy, including chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy, as a neoadjuvant approach aimed at downstaging the tumor to facilitate subsequent resection. This review synthesizes current knowledge on the re-evaluation process and operative indications following induction therapy for TETs, highlighting the pivotal role of accurate assessment in guiding surgical decisions and optimizing patient outcomes.

Pulmonary cyst newly formed after lobectomy in various underlying lung conditions.

Background: It has been recently recognized that pulmonary cyst may develop after pulmonary resection, causing various symptoms. Most previously reported cases were after upper lobectomy in patients with chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD).

Case Presentation: Case 1 was a man in his 70 s with interstitial pneumonia (IP).

Short-term effects of preoperative nutritional intervention in lung surgery for malignant tumors: a single-center prospective study.

Objectives: Preoperative malnutrition is a risk factor for postoperative morbidity and mortality in patients with lung cancer. Assessing the preoperative nutritional status should be considered essential for patients scheduled to undergo lung surgery. This prospective study aimed to investigate whether preoperative nutritional intervention improves the nutritional conditions and short-term postoperative outcomes.

Clinical significance of the preoperative prognostic nutritional index on age/comorbidity burdens in patients with resectable non-small cell lung cancer.

Purpose: Objective nutritional scoring systems using preoperative blood samples have shown the potential to predict the postoperative outcomes of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, it remains unclear whether the prognostic impact depends on age and comorbid burdens. We conducted this study to validate the impact of preoperative nutritional status, stratified with age and comorbidity.

Long-Term Persisting Donor-Derived Human Leukocyte Antigen Antibody as a Possible Passenger Lymphocyte Syndrome Following Lung Transplantation: A Case Report.

Herein, we reported the transfer of donor-derived antihuman leukocyte antigen (HLA) antibodies in 2 recipients after lung transplantation. Case 1: A 39-year-old woman with pleuroparenchymal fibroelastosis underwent a single brain-dead donor lung transplantation. Antibody screening 36 days after transplantation demonstrated high levels of de novo nondonor HLA class I-specific antibodies.

Epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors as first-line treatment for postoperative recurrent EGFR-mutated lung adenocarcinoma: a multi-institutional retrospective study.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to analyse the long-term survival outcomes and prognostic factors of patients receiving epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs) as first-line treatment for postoperative recurrent EGFR-mutated lung adenocarcinoma.

Methods: Using a multi-institutional database, we performed a retrospective chart review to identify all patients who had undergone complete resection of stage I-III EGFR-mutated lung adenocarcinoma at 11 acute care hospitals between 2009 and 2016 and had received first-line EGFR-TKI treatment for postoperative recurrence. Adverse events, progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were investigated.

Ringed fluorodeoxyglucose uptake predicted poor prognosis after resection of pulmonary pleomorphic carcinoma.

Background: Pulmonary pleomorphic carcinoma (PPC) is a relatively rare and poorly differentiated non-small cell carcinoma. This study aimed to investigate the clinicopathological features including programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression status in patients with PPC who underwent curative resection.

Methods: We retrospectively studied 29 consecutive patients who had undergone anatomical lung resections for PPC.

New strategy to resume and taper epoprostenol after lung transplant for pulmonary hypertension.

Objective: The perioperative outcome of lung transplantation (LTx) for patients with severe pulmonary hypertension (PH) remains poor due to the occurrence of primary graft dysfunction (PGD) from left ventricular failure. We hypothesized that tapering pretransplant use of epoprostenol rather than abrupt discontinuation after transplantation might improve perioperative outcomes.

Methods: We performed 23 LTxs for patients with severe PH who received epoprostenol therapy from 2008 until 2021.

Improved visualization of virtual-assisted lung mapping by indocyanine green.

Objectives: Virtual-assisted lung mapping (VAL-MAP) is a bronchoscopic marking method of dye application on the surface of the lungs before resecting nonpalpable nodules. However, in some cases, it can be difficult to identify the markings of VAL-MAP on computed tomography and intraoperative thoracoscopy. We developed and assessed the feasibility of indocyanine green VAL-MAP (ICG-VAL-MAP).

Lymph node dissection in thymic carcinomas and neuroendocrine carcinomas.

Objectives: Although lymph node (LN) metastases are not uncommon in thymic carcinomas, preoperative LN evaluation, intraoperative lymph node dissection (LND) and postoperative outcomes remain unknown. The aim of this study was to elucidate the characteristics of and outcomes in patients with thymic carcinomas and thymic neuroendocrine carcinomas undergoing LND.

Methods: A retrospective chart review was performed using our multi-institutional database to identify patients who underwent resection and LND for thymic carcinoma or thymic neuroendocrine carcinoma between 1991 and 2018.

Familial Interstitial Pneumonia Revealed After Living-Donor Lobar Lung Transplantation.

Living-donor lobar lung transplantation is often indicated for acute exacerbation of idiopathic interstitial pneumonia because of the long waiting time for cadaveric lung transplantation in Japan. Donors without major underlying diseases are selected after medical screening. A 44-year-old man donated his right lower lobe to his sibling with idiopathic interstitial pneumonia.

