Continuous absorbable suture technique for tracheobronchial sleeve resections.

From January 2000, we changed from the traditional interrupted suture technique for tracheobronchial sleeve resections to a continuous suture technique with absorbable suture. This retrospective study reviewed our experience in the first 50 consecutive patients operated on between January 2000 and August 2006. The median age was 61 years (range, 30 to 80 years).

Novel use of the internal thoracic artery retractor in transcervical thymectomy.

Transcervical thymectomy is a standard approach to the thymus and anterior mediastinum, but it is limited by poor exposure of the lower recesses of the anterior mediastinum. A novel technique using the widely available internal thoracic artery sternal retractor and a 30°-video camera allows enhanced exposure of the anterior mediastinum.

Correlation of soil radon and permeability with indoor radon potential in Ottawa.

Soil gas radon and soil gas permeability measurements were conducted at 32 sites across the five most populated communities in the city of Ottawa where indoor radon measurements were available for 167 houses. A soil radon index (SRI) determined from the soil radon concentration and the soil gas permeability was used to characterise radon availability from soil to air. This study demonstrated that the average SRI in a community area correlates with the indoor radon potential (the percentage of homes above 200 Bq m(-3)) in that community.

Radon diffusion coefficients of vapour barrier membranes used in Canadian building construction.

Vapour barrier membranes are often used as soil gas retarder in building construction. While vapour permeance characteristics of these membranes are well known and specified in Canadian standards, their radon diffusion coefficients are yet not available. This study provides test results of radon diffusion coefficients for 10 vapour barrier membranes commonly used in Canadian building construction.

Long-term monitoring of soil gas radon and permeability at two reference sites.

The long-term monitoring of soil radon variations was conducted at two reference sites in Ottawa. The purpose of this study was to determine whether a single soil radon survey could provide a representative soil radon characteristic of the site. Results showed that during the normal field survey period from June to September in Canada, a single field survey with multiple measurements of soil gas radon concentrations at a depth of 80 cm can characterise the soil radon level of a site within a deviation of +/-30%.