The importance of endobag use with incision-protective devices in VATS lung resection: a preliminary study.

Objective: The advent of new techniques such as video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) for the removal of lung segments leads to compression of the surgical specimen, with the possible dissemination of neoplastic cells. The sheer volume of surgeries performed using these techniques has caused many institutions to stop removing the surgical specimen using an endobag, even when retractors/protectors are used in the instrumentalization incision. This study aimed to collect data from patients undergoing lung resection by VATS and analyze the cytopathological results of the collected material.

Solid Indeterminate Nodules with a Radiological Stability Suggesting Benignity: A Texture Analysis of Computed Tomography Images Based on the Kurtosis and Skewness of the Nodule Volume Density Histogram.

Background: The number of incidental findings of pulmonary nodules using imaging methods to diagnose other thoracic or extrathoracic conditions has increased, suggesting the need for in-depth radiological image analyses to identify nodule type and avoid unnecessary invasive procedures.

Objectives: The present study evaluated solid indeterminate nodules with a radiological stability suggesting benignity (SINRSBs) through a texture analysis of computed tomography (CT) images.

Methods: A total of 100 chest CT scans were evaluated, including 50 cases of SINRSBs and 50 cases of malignant nodules.

Lung cancer with chest wall invasion: retrospective analysis comparing en-bloc resection and 'resection in bird cage'.

Background: Invasion of the chest wall per se is not a contraindication for tumor resection in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), provided there is no mediastinal lymph node or vital structure involvement. Although widely known to Brazilian surgeons, the 'resection in bird cage' technique has never been widely studied in terms of patient survival. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the postoperative consequences and overall survival of extra-musculoperiosteal resection compared with en-bloc resection in NSCLC patients with invasion of the endothoracic fascia.

The surprising outcome of a giant primary mediastinal synovial sarcoma treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

There are only a few cases of primary mediastinal synovial sarcoma in the literature. Normally, they do not respond well to chemotherapy. In our case, a 30-year-old patient was admitted due to thoracic pain, dyspnea, orthopnea, cough, hoarseness and weight loss over a 3-month period as well as a dramatic worsening a week before the admission.

Results and complications of CT-guided transthoracic fine-needle aspiration biopsy of pulmonary lesions.

Objective: To analyze the cytological findings of CT-guided percutaneous fine-needle aspiration biopsies of the lung, to demonstrate the diagnostic feasibility of the method in the investigation of pulmonary lesions, and to determine the complications of the procedure, evaluating its safety.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of 89 patients with various types of pulmonary lesions who underwent 97 procedures over a period of five years. The patients were divided into groups regarding the indication for the procedure: suspicion of primary lung cancer (stages IIIB or IV); suspicion of lung cancer (stages I, II, or IIIA) and clinical contraindications for surgery; suspicion of pulmonary metastasis from other organs; and pulmonary lesions with benign radiological aspect.

[Usefulness of chest CT in the diagnosis of pulmonary sequestration].

Pulmonary sequestration is a rare congenital anomaly, characterized by nonfunctional embryonic pulmonary tissue. Pulmonary sequestration accounts for 0.15-6.

Quantitative assessment of elastic fibers in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Objective: To quantify elastic fibers (EFs) and smooth muscle (SM) cells, as well as CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes, in stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Methods: Surgical specimens were obtained from 15 COPD patients, 18 smokers without airflow limitation, and 14 nonsmokers. Histological and immunohistochemical methods were employed in order to quantify EFs, SM cells, CD4+ T cells, and CD8+ T cells.

Alveolar adenoma.

Alveolar adenoma is a rare benign neoplasm of the lungs, and very few cases have been described in the literature. Patients with alveolar adenoma are frequently asymptomatic and are diagnosed through the accidental discovery of a singular, well-delineated nodule on a routine chest X-ray. The definitive diagnosis is made histologically, and the treatment consists of surgical resection of the nodule.