Systematic use of recurrent laryngeal nerve neuromonitoring changes the operative strategy in planned bilateral thyroidectomy.

Background: One of the worst complications in thyroid surgery is bilateral recurrent laryngeal nerve paralysis, which can lead to transient or definitive tracheotomy.

Methods: We implemented a strict standard operative procedure beginning in January 2010 and modified our operative procedure. In all patients undergoing bilateral operation, we begin with the largest side or with the cancerous/suspicious side without dissecting the contralateral side.

Survival after lung metastasectomy in colorectal cancer patients with previously resected liver metastases.

Background: Resection of hepatic metastases is indicated in selected stage IV colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. A minority will eventually develop pulmonary metastases and may undergo lung surgery with curative intent. The aims of the present study were to assess clinical outcome and identify parameters predicting survival after pulmonary metastasectomy in patients who underwent prior resection of hepatic CRC metastases.

A lung segmentectomy performed with 3D reconstruction images available on the operating table with an iPad.

Anatomic lung segmentectomy is the procedure of choice in a growing number of patients, either because the lesion is small and/or because of poor lung function. The procedure requires a good knowledge of intrapulmonary anatomy. However, the experience for the different types of segmentectomy is not easy to obtain during thoracic surgical training due to the relatively small number of patients.

Preoperative embolization of hypervascular Castleman's disease of the mediastinum.

We report the case of a 31-year-old woman with mediastinal Castleman's disease of the hyaline vascular type. This large tumor was safely resected after arterial embolization. We describe the steps of this interventional procedure and discuss related necessary precautions.

Establishment of permanent cell lines purified from human mesothelioma: morphological aspects, new marker expression and karyotypic analysis.

This study reports the establishment of three major subtypes of human mesothelioma cells in tissue culture, i.e. the epithelioid, sarcomatoid and biphasic forms, and compares their phenotypic and biological characteristics.

Ten years of lung transplantation in Switzerland: results of the Swiss Lung Transplant Registry.

Objective: Lung transplantation has evolved from an experimental procedure to a viable therapeutic option in many countries. In Switzerland, the first lung transplant was performed in November 1992, more than ten years after the first successful procedure world-wide. Thenceforward, a prospective national lung transplant registry was established, principally to enable quality control.