Publications by authors named "Angela Maria Takano Pena"

Background: Video-assisted thoracoscopic (VATS) lung resections are increasingly popular and localization techniques are necessary to aid resection. We describe our experience with hybrid operating room (OR) cone-beam computed tomography (CT) assisted pre-operative and intra-operative lesion localization of lung nodules for VATS wedge resections, including our novel workflow using the hybrid OR cone-beam CT to re-evaluate patients who have undergone pre-operative localization for those who are unsuitable for intra-operative localization.

Methods: Retrospective analysis of all consecutive patients with small (≤ 20 mm), deep (≥ 10 mm distance from pleura) and/or predominantly ground-glass nodules selected for lesion localization in the Interventional Radiology suite followed by re-evaluation with cone-beam CT in the hybrid OR (pre-operative), or in the hybrid OR alone (intra-operative), prior to intentional VATS wedge performed by a single surgeon at our centre from January 2017 to December 2021.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Good syndrome (GS) is a rare acquired immunodeficiency disease characterized by the presence of thymoma with combined B and T cell immunodeficiency in adults. Recurrent bacterial infections, particularly sinopulmonary infections caused by encapsulated bacteria, remain the most common infective presentation of GS; however, relapsing viral infections have also been reported, likely due to impaired T cell-mediated immunity. Relapsing COVID-19 infection, however, has not been previously reported as a manifestation of GS.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Prolonged shedding of COVID-19 is notable in patients treated with anti-CD20 agents like rituximab, with cases of occult infection, where the virus persists in the lungs despite negative nasal tests, being rare.
  • Two immunocompromised patients, previously treated with rituximab, showed ground-glass infiltrates in lung scans, and despite negative SARS-CoV-2 results in nasal swabs, they were diagnosed with ongoing infection after testing lung fluid.
  • The findings suggest that negative nasal tests don’t rule out lung infections, indicating the need for invasive tests like bronchoalveolar lavage; this also emphasizes the importance of strict infection control during procedures that might spread the virus.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A 63-year-old female presented with chest pain and fever, and was found to have recurrent pleuropericardial effusions. Extensive investigations including infection screen and serologies, autoimmune screen and pleural and pericardial biopsy revealed no secondary aetiologies. She was diagnosed with idiopathic recurrent serositis (IRS).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF