Effect of Socio-Economic Status on Perioperative Outcomes After Robotic-Assisted Pulmonary Lobectomy.

Background:  Lower socioeconomic status (SES) has been correlated with poor survival rates and surgical outcomes following lung cancer resection. This study sought to determine whether this disparity exists perioperatively in lung cancer patients following robotic-assisted video-thoracoscopic pulmonary lobectomy.  Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 447 consecutive patients who underwent robotic-assisted pulmonary lobectomy by one surgeon for known or suspected lung cancer.

Effect of Obesity on Perioperative Outcomes After Robotic-Assisted Pulmonary Lobectomy.

Objective: We investigated whether higher body mass index (BMI) affects perioperative and postoperative outcomes after robotic-assisted video-thoracoscopic pulmonary lobectomy.

Methods: We retrospectively studied all patients who underwent robotic-assisted pulmonary lobectomy by one surgeon between September 2010 and January 2015. Patients were grouped according to the World Health Organization's definition of obesity, with "obese" being defined as BMI >30.

Comparison of pulmonary function tests and perioperative outcomes after robotic-assisted pulmonary lobectomy vs segmentectomy.

Background: Lobectomy is standard treatment for early-stage lung cancer, but sublobar resection remains debated. We compared outcomes after robotic-assisted video-assisted thoracoscopic (R-VATS) segmentectomy vs lobectomy.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed data from 251 consecutive patients who underwent R-VATS lobectomy (n = 208) or segmentectomy (n = 43) by a single surgeon over 36 months.

Extensive plastic bronchitis: etiology of a rare condition.

We present the case of a 55-year-old man who developed extensive occlusive bronchial casts after trachea-esophageal (TE) fistula repair. The bronchial casts were treated by bronchoscopic extraction, high dose steroids, antibiotics, and antifungals. Despite this multi-modality treatment, the rapid formation of these occlusive bronchial casts was very aggressive and could not be controlled even with a series of five rigid bronchoscopic extractions within a 48-hour period.