Evaluation and Treatment of Massive Hemoptysis.

Massive hemoptysis is appropriately defined as life-threatening hemoptysis that causes airway obstruction, respiratory failure, and/or hypotension. Patients with this condition die from asphyxiation, not hemorrhagic shock. Any patient who presents with life-threatening hemoptysis requires immediate treatment to secure the airway and stabilize hemodynamics.

Variability in invasive mediastinal staging for lung cancer: A multicenter regional study.

Objective: Prior studies have reported underuse of-but not variability in-invasive mediastinal staging in the pretreatment evaluation of patients with lung cancer. We sought to compare rates of invasive mediastinal staging for lung cancer across hospitals participating in a regional quality improvement and research collaborative.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective study (2011-2013) of patients undergoing resected lung cancer from the Surgical Clinical Outcomes and Assessment Program in Washington State.

Lung resection outcomes and costs in Washington State: a case for regional quality improvement.

Background: A regional quality improvement effort does not exist for thoracic surgery in the United States. To initiate the development of one, we sought to describe temporal trends and hospital-level variability in associated outcomes and costs of pulmonary resection in Washington (WA) State.

Methods: A cohort study (2000-2011) was conducted of operated-on lung cancer patients.

Safety and efficacy of video-assisted versus conventional lung resection for lung cancer.

Objective: We sought to evaluate the use of video-assisted thoracoscopy among patients with lung cancer and its safety and effectiveness relative to conventional resection.

Methods: A cohort study (1994-2002) was conducted by using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End-Results Medicare database. Video-assisted thoracoscopy and conventional resection were hypothesized to be equivalent in terms of risks of death.

Racial disparities among patients with lung cancer who were recommended operative therapy.

Hypothesis: Health care system and provider biases and differences in patient characteristics are thought to be prevailing factors underlying racial disparities. The influence of these factors on the receipt of care would likely be mitigated among patients who are recommended optimal therapy. We hypothesized that there would be no significant evidence of racial disparities among patients with early-stage lung cancer who are recommended surgical therapy.