Results of the Austrian National Lung Cancer Audit.

Objectives: The Austrian Lung Cancer Audit (ALCA) is a pilot study to evaluate clinical and organizational factors related to lung cancer care across Austria.

Materials And Methods: The ALCA is a prospective, observational, noninterventional cohort study conducted in 17 departments in Austria between September 2013 and March 2015. Participating departments were selected based on an annual case load of >50 patients with lung cancer.

Management of malignant pleural mesothelioma - part 1: epidemiology, diagnosis, and staging : Consensus of the Austrian Mesothelioma Interest Group (AMIG).

Malignant pleural mesothelioma is a rare malignant disease that in the majority of cases is associated with asbestos exposure. The incidence in Europe is about 20 per million inhabitants and it is increasing worldwide. Initial symptoms are shortness of breath, pleural effusion, cough, and chest pain.

Management of malignant pleural mesothelioma - part 3 : Data from the Austrian Mesothelioma Interest Group (AMIG) database.

Background: Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a rare but aggressive tumor originating from the pleural cavity with a strong link to previous asbestos exposure. In order to determine the demographics, diagnostics, therapeutic strategies, and prognosis of MPM patients in Austria, the Austrian Mesothelioma Interest Group (AMIG) was founded in 2011. In this report the data from the AMIG MPM database collected to date are reported.

Management of malignant pleural mesothelioma-part 2: therapeutic approaches : Consensus of the Austrian Mesothelioma Interest Group (AMIG).

Treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) depends on performance status of the patient, tumor stage, and histological differentiation. Chemotherapy (CHT) can be administered as first- and second-line treatment in unresectable MPM or as neoadjuvant or adjuvant treatment before or after surgery. A combination of an antifolate and platinum-based CHT is the only approved standard of care.

Multicenter phase II study evaluating docetaxel and cisplatin as neoadjuvant induction regimen prior to surgery or radiochemotherapy with docetaxel, followed by adjuvant docetaxel therapy in chemonaive patients with NSCLC stage II, IIIA and IIIB (TAX-AT 1.203 Trial).

Objectives: Neoadjuvant therapy with a platinum based doublet is an option in NSCLC patients with upfront resectable disease. However, the role of neoadjuvant induction in stages IIIA and IIIB and in initially not resectable patients is unclear.

Patients And Methods: In this phase II trial, 78 patients with locally advanced NSCLC, of whom 56 were considered not resectable at initial diagnosis, were treated with three neoadjuvant cycles of docetaxel and cisplatin and subjected to radical surgery if resectable.

Randomized phase II study of three doses of the integrin inhibitor cilengitide versus docetaxel as second-line treatment for patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer.

Introduction: This multicenter, open-label, phase II study was carried out to compare the efficacy and safety of cilengitide (EMD 121974), a selective inhibitor of the cell-surface integrins αVβ3 and αVβ5, with that of docetaxel in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Methods: Patients (n = 140) with advanced NSCLC who had failed first-line chemotherapy were randomized to cilengitide 240, 400, or 600 mg/m(2) twice weekly, or docetaxel 75 mg/m(2) once every 3 weeks for eight cycles. Non-progressing patients could continue cilengitide for up to 1 year.

[Primary epithelioid angiosarcoma of the proximal trachea].

A 81-year-old man presented with massive hemoptysis and dyspnea. Results of chest radiography and computer tomography were highly suspicious for a large right-sided tumor of the bronchus with impression of the right main bronchus. Because of clinical worsening the patient was transferred to our department of pulmonology.

Videoendoscopic procedures in thoracic surgery: technical aspects and report of removal of a mediastinal cyst.

Current videoendoscopic technology and percutaneous techniques of exposure and dissection have been successfully applied to abdominal surgery with favorable results. Application of this technology to our practice of thoracic surgery is the basis of this report. Video-assisted thoracic surgery was performed in 36 patients for the following indications: Raynaud's syndrome, undefined pulmonary nodule, persisting spontaneous pneumothorax, T1 bronchial carcinoma, and mediastinal cyst.

VATS (video-assisted thoracic surgery) of undefined pulmonary nodules. Preoperative evaluation of videoendoscopic resectability.

Peripheral undefined pulmonary nodules have become a favorable indication for the videoendoscopic approach in thoracic surgery. In our latest experience, we also successfully applied this technique in centrally located lesions of the lung. In reviewing our first 29 cases, we looked for preoperative features of videoendoscopic resectability.

Videoendoscopic removal of a mediastinal cyst.

A 41-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital for obstetric surgery. A preoperative chest x-ray film showed a mediastinal mass. After examinations with echocardiography, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging, we removed a cyst that was 2.

[Occupational disability evaluation: comparison of subjective assessment with an objective point system].

Our assessments of working disability in 83 expertize on silicosis suffers were subsequently compared with a computer-aided scoring system. In 57% of the cases, full agreement was found; in 14% our estimates were higher and in 20% lower than the computer-aided scores. We investigated the reasons for the discrepancies, and attempted an assessment of computer-aided establishment of medical expertize.

[Alveolitis caused by furnishing a medical office].

This article reports on the occurrence of an exogenous-allergic alveolitis that developed in a colleague who moved into new consulting rooms and an apartment. The diagnosis was established on the basis of typical X-ray picture, typical pulmonary function test findings, typical BAL and the histological findings established in transbronchial pulmonary biopsy material. The putative cause was moulds, the source of which could not be completely identified.