The treatment and survival of patients with postoperative recurrent thymic carcinoma and neuroendocrine carcinoma: a multicenter retrospective study.

Purpose: There are few data available on the outcomes of postoperative recurrent thymic carcinoma (TC) and thymic neuroendocrine carcinoma (TNEC). The aim of this study is to evaluate the treatment and survival in patients with recurrent TC and TNEC after undergoing surgical resection.

Methods: A retrospective chart review was performed using our multicenter database to identify patients with a postoperative recurrence of TC and TNEC from 1995 to 2018.

Are volume-dependent parameters in positron emission tomography predictive of postoperative recurrence after resection in patients with thymic carcinoma?

This study aimed to investigate the association between the volume-dependent parameters in F-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (F-FDG PET/CT) and a recurrence of thymic carcinoma. A retrospective chart review was performed based on our multi-institutional database to identify patients undergoing PET prior to resection of thymic carcinoma or neuroendocrine carcinoma between 1991 and 2018. The PET parameters (metabolic tumor volume and total lesion glycolysis) were evaluated retrospectively.

Effect of cardiac rehabilitation on cognitive function in elderly patients with cardiovascular diseases.

Background: Cognitive function is an important factor for secondary prevention in elderly patients with cardiovascular diseases. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of cardiac rehabilitation (CR) on the improvement of cognitive function.

Methods: A total of 66 consecutive elderly patients (≥70 years old) with cardiovascular diseases were prospectively enrolled.

Survival outcomes of patients with high-grade and poorly differentiated thymic neuroendocrine carcinoma.

High-grade and poorly differentiated thymic neuroendocrine carcinoma is the rarest entity in thymic epithelial tumours. The aim of this study is to report survival data in a multi-institutional database in comparison to data in the literature. Retrospective chart review was performed on the basis of our multi-institutional database to identify patients undergoing the resection of poorly differentiated thymic neuroendocrine carcinoma between 1991 and 2018.

Successful surgical management of recurrent urachal adenocarcinoma: A case report.

Urachal carcinoma is a rare neoplasm for which there is a lack of a standard effective chemotherapeutic treatment. There is also no standard treatment available for recurrent metastatic urachal carcinoma and the prognosis is generally poor. We report a case of urachal carcinoma where the patient achieved long-term disease-free survival after repeated surgeries for recurrent lung metastases.

Nocturnal hypercapnia with daytime normocapnia in patients with advanced pulmonary arterial hypertension awaiting lung transplantation.

Background: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is frequently complicated by sleep disordered breathing (SDB), and previous studies have largely focused on hypoxemic SDB. Even though nocturnal hypercapnia was shown to exacerbate pulmonary hypertension, the clinical significance of nocturnal hypercapnia among PAH patients has been scarcely investigated.

Method: Seventeen patients with PAH were identified from 246 consecutive patients referred to Kyoto University Hospital for the evaluation of lung transplant registration from January 2010 to December 2017.

Analysis of Optimal Health-Related Quality of Life Measures in Patients Waitlisted for Lung Transplantation.

Background: Improving health-related quality of life (HRQL) is an important goal of lung transplantation, and St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) is frequently used for assessing HRQL in patients waitlisted for lung transplantation. We hypothesized that chronic respiratory failure (CRF)-specific HRQL measures would be more suitable than the SGRQ, considering the underlying disease and its severity in these patients.

Backtable bronchoplasty for donor tracheal bronchus in lung transplantation.

The management of a tracheal bronchus in lung transplantation is poorly studied and ill-defined. We report a case of lung transplantation performed using a donor right lung graft with an apical tracheal bronchus and propose a novel anastomosis technique for this procedure. The neo-upper lobe bronchus created by suturing the apical tracheal bronchus and the upper lobe bronchus of the donor was anastomosed to the upper lobe bronchus of the recipient in a double-barrel fashion.

Prognostic factors related to postoperative survival in the newly classified clinical T4 lung cancer.

Objectives: T4 lung cancer has become a more heterogeneous group since the 8th edition of tumour, node, metastasis classification. The aim of this study was to identify predictive factors related to post-surgical survival in patients with clinical T4 non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), based on the 8th edition of the classification.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed consecutive patients with clinical T4 NSCLC who underwent resection between January 2006 and December 2016, to identify factors associated with overall survival.

Diameter of the dilated main pulmonary artery in patients with pulmonary hypertension decreases after lung transplantation.

Purpose: The pulmonary artery (PA) in patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH) becomes dilated. We analyzed the postoperative changes of the main PA after lung transplantation (LuTx).

Methods: The subjects of this retrospective study were 68 LuTx recipients, divided into a PH group (n = 36) and a non-PH group (n = 32), based on preoperative right heart catheterization findings.

Tumor-to-Tumor Metastasis: Pulmonary Carcinoid Metastasizing to Solitary Fibrous Tumor.

BACKGROUND Tumor-to-tumor metastasis is an uncommon phenomenon in which a primary tumor metastasizes into another tumor. CASE REPORT An 81-year-old Asian woman was referred to our hospital for evaluation and treatment of a solid mass in the right middle lung lobe that had rapidly enlarged for 1.5 years compared to that observed over the last 5 years.