Patients With Surgically Resectable Lung Cancer Who Opt for Radiation Have Worse Outcomes.

Background: Surgery has been the standard procedure for resectable primary LC. Survival after stereotactic body radiation therapy, another treatment, is significantly biased due to preponderance of data from patients deemed unsuitable for surgery. We examined survival of patients refusing surgery in favor of radiation therapy.

A simple prediction score for postoperative mortality after decortication.

Background: Decortication of the lung, either by video-thoracoscopy or thoracotomy is potentially a morbid procedure and has significantly higher mortality compared with other major thoracic procedures. Much of this difference can be attributed to other significant comorbidities and to the non-elective nature of the surgery. Our primary goal was to recognize the preoperative unique characteristics of patients who had postoperative mortality within the first 30 days.

New or enlarging hiatal hernias after thoracic surgery for early lung cancer.

Objective: The study objective was to determine the relationship between lung resection and the development of postoperative hiatal hernia.

Methods: Preoperative and postoperative computed tomography imaging from 373 patients from the International Early Lung Cancer Action Program and the Initiative for Early Lung Cancer Research on Treatment were compared at a median of 31.1 months of follow-up after resection of clinical early-stage non-small cell lung cancer.

Early-Stage Lung Cancer Patients' Perceptions of Presurgical Discussions.

Background: Patients with early-stage non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have high survival rates, but patients often say they did not anticipate the effect of the surgery on their postsurgical quality of life (QoL). This study adds to the literature regarding patient and surgeon interactions and highlights the areas where the current approach is not providing good communication.

Design: Since its start in 2016, the Initiative for Early Lung Cancer Research on Treatment (IELCART), a prospective cohort study, has enrolled 543 patients who underwent surgery for stage I NSCLC within the Mount Sinai Health System.

A narrative review of hyperthermic intrathoracic chemotherapy for advanced lung cancer.

The traditional treatment of stage IV lung cancer is predominantly supportive or palliative. No current standardized guidelines promote the use of hyperthermic intrathoracic chemotherapy (HITHOC) in the treatment of advanced lung cancer with pleural involvement. Several small studies have examined the safety and utilization of HITHOC for this population, though the data is extremely limited.

Major modifications to minimize thoracic esophago-gastric leak and eradicate esophageal stricture after Ivor Lewis esophagectomy.

Background: The Ivor Lewis esophagectomy (ILE) remains the procedure of choice for localized middle or lower esophageal carcinoma. Nevertheless, anastomotic leak remains a common complication with rates from 3% to 25% and a stricture rate as high as 40%. The frequency of these complications suggests that the procedure itself may have inherent limitations including the use of potentially ischemic tissue for the esophagogastric anastomosis.

COVID-19 ventilator barotrauma management: less is more.

Background: COVID-19 patients requiring mechanical ventilation may develop significant pneumomediastinum and sub-cutaneous emphysema without associated pneumothorax (SWAP). Prophylactic chest tube placement or sub-fascial "blowholes" are usually recommended to prevent tension pneumothorax and clinical decline. Risk of iatrogenic lung injury and release of virus into the environment is high.

Taken Together: Effective Multimodal Approaches for Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma.

Malignant pleural mesothelioma is an aggressive, deadly cancer often requiring input from multiple medical disciplines. Treatment has evolved over the last several decades with increasing evidence and ongoing advances in chemotherapy, radiation, and immunotherapy; however, no standard treatment regimen has yet been defined. Regardless of the overall strategy, surgery remains the foundation of treatment to remove macroscopic disease, and preservation of lung parenchyma via extended pleurectomy/decortication may be preferable to extrapleural pneumonectomy.

Perioperative chemoimmunotherapy in a patient with stage IIIB non-small cell lung cancer.

We present a case of a 56-year-old male patient with stage IIIB (T3N2M0) poorly differentiated squamous cell carcinoma of the lung. Four cycles of chemotherapy were first applied, and the patient had stable disease. However, the patient refused to receive radiotherapy, therefore second-line treatment chemotherapy combined with anti-PD-1 immunotherapy was applied.

Transdiaphragmatic Migration of a Spinal Fixation Rod into the Lung.

Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis may require surgical treatment for extreme curvature of the spine or loss of pulmonary function. We present a report of a 31-year-old woman with a history of scoliosis and anterolateral spinal fusion who developed chest pain and hemoptysis. Imaging revealed that a fixation rod had migrated cephalad, penetrating the diaphragm into the left lower lobe of the lung.

Mesenchymal stem cells increase T-regulatory cells and improve healing following trauma and hemorrhagic shock.

Background: Rodent lungs undergo full histologic recovery within 1 week following unilateral lung contusion (LC). However, when LC is followed by hemorrhagic shock (HS), healing is impaired. We hypothesize that the intravenous administration of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in animals undergoing combined LC followed by HS (LCHS) will improve wound healing.

Transfusion begets anemia: the effect of aged blood on hematopoiesis.

Background: Following trauma, transfusion of aged stored blood is often necessary yet associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Despite blood replacement, many patients have a prolonged anemia requiring further transfusions. The effects of aged blood on bone marrow (BM) hematopoiesis have not been studied, and we hypothesized that stored blood suppresses BM function.

Functional outcomes after limb-salvage surgery and endoprosthetic reconstruction with an expandable prosthesis: a report of 4 cases.

Objective: To determine the functional outcomes of skeletally immature patients after replacement of the femur and tibia performed by using noninvasive expandable endoprostheses.

Design: Case series.

Setting: A hospital-based ambulatory care center.