One-lung ventilation with a bronchial blocker in thoracic patients.

Background: Lung isolation is a technique used in a multitude of surgeries to ensure single-lung ventilation with collapse of the contralateral lung, as to achieve improved access and visualization of relevant anatomical structures. Despite being accepted and having favorable outcomes, bronchial blockers (BBs) are not to this day the main device of choice among anaesthesiologists.

Methods: In this retrospective and descriptive study, we analyzed the safety and efficacy of a BB in all types of thoracic surgeries in our centre between 2015 and 2022, excluding patients with massive hemoptysis or empyema, or who had undergone a prior pneumonectomy.

[Diagnosis of aortic arch thrombosis by two-dimensional echocardiography from the jugular fossa in a patient with protein C deficiency].

We describe the case of a 63-year-old man who suffered concomitant cerebral, mesenteric, and renal infarctions. Idiopathic dilated myocardiopathy without intracardiac masses was diagnosed by transthoracic echocardiography. A cross-sectional view of the innominate artery from the jugular fossa notch position revealed a threatening thrombus in the proximal region of the aortic arch.