A systematic review and meta-analysis for the management of Paget-Schroetter syndrome.

Objective: There is currently no general agreement on the optimal treatment of Paget-Schroetter syndrome. Most centers have advocated an interventional approach that is based on the results of small institutional series. The purpose of our meta-analysis was to focus on the safety and efficacy of thrombolysis or anticoagulation with decompression therapy.

The management of acute gastric volvulus.

Acute gastric volvulus occurs when the stomach or a part of it rotates more than 180 degrees which leads to obstruction (closed loop syndrome), that finally concludes to incarceration and ischemia of the organ. It can be observed as a result of diaphragmatic hernia, a gap of the diaphragm, pancreatic or gastric cancers, traumatic injuries and fixation anomalies. Parï first described acute gastric volvulus in 1579, in a patient with diaphragmatic injury after trauma.

Therapy of the empyema thoracis. Why not thoracostoma?

Empyema toracis can be defined as a purulent pleural effusion. From 1998 to 2003 we treated 106 patients (87 men and 19 women), aged between 23 and 82 years, affected by localized empyema toracis. All of them received initially a chest tube and 73 of them (60 men and 13 women), in combination with selected antibiotics, had an uneventful recovery.

Sternal fractures: retrospective analysis of 100 cases.

Isolated sternal fractures are seen with increasing frequency in road accidents, especially since the introduction of seatbelt legislation. The medical records of all our patients who were treated with a diagnosis of sternal fracture (SF) over the past two decades were retrospectively reviewed to determine the incidence, morbidity, and mortality of this entity. Between 1984 and 1998, 100 consecutive patients were admitted to the Department of Surge Surgery, General Hospital of Nikea-Piraeus, Greece, for SF.