Implementation of a perioperative care App in elective thoracic surgery.

Introduction: The design and implementation inconsistency of perioperative care programs limits their universalization, and it is where e-Health can standardize these processes. The objective of the study is to create a Smartphone App with a perioperative care program, implement it in a group of patients scheduled for a thoracic surgical procedure, and evaluates its use.

Methods: A prospective and descriptive study.

Preoperative detection and evaluation of the need for psychological intervention in cancer and non-cancer patients referred to thoracic surgery.

Objectives: (a) to evaluate and compare the psychological treatment needs of patients with cancer and non-cancer, who are going to undergo scheduled thoracic surgery, and (b) evaluate and compare the diagnostic accuracy of the screening tests of psychological treatment needs for cancer and non-cancer patients.

Method: The need for psychological treatment was evaluated in a total of 169 patients prior to thoracic surgery, through a clinical interview. The screening tests used were: the physician's judgment (yes/no), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and, the single-item interview to assess depression "Do you feel depressed?" (DEPQ).

Preoperative detection and evaluation of the need for psychological intervention in cancer and non-cancer patients referred to thoracic surgery.

Objectives: (a) to evaluate and compare the psychological treatment needs of patients with cancer and non-cancer, who are going to undergo scheduled thoracic surgery, and (b) evaluate and compare the diagnostic accuracy of the screening tests of psychological treatment needs for cancer and non-cancer patients.

Method: The need for psychological treatment was evaluated in a total of 169 patients prior to thoracic surgery, through a clinical interview. The screening tests used were: the physician's judgment (yes/no), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and, the single-item interview to assess depression "Do you feel depressed?" (DEPQ).

Immunodeficiency and thymoma in Good syndrome: Two sides of the same coin.

Good Syndrome is a rare clinical entity first described as the conjunction of thymoma and hypogammaglobulinemia, and more recently depicted as a complex disease integrating a medical history of thymoma with humoral immunodeficiency (more accurately stated: hypogammaglobulinemia) with or without cellular immunodeficiency, recurrent infections, autoimmunity, paraneoplastic syndromes and diverse aberrations in the immunological profile. This condition has an ominous prognosis with a high mortality rate secondary to recalcitrant infectious diseases. Understanding the possible discordances in clinical presentation and the temporal relationship between manifestations and immunological alterations is key to prevent misdiagnosis and complications.

Implementing a distress screening program in a thoracic surgery service.

Introduction: The aim of the present study was to examine the diagnostic accuracy of screening tests in detecting cases requiring psychological intervention among patients referred for thoracic surgery.

Methods: Emotional distress was evaluated in 105 patients referred for thoracic surgery by means of a diagnostic psychological interview (criterion variable). The screening ability of the following methods was analyzed: the physician's opinion (Yes/No), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), single-item interview: «Are you depressed?» (Depression Question, ADEP) (1-5) and the single-item interview: «Are you anxious?» (Anxiety Question, ANXQ) (1-5).

Pulsed Ultrasounds Reduce Pain and Disability, Increasing Rib Fracture Healing, in a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Introduction: Rib fractures are an important health issue worldwide, with significant, pain, morbidity, and disability for which only symptomatic treatment exists.

Objectives: Based on our previous experimental model, the objective of the current study was to assess for the first time whether pulsed ultrasound (PUS) application could have beneficial effects on humans.

Methods: Prospective, double-blinded, randomized, controlled trial of 51 patients.

Severe compensatory hyperhidrosis following thoracic sympathectomy successfully treated with low doses of botulinum toxin A.

Compensatory hyperhidrosis is an adverse effect of thoracic sympathectomy that can be debilitating, which is why an efficient treatment is demanded. Botulinum toxin is an emerging treatment, not well known yet. We report two cases of compensatory hyperhidrosis following thoracic sympathectomy which were both treated with low doses of botulinum toxin A.