Paraneoplastic Syndromes in Lung Cancers: Manifestations of Ectopic Endocrinological Syndromes and Neurologic Syndromes.

Paraneoplastic syndromes are clinical entities associated with cancers and often overlap with metabolic and endocrine syndromes. The cell types of lung cancer involved are frequently small cell, squamous cell, adenocarcinoma, large cell, and carcinoid tumor. A number of neurologic paraneoplastic syndromes have been described for which the tumor product remains unknown.

Medical Audit to Improve the Quality of Patient Care in Thoracic Surgery.

The purpose and conduct of medical audit is a means of quality control for medical practice by which the profession shall regulate its activities with the intention of improving overall patient care. The quality assurance depends on patient and physician satisfaction. The medical profession needs to be educated about the structure, process, and outcome.

Controversies in Lung Cancer: When to Resect with Compromised Pulmonary Function.

Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer-related death worldwide among both men and women. Patients with lung cancer frequently have impaired pulmonary function, usually secondary to smoking-related chronic obstructive lung disease. Numerous techniques have been used to evaluate the postsurgical risk.

Superior Vena Cava Resection and Reconstruction with Resection of Primary Lung Cancer and Mediastinal Tumor.

The superior vena cava is a short ∼7-cm valveless vessel that brings blood from the upper half of the body to the heart but has connections to the infracardiac venous structures as well. It can become obstructed, mostly by advanced lung cancer but benign conditions account for one-fourth of cases. When possible, reconstruction can be by biological material or via ring reinforced grafts.

The History and Evolution of Surgical Instruments in Thoracic Surgery.

Surgery is as old as man, and its evolution has been moulded in every age by current technical and scientific advances, not forgetting the demands made upon it by social circumstances and religion. It is both an art and a science, while its practice largely depends on the human relations between doctor and patient. It is extremely difficult to define where surgery begins or ends, and its separation from medicine is largely based on the very different paths which the two disciplines took in ancient times.

Standardized Postoperative Adverse Event Data Collection to Document, Inform, and Improve Patient Care.

There is great potential for standardized postoperative adverse events data collection to document, inform, audit, and feedback, all to optimize patient care. Adverse events, defined as any deviation from expected recovery from surgery, have harmful implications for patients, their families, and clinicians. Postoperative adverse events occur frequently in thoracic surgery, predominately due to the high-stakes (ie, high potential for cure) and high-risk (ie, vital physiology and anatomy and preexisting disease) nature of the surgery.

The Lymphatic Spread of Lung Cancer: An Investigation of the Anatomy of the Lymphatic Drainage of the Lungs and Preoperative Mediastinal Staging.

The knowledge of lymphatic spread of lung cancer permitted the study of anatomy of lymphatic drainage of the lungs. The history of anatomy of lymphatic drainage of the lungs began in the 15th century. In the human, pulmonary lymph flows to the lymph nodes around the lobar bronchi and thence to extrapulmonary lymph nodes located around the main bronchi and trachea and its bifurcation (tracheobronchial lymph nodes).

Delays in Managing Lung Cancer: The Importance of Fast-Tracking in the Clinical Care.

Early diagnosis in lung cancer is desirable, because surgical resection offers the only hope of cure. In the face of suggestive symptoms, a normal plain chest radiograph does not exclude the diagnosis, and investigation is essential. The various imaging changes seen on computerized tomography and PET scan provide strong suggestive evidence of lung cancer, but proof of diagnosis rests on histologic examination, material that may be obtained by one of the following diagnostic procedures: bronchoscopy, mediastinoscopy, fine needle aspiration biopsy, thoracentesis and pleural biopsy, lymph node biopsy, and exploratory thoracotomy.

Sepsis in the Postpneumonectomy Space: Pathogenesis, Recognition, and Management.

Empyema may occur in the pleural space after pulmonary resection. Subsequent bacterial contamination results in infection and development of frank empyema. Pneumonectomy-surgical removal of the entire lung-is the treatment of choice for centrally located bronchogenic carcinoma, diffuse malignant mesothelioma, and chronic inflammatory lung diseases with destroyed lung from pulmonary tuberculosis, fungal infections, and bronchiectasis.

Assessment of Operability and Resectability in Lung Cancer.

Lung cancer is a lethal disease, and chronic cigarette smoking is the most common cause. The selection of treatment is based on the histologic cell type, accurate staging, and adequacy of cardiopulmonary functional reserve. The risk for surgery is highest in patients over the age of 80 years.

Guiding Principles on the Importance of Thoracic Surgical Education on Establishing Integrated Thoracic Surgery Program, Interdisciplinary Thoracic Oncology Conferences, and an Interdisciplinary Approach to Management of Thoracic Malignancies.

