Effectiveness of bilateral clipping of the thoracic sympathetic chain for the treatment of severe palmar and/or axillary hyperhidrosis and facial flushing.

Introduction: Division of the thoracic sympathetic chain is the standard treatment for severe palmar and/or axillary hyperhidrosis and facial flushing. Clipping is an alternative option which allows the block to be reverted in cases of intolerable compensatory sweating.

Methods: This is a prospective study performed to assess: a) results of clipping of the thoracic sympathetic chain in patients with palmar and/or axillary hyperhidrosis and facial flushing; and b) to determine the improvement obtained after removal of the clip in patients with unbearable compensatory sweating.

Airway transplantation of adipose stem cells protects against bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive interstitial lung disease with poor prognosis. Adipose-derived stem cells (ADSC) have demonstrated regenerative properties in several tissues. The hypothesis of this study was that airway transplantation of ADSC could protect against bleomycin (BLM)-induced pulmonary fibrosis (PF).

Lung cancer diagnosis by trained dogs.

Objectives: Early lung cancer (LC) diagnosis is key to improve prognosis. We explored here the diagnostic performance of a trained dog to discriminate exhaled gas samples obtained from patients with and patients without LC and healthy controls.

Methods: After appropriate training, we exposed the dog (a 3-year-old cross-breed between a Labrador Retriever and a Pitbull) to 390 samples of exhaled gas collected from 113 individuals (85 patients with LC and 28 controls, which included 11 patients without LC and 17 healthy individuals) for a total of 785 times.

Executive summary of the SEPAR recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of non-small cell lung cancer.

The Thoracic Surgery and Thoracic Oncology groups of the Spanish Society of Pulmonology and Thoracic Surgery (SEPAR) have backed the publication of a handbook on recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of non-small cell lung cancer. Due to the high incidence and mortality of this disease, the best scientific evidence must be constantly updated and made available for consultation by healthcare professionals. To draw up these recommendations, we called on a wide-ranging group of experts from the different specialties, who have prepared a comprehensive review, divided into 4 main sections.

Benchmarking in Thoracic Surgery. Third Edition.

Introduction: Benchmarking entails continuous comparison of efficacy and quality among products and activities, with the primary objective of achieving excellence.

Objective: To analyze the results of benchmarking performed in 2013 on clinical practices undertaken in 2012 in 17 Spanish thoracic surgery units.

Methods: Study data were obtained from the basic minimum data set for hospitalization, registered in 2012.

Guidelines on surgery of the thoracic sympathetic nervous system.

Thoracic sympathetic nervous system (TSNS) surgery has increased in importance in the last few years, generating great expectations among the general population and the scientific community. This has been due to the excellent results obtained by videothoracoscopy-assisted thoracic sympathectomy in the treatment of essential hyperhidrosis and other TSNS disorders. This minimally invasive surgical technique has been shown to be effective, and with a low morbidity it is accepted as one of the best therapeutic options for the treatment of palmar and bilateral axillary hyperhidrosis and the number of patients consulting with the intention of having the operation has increased considerably.

[Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of spontaneous pneumothorax].

This is the fourth update of the guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of pneumothorax published by the Spanish Society of Pulmonology and Thoracic Surgery (SEPAR). Spontaneous pneumothorax, or the presence of air in the pleural space not caused by injury or medical intervention, is a significant clinical problem. We propose a method for classifying cases into 3 categories: partial, complete, and complete with total lung collapse.

Prognostic significance of synaptophysin in stage I of squamous carcinoma and adenocarcinoma of the lung.

Background: The prognostic significance of the presence of a neuroendocrine marker (synaptophysin, SY) was analyzed in stage I of squamous carcinoma and adenocarcinoma of the lung.

Methods: A multicentric retrospective study was conducted with immunohistochemical staining in a single center of 318 patients resected for squamous carcinoma or adenocarcinoma in pathologic stage I.

Results: In all, 162 cases of squamous carcinoma and 156 cases of adenocarcinoma were identified, which included 105 patients in stage IA (50 patients with squamous carcinoma and 55 patients with adenocarcinoma) and 213 in stage IB (112 with squamous carcinoma and 101 with adenocarcinoma).