Pulmonary thromboendarterectomy in 106 patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension.

Introduction: Pulmonary thromboendarterectomy is the treatment of choice in chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension. We report our experience with this technique.

Methods: Between February 1996 and June 2014, we performed 106 pulmonary thromboendarterectomies.

Accuracy of helical computed tomography and [18F] fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography for identifying lymph node mediastinal metastases in potentially resectable non-small-cell lung cancer.

Purpose: Computed tomography (CT) and [18F] Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) are considered suitable methods for the noninvasive staging of the mediastinum. Our study was intended to estimate the efficacy of contrast-enhanced helical CT (hCT) and FDG-PET, alone and combined, in the diagnosis of lymph node mediastinal metastases.

Methods: This study was a prospective and blind comparison of the efficacy of hCT and FDG-PET with two alternative reference standards, mediastinoscopy, and mediastinoscopy plus thoracotomy plus a 6-month follow-up to diagnose lymph node mediastinal metastases in 132 consecutive patients with potentially resectable non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).