Split-lobe resections versus lobectomy for lung carcinoma of the left upper lobe: a pair-matched case-control study of clinical and oncological outcomes.

Objectives: To compare left upper split-lobe procedures, being upper trisegmentectomy and resection of the lingula, with left upper lobectomy for surgical treatment of lung carcinoma originating from the left upper lobe.

Methods: A pair-matched control study comparing the clinical and oncological outcomes of 22 consecutive patients after left upper split-lobe resections with those of 44 pair-matched controls that received left upper lobectomy for non-small-cell lung carcinomas. The control group was matched 1:2 for tumour diameter, histology, nodal status and patient age.

Cotton-derived oxidized cellulose in minimally invasive thoracic surgery: a clinicopathological study.

Objective: The aim of this study was to identify resorption, clinical performance, and safety of cotton-derived oxidized cellulose gauze applied as a hemostat in minimally invasive oncologic thoracic surgery.

Methods: This is a pilot prospective noncomparative observational human in vivo study. A piece of cotton-derived oxidized cellulose gauze measuring 5 × 20 cm was inserted into the subcarinal space of patients with potentially resectable lung carcinoma at the time of video-assisted mediastinoscopic lymphadenectomy and reexamined several days later for macroscopic and histologic evaluation at the time of subsequent lung resection.

Extended cervical mediastinoscopy revisited.

Objectives: To describe the diagnostic value of selective extended cervical mediastinoscopy (ECM) in combination with video-assisted mediastinoscopic lymphadenectomy (VAMLA) in mediastinal staging of potentially resectable left-sided lung carcinoma.

Methods: Institutional report on 110 ECM procedures indicated for enlarged lymph nodes within the aorto-pulmonary (AP) zone on computed tomography. Staging sensitivity, negative predictive value (NPV) and specificity of ECM, combined VAMLA and ECM, VAMLA alone and systematic dissection for lung resection via left-sided video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) or thoracotomy were calculated from a subset of 92 patients with left-sided lung carcinoma.

Complete video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery anatomic segmentectomy for clinical stage I lung carcinoma - technique and feasibility.

This paper describes a prospective, observational, single-centre study of 20 consecutive patients with clinical stage I lung carcinoma undergoing anatomical sublobar resections using complete video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (cVATS). Thirteen male and seven female patients with a median age of 68 (range 57-84) years and a median of four (range 0-9) relevant comorbid conditions presented with five right-sided and 15 left-sided tumours, with a median diameter of 2.3 (range 1.

Combined videothoracoscopic and videomediastinoscopic approach improves radicality of minimally invasive mediastinal lymphadenectomy for early stage lung carcinoma.

Objectives: To assess the feasibility and radicality of a combined thoracoscopic and mediastinoscopic approach to mediastinal lymphadenectomy compared to thoracoscopy only for minimally invasive management of early stage lung carcinoma.

Methods: Prospective observational study of patients undergoing anatomical thoracoscopic lung resection for lung carcinoma in our department in 2007. Mediastinal lymphadenectomy was performed either thoracoscopically (VATS group) or by a combination of video-assisted mediastinoscopic lymphadenectomy (VAMLA) and thoracoscopy (VAMLA+VATS group).