Attempted closure of a post-pneumonectomy oesophagopleural fistula with an Amplatzer atrial septal occluder.

Oesophagopleural fistula is a recognized complication of pneumonectomy. Surgical repair with direct closure and reinforcement with omentum, muscle or pleural flap is the mainstay of definitive treatment. However, this option might not be suitable for all patients.

Detected troponin elevation is associated with high early mortality after lung resection for cancer.

Background: Myocardial infarction can be difficult to diagnose after lung surgery. As recent diagnostic criteria emphasize serum cardiac markers (in particular serum troponin) we set out to evaluate its clinical utility and to establish the long term prognostic impact of detected abnormal postoperative troponin levels after lung resection.

Methods: We studied a historic cohort of patients with primary lung cancer who underwent intended surgical resection.

Pericardio-diaphragmatic avulsion and concomitant rupture of the central tendon of the diaphragm.

Two patients, treated for blunt thoracoabdominal trauma with ruptured diaphragm and concomitant avulsion of the pericardial sac in its entirety from the central tendon of the diaphragm, are presented. We do not think this entity has been reported before. We explain this type of lesion on the basis of embryological development of the pericardium at the level of the central tendon of the diaphragm.