[Myasthenia gravis: perioperative complications of 1002 transsternal thymectomies - historical overwiev of 34 years long practice at one institution].

Thymectomy became an important part of the treatment of myasthenia gravis, since Alfred Blalock reported about his first surgery 80 years ago. Despite of several different surgical techniques already accepted abroad, sternal approach was the almost exclusive exposure for thymectomy in Hungary till 2006. In this publication, we analyze the direct surgical consequences and complications of this method.

[Postirradiation angiosarcoma of the breast].

Although secondary angiosarcomas (AS) are relatively rare neoplasms, they are increasingly recognized as the result of more breast conserving therapy (BCT) followed by radiotherapy. The diagnosis of this very aggressive and rapidly spreading tumour is based on the immunohystochemical characteristics of the biopsy specimen. Only radical surgical intervention can provide successful treatment.

Radial scar-significant diagnostic challenge.

The prevalence of radial scar (RS) is 0.04% in asymptomatic women participating in population screening for breast cancer. It is important to differentiate RS from concomitant malignancies, which occur in 20-30% of patients, or from small stellate carcinomas which give similar radiomorphology.

Lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma of the breast: not Epstein-Barr virus-, but human papilloma virus-positive.

Lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma of the breast is a rare tumor, with fewer than 20 cases documented in the literature. None of the published cases was Epstein-Barr virus positive, and our case was also Epstein-Barr virus negative. However, in our case, human papilloma virus (HPV) types 18 and 33 DNA could be demonstrated within the tumor tissue.

[Surgery of the thymus].

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Gyula Sebestény's death, an overview was prepared on the surgery of the thymic gland that was closely connected to his thoracic surgical activity. His results with thymectomy in myasthenia gravis were published as the second study on this topic in Europe and the first in Hungary. The early thymic surgery was based on pathological observations.

Lung cancer and its operable brain metastasis: survival rate and staging problems.

Background: We assessed the survival rates regarding different stages of operable lung cancers causing operable brain metastasis in patients with or without cancer-related symptoms. The correlation between survival rates and the disease-free interval between lung surgery and metastasectomy was studied.

Methods: Sixty-five patients were operated on for lung cancer and brain metastases.