The objective of these notes is to stress the principles underlying the management of primary lung cancers and other types of malignancies in the thorax-diffuse malignant mesothelioma, invasive mediastinal tumors, chest wall sarcoma, and tracheal neoplasms-and from these considerations to outline a routine scheme for management, which can be followed easily by all staff. It is hoped that by adherence to this routine, adequate and efficient management of all cases will be obtained, both in the very important matter of preoperative preparation, as well in the postoperative management.

Can Biologic Aggressiveness and Metastatic Potential of Primary Lung Cancer Be Predicted from Clinical Staging Alone?

The future biologic aggressiveness and metastatic potential of lung cancer, as in other cancers, cannot be predetermined from the current clinical information, imaging studies, and pathologic examination whose purpose is to provide diagnosis and mutation studies and molecular drivers only in making decision for treatment. There is a need for better understanding of the biologic characteristics and aggressiveness of lung cancer. The most that is achieved from clinical staging and pathologic staging is in the planning of treatment of lung cancer and predicting prognosis.

Oligometastatic Lung Cancer Defined by Biology, Science, and Secondary Growths.

Breast cancer was the first malignant tumor for which TNM classification was proposed by the International Union Against Cancer. Volume and distribution of tumor burden were considered clinically important in this cancer. Lung cancer is caused by excessive cigarette smoking.

Ethics for Thoracic Surgeons in the Management of Lung Cancer.

Lung cancer is a terrible disease, with less than 20% of patients with a diagnosis of lung cancer able to have a resection but many relapsing, making it one of the most biologically aggressive cancers known. Thoracic surgeons do not see all the other 80% but are often consulted and have to make recommendations, and sometimes have to intervene. Thoracic surgeons should be well informed about the ethical framework and participate actively in the discussion.

Role of the Thoracic Radiologist in the Evaluation and Management of Solid and Subsolid Lung Nodules.

In this review, the authors describe the imaging characteristics of solid and subsolid nodules as well as their management recommendations including the use of image-guided percutaneous biopsy and preoperative coil localization. Using case presentations, they offer practical management tips for the most commonly encountered nodule nodules in a thoracic surgical practice.

How to Design and Foster Thoracic Oncology Multidisciplinary Cancer Conferences.

In this chapter, the authors review and discuss the literature on multidisciplinary cancer conferences (MCCs, aka tumor boards), clarifying the terminology, showing the evolution of the field, and providing an evidence-based perspective on positive outcomes, best practices, factors influencing the quality of MCCs, evaluation tools to assess the quality of MCCs, and quality improvement interventions for MCCs. The authors then discuss some perspectives from their MCC and initiatives that they undertook to improve the work of their team and the care that they provide to patients in the area of thoracic oncology.

Adjuvant melatonin for the prevention of recurrence and mortality following lung cancer resection (AMPLCaRe): A randomized placebo controlled clinical trial.

Background: Despite curative intent resection in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), recurrence leading to mortality remains too common. Melatonin has shown promise for the treatment of patients with lung cancer; however, its effect following cancer resection has not been studied. We evaluated if melatonin taken after complete resection reduces lung cancer recurrence and mortality, or impacts quality of life (QOL), symptomatology or immune function.

Long-term Symptom Control After Laparoscopic Heller Myotomy and Dor Fundoplication for Achalasia.

Background: Achalasia is a primary esophageal motility disorder in which there is incomplete relaxation of the lower esophageal sphincter and absence of peristalsis in the lower two thirds of the esophagus. A favored treatment is laparoscopic modified Heller myotomy with Dor fundoplication (LHMDor) with more than 90% immediate beneficial effect. The short-term outcomes of LHMDor are well documented, but stability and durability of postoperative symptom control over time is less understood.

Early Identification of Patients Who Will Meet 24-Hour Fluid Output Threshold for Chest Tube Removal After Lung Resection.

Improving evidence-based chest tube removal may reduce the length of stay following surgery. Presently, most chest tube removal protocols include a fluid output threshold based on a 24-hour observation period. The purpose of this study was to evaluate if, within a 24-hour time period, fluid output measurements at 6, 8, and 12 hours could predict if the total 24-hour fluid output would comply with a predetermined volume threshold considered acceptable for safe chest tube removal.

Importance of a Team Effort in Success of Airway Surgery.

The thoracic surgeon occupies a unique position in the team of those who are involved in looking after surgical patients in need of airway operations. It may be for urgent and life-threatening situations as in tracheo-vascular fistula or critical airway obstruction. Or it may be semiurgent in the intensive care unit in patients on assisted ventilation requiring tracheostomy (open or percutaneous).

Recognition and Management of Life-Threatening Tracheovascular Fistulae and How to Prevent Them.

Formation of a fistula between trachea and a major artery or vein in the root of the neck threatens life quickly from combination of major external bleeding and hemorrhagic shock, and asphyxiation from flooding of the proximal airways with blood. This complication can occur after cervical tracheostomy open or percutaneous, tracheal resection, cervical exentration and anterior mediastinal tracheostomy, and laryngectomy. The recognition of its occurrence is clinical based on a high index of clinical suspicion.