Effectiveness of home-based preoperative pulmonary rehabilitation in COPD patients undergoing lung cancer resection.

Objective: To investigate the effectiveness of a home-based preoperative rehabilitation program for improving preoperative lung function and surgical outcome of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) undergoing lobectomy for cancer.

Methods: This was a prospective, observational, single-center study including 59 patients with mild COPD who underwent lobectomy for lung cancer. All patients attended a home-based preoperative rehabilitation program including a minimum of 3 sessions each week for 4 weeks.

Effects of a high-intensity pulmonary rehabilitation program on the minute ventilation/carbon dioxide output slope during exercise in a cohort of patients with COPD undergoing lung resection for non-small cell lung cancer.

Objective: Preoperative functional evaluation is central to optimizing the identification of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who are candidates for surgery. The minute ventilation/carbon dioxide output (VE/VCO2) slope has proven to be a predictor of surgical complications and mortality. Pulmonary rehabilitation programs (PRPs) could influence short-term outcomes in patients with COPD undergoing lung resection.

Benefits of Pulmonary Rehabilitation in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis: A CASE REPORT.

Clinical Case: We describe the case of a 50-y-old man with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) who underwent pulmonary rehabilitation (PR). The 8-wk training program, including resistance training and aerobic exercises, was conducted 3 d/wk under physiotherapist supervision. Clinical and functional assessment was performed prior to and following the program.

Preoperative high-intensity training in frail old patients undergoing pulmonary resection for NSCLC.

Thoracic surgery remains the better therapeutic option for non-small cell lung cancer patients that are diagnosed in early stage disease. Preoperative lung function assessment includes respiratory function tests (RFT) and cardio-pulmonary exercise testing (CPET). Vo2 peak, FEV1 and DLCO as well as recognition of performance status, presence of co-morbidities, frailty indexes, and age predict the potential impact of surgical resection on patient health status and survival risk.

Integrated therapeutic approach to giant solitary fibrous tumor of the pleura: report of a case and review of the literature.

The fibrous tumors of the pleura are rare primary tumors, accounting for 5% of malignant pleural neoplasms, which generally originate from sub-mesothelial mesenchymal tissue of the visceral pleura. These tumours generally exhibit clinical benign behavior although 12% of solitary fibrous tumors can be malignant and have worse outcomes. These tumors are considered "giant" when the lesion > 15 cm.

Bilateral simultaneous VATS for complete resection of bilateral posterior mediastinal bronchogenic cyst: A case report.

Introduction: The mediastinal bronchogenic cysts represents 50%-60% of mediastinal cysts and rarely occurs in the posterior mediastinum. The final surgical resection is indicated for symptomatic patients and is recommended for some asymptomatic patients in order to establish the diagnosis and to avoid any subsequent complications.

Case Presentation: We report a case of 17 years-old male suffering from bronchogenic cysts of the mediastinum.

Spirometry in elderly laryngectomized patients: A feasibility study.

Background: Laryngeal cancer is the second most common respiratory neoplasm after lung cancer. Laryngectomy is a well established treatment for larynx cancers which involve relevant anatomic alterations. Spirometry is an essential investigation tool for diagnosis and severity of respiratory diseases, difficult to perform in laryngectomees.

Single port VATS resection of a sessile solitary fibrous tumour of the visceral pleura. A case report.

Unlabelled: The solitary fibrous tumour of the visceral pleura is a rare neoplasm that derives from mesenchymal cells adjacent to the mesothelial tissue of pleura. Surgical resection is the treatment of choice in benign lesions and healing resulting in half of malignant. Local recurrence can occur in malignant cases, but it is very rare in solitary benign tumors.

Lung and Nodal Involvement in Nontuberculous Mycobacterial Disease: PET/CT Role.

Introduction: Systematic use of (18)F-FDG PET/CT has the potential to simultaneously assess both pulmonary and lymph node involvement in nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) lung infection.

Objective: The aim of the study was to evaluate the role of (18)F-FDG PET/CT in the assessment of both mediastinal lymph nodes and lung involvement in NTM patients compared with active tuberculosis (TB) patients.

Methods: 26 patients with pulmonary NTM disease were selected; six consecutive patients had undergone (18)F-FDG PET/CT and data was compared with 6 active TB patients.

Diathermy haemorrhoidectomy: reasons for a therapeutic choice.

Background: Diathermy haemorrhoidectomy is an effective technique for the management of 2nd, 3rd and 4th degree haemorrhoids. The anal cushions are excised by use of diathermy without ligature of the vascular pedicles. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of this technique.

Plasma levels of t-PA and PAI-1 correlate with the formation of experimental post-surgical peritoneal adhesions.

This study has evaluated whether systemic changes of plasminogen activator (t-PA) and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) parallel the adhesions development and whether they could be used as predictors of adhesion risk. This has been studied in an animal model of post-surgical peritoneal adhesion by monitoring for 10 days the plasma and tissue levels of t-PA and PAI-1. The results showed that both tissular and plasmatic levels of t-PA were decreased in concomitance with the development of peritoneal adhesions.

Iatrogenic splenic injuries.

Inadvertent intraoperative injuries to the spleen by the surgical team represent an underestimated complication of many abdominal procedures. Surgical reports often lack the necessary details and frequently a clear justification as why a splenectomy was indicated is not provided. The wide variability of the incidence reported in literature makes it is difficult to evaluate the morbidity and mortality associated to these injuries and to assess the early and late consequences of this complication, although it is still possible to infer some of the reasons for these inconsistencies and to roughly estimate both clinical and socio-economical effects of this injury.