Publications by authors named "Lowell Leow"

Background: Climate change is the greatest threat to human health. Cardiothoracic patients suffer direct consequences from poor environmental health and we have a vested interest to address this in our practice. As leaders of complex high-end surgery, we are uniquely positioned to effect practical and immediate changes to significantly pare down emissions within the operating theatre, outside the operating theatre and beyond the confines of the hospital.

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Intra-osseous hemangiomas are uncommon tumors that can present diagnostic and treatment dilemmas. Bone hemangiomas with papillary and glomeruloid growth patterns are exceptionally rare. We present an example of an intra-osseous hemangioma of the rib displaying aggressive features on both radiology and histology.

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Background: Pembrolizumab as immunotherapy is increasingly used in adjuvant, neoadjuvant, and standalone therapy and has been described as safe. We share an experience of lung erosion post-thoracic surgery with the use of adjuvant pembrolizumab.

Case Presentation: A 65-year-old Chinese gentleman with metastatic renal cell carcinoma underwent lung metastasis resection and presented with delayed onset pneumothorax while on adjuvant pembrolizumab.

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Background And Purpose: Thoracic surgeons are now adopting a new method of using a mesh covering to reduce recurrence in surgical pleurodesis for pneumothorax. We aimed to review the literature and compare the outcomes of using mesh covering as an additional procedure during surgical pleurodesis.

Methods: A comprehensive search was performed from inception to October 2022 on PubMed, Embase, Cochrane and Scopus.

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We share our novel technique using barbed sutures for subcuticular purse-string suture closure during chest tube insertion and removal.

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Background: Bar displacement is one of the most serious complications following the Nuss procedure for pectus excavatum repair. This paper reports a novel method of bar fixation using ZipFix, a biocompatible cable-tie implant, and shares a series of patients and outcomes.

Methods: This paper describes the ZipFix stabilisation method and presents a case series of 20 patients with pectus excavatum who underwent the Nuss procedure and ZipFix stabilisation between July 2015 and September 2020.

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Covid-19 has touched all corners of the globe and impacted our lives in more ways than one. Thoracic surgeons are frontliners impacted in both our professional and personal capacities. In this commentary we discuss the impact that Covid-19 has had on thoracic surgery as a practice highlighting the discrepant impact upon developed and developing countries, the state of affairs of the "new normal" that we live in and the challenges ahead as we transition from pandemic living to endemic living alongside Covid-19.

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Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is an invaluable means of supporting critically ill children with refractory respiratory or cardiac failure. Controversy remains; however, whether roller or centrifugal pumps are superior, particularly in infants. We performed a comprehensive search on PubMed, Embase, and Scopus for studies comparing the use of centrifugal and roller pumps in the pediatric and neonatal population from 1973 until March 1, 2020.

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Objectives: We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of outcomes of lobectomy versus sublobar resection in elderly patients (≥65) with stage 1 nonsmall cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC).

Methods: We searched for relevant articles using a set of inclusion and exclusion criteria. Meta-analytic techniques were applied.

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The role of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is expanding as surgeons look at its utility beyond rescue treatment and have started adopting it for high-risk procedures to provide temporary airway and hemodynamic stabilization. ECMO needs to be deliberated in all patients with mediastinal masses who have compromised airways as well as in those with compression of heart and great vessels. There is a dearth of literature highlighting the definitive role of ECMO in patients with mediastinal masses.

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Background: The purpose of this systematic review is to evaluate the efficacy of antifibrinolytics in non-cardiac thoracic surgery.

Methods: We searched for all randomized controlled trials on this topic. A set of strict inclusion and exclusion criteria was developed.

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The management of massive anterior mediastinal masses (AMM) is challenging. With the burgeoning role of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support (ECMO) beyond the confines of salvage therapy, more trained clinicians are adopting it as a bridge for high-risk procedures or situations where temporary respiratory or cardiac support is required. We report our experience with using ECMO in the management of massive AMM in this case series of three patients sharing their clinical details and the lessons learned from them.

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We present a novel case of a patient with nephrotic syndrome and previous left pneumonectomy who had a massive pulmonary embolism of his remnant right pulmonary artery. He underwent surgical embolectomy and veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). Early embolectomy using retrograde pulmonary perfusion and post-operative ECMO helped the patient survive this catastrophic event.

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Background: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation has been used for COVID-19 patients with refractory hypoxemia.

Methods: We share our institution's experience in organizing extracorporeal membrane oxygenation services in Singapore during the COVID-19 pandemic. We also share our first COVID-19 extracorporeal membrane oxygenation case report.

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Introduction: COVID-19 presented an unprecedented challenge for healthcare workers and systems around the world. Healthcare systems have adapted differently in terms of pandemic planning of regular services, adopting infection control measures and prioritising essential hospital services in the context of a burgeoning COVID-19 patient load and inevitable surge.

Methods: We performed a review on current evidence and share our practices at a teaching hospital in Singapore.

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Background: Primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP) is a relatively common clinical entity with high incidence in the young population. Video-Assisted Thoracic Surgery (VATS) bullectomy and chemical or mechanical pleurodesis are two primary modalities of treatment. There has been much debate on the ideal mode of pleurodesis, but the literature on surgical outcomes comparing VATS pleurectomy with talc pleurodesis has been inconclusive.

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