Who gains most? A 10-year experience with 611 thoracoscopic talc pleurodeses.

Background: Thoracoscopic talc pleurodesis is a therapeutic option for recurrent pleural effusion.

Methods: This retrospective study included 611 patients who underwent thoracoscopic talc pleurodesis between 1994 and 2003. We analyzed the risk factors, efficiency, outcome, follow-up, and survival, while taking into consideration primary disease and general condition.

Video-assisted mediastinoscopic surgery: clinical feasibility and accuracy of mediastinal lymph node staging.

Background: This study was conducted to assess indications, procedures, complications, and clinical feasibility of video-assisted mediastinoscopic surgery (VAMS). It also assessed the accuracy of mediastinal lymph node staging by video-assisted mediastinoscopic lymphadenectomy (VAMLA) with bimanual dissection through the twin-bladed, expanding Linder-Dahan mediastinoscope.

Methods: From 2000 to 2004, we documented and assessed 226 consecutive procedures in a prospective database.

Carcinoid lung tumors: long-term results from 111 resections.

Objective: Carcinoids are rare neuroendocrine tumors of the bronchial system. Only recently, the histological classification was standardized, and there are varying opinions about the extent of surgical resection. This research reports on the long-term results of 111 consecutive patients, who underwent surgery in a department for thoracic surgery.

[Surgical curriculum. A model from thoracic surgery].

There is a shortage of new surgeons in Germany. The blame for this is laid on poor working and training conditions in German hospitals. Professional associations suggest restructuring teaching plans to improve surgical education.

Systematic Video-Assisted Mediastinoscopic Lymphadenectomy (VAMLA).

Accurate mediastinal lymph node dissection during thoracotomy is mandatory for staging and for adjuvant therapy in lung cancer. Pre-therapeutic staging for neoadjuvant therapy or for video assisted thoracoscopic resection of lung cancer is achieved usually by CT-scan and mediastinoscopy. However, these methods do not reach the accuracy of open nodal dissection.