Kaizen method for esophagectomy patients: improved quality control, outcomes, and decreased costs.

Background: The majority of costs associated with esophagectomy are related to the initial 3 days of hospital stay requiring intensive care unit stays, ventilator support, and intraoperative time. Additional costs arise from hospital-based services. The major cost increases are related to complications associated with the procedure.

Can FDG-PET reduce the need for mediastinoscopy in potentially resectable nonsmall cell lung cancer?

Background: Few fluoro-deoxy-glucose (FDG)-positron emission tomography (PET) nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) trials have had sufficient patients to adequately evaluate PET for mediastinal staging. We question whether once PET is performed, is mediastinoscopy necessary?

Methods: We performed a 5-year retrospective analysis of operable patients with known or suspicious NSCLC. Standard PET techniques were used.