The role of positron emission tomography in the diagnosis, staging and response assessment of non-small cell lung cancer.

Lung cancer is a common disease and the leading cause of cancer-related mortality, with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounting for the majority of cases. Following diagnosis of lung cancer, accurate staging is essential to guide clinical management and inform prognosis. Positron emission tomography (PET) in conjunction with computed tomography (CT)-as PET-CT has developed as an important tool in the multi-disciplinary management of lung cancer.

Broadening the scope of thoracic oncological intervention: a novel minimally invasive method for the diagnosis of primary cardiac lymphoma.

Primary cardiac lymphoma is a rare and aggressive form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. It presents with non-specific symptoms which depend on the degree of cardiac infiltration. Appropriate management and early initiation of therapy depends on an understanding of the imaging characteristics and early histological diagnosis.

Detection of pulmonary nodules at paediatric CT: maximum intensity projections and axial source images are complementary.

Background: Maximum intensity projection (MIP) images might be useful in helping to differentiate small pulmonary nodules from adjacent vessels on thoracic multidetector CT (MDCT).

Objective: The aim was to evaluate the benefits of axial MIP images over axial source images for the paediatric chest in an interobserver variability study.

Materials And Methods: We included 46 children with extra-pulmonary solid organ malignancy who had undergone thoracic MDCT.

The clinical impact of high resolution computed tomography in patients with respiratory disease.

Objective: High resolution computed tomography is widely used to investigate patients with suspected diffuse lung disease. Numerous studies have assessed the diagnostic performance of this investigation, but the diagnostic and therapeutic impacts have received little attention.

Methods: The diagnostic and therapeutic impacts of high resolution computed tomography in routine clinical practice were evaluated prospectively.

Ventilation-perfusion scintigraphy to predict postoperative pulmonary function in lung cancer patients undergoing pneumonectomy.

Objective: The American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) recommends using quantitative perfusion scintigraphy to predict postoperative lung function in lung cancer patients with borderline pulmonary function tests who will undergo pneumonectomy. However, previous scintigraphic data were gathered on small cohorts more than a decade ago, when surgical populations were significantly different with respect to age and sex compared with typical lung cancer patients undergoing pneumonectomy in 2005. We therefore revisited the use of V/Q scintigraphy in pneumonectomy patients in predicting postoperative pulmonary function and the appropriateness of current clinical guidelines.

Double lung transplantation in a patient with tracheobronchomegaly (Mounier-Kuhn syndrome).

Mounier-Kuhn syndrome is a rare condition characterized by marked dilation of the trachea and main bronchi resulting in bronchiectasis and emphysema. We report a case in which a patient underwent successful double lung transplantation for COPD that was found on pathologic examination of the explanted lungs to be Mounier Kuhn syndrome. To our knowledge this is the first case reporting lung transplantation in this syndrome.

Use of quantitative lung scintigraphy to predict postoperative pulmonary function in lung cancer patients undergoing lobectomy.

Background: In patients with non-small cell lung cancer, the only realistic chance of cure is surgical resection. However, in some of these patients there is such poor respiratory reserve that surgery can result in an unacceptable quality of life. In order to identify these patients, various pulmonary function tests and scintigraphic techniques have been used.