Effect of tidal volume on extravascular lung water content during one-lung ventilation for video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery: a randomised, controlled trial.

Background: The use of low tidal volume during one-lung ventilation (OLV) has been shown to attenuate the incidence of acute lung injury after thoracic surgery.

Objective: To test the effect of tidal volume during OLV for video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery on the extravascular lung water content index (EVLWI).

Design: A randomised, double-blind, controlled study.

Right ventricular function during one-lung ventilation: effects of pressure-controlled and volume-controlled ventilation.

Objectives: To test the effects of pressure-controlled (PCV) and volume-controlled (VCV) ventilation during one-lung ventilation (OLV) for thoracic surgery on right ventricular (RV) function.

Design: A prospective, randomized, double-blind, controlled, crossover study.

Setting: A single university hospital.

Comparative study of the non-dependent continuous positive pressure ventilation and high-frequency positive-pressure ventilation during one-lung ventilation for video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery.

The application of volume controlled high-frequency positive-pressure ventilation (HFPPV) to the non-dependent lung (NL) may have comparable effects to continuous positive-airway pressure (CPAP) on the surgical conditions during one-lung ventilation (OLV) for video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS). After local Ethics Committee approval and informed consent, we randomly allocated 30 patients scheduled for elective VATS after the first 15 min of OLV to ventilate the NL with CPAP of 2 cm H(2)O (NL-CPAP(2)) and HFPPV using tidal volume 2 ml/kg, inspiratory to expiratory ratio <0.3 and respiratory rate 60/min (NL-HFPPV) for 30 min, each in a randomized crossover order.

Primary mediastinal Castleman's disease.

Castleman's disease is a rare entity with an unknown etiology which was first described by Castleman in 1954. It is a lymphoproliferative disorder histologically classified into three types; hyaline-vascular, plasma cell type and mixed type. It might be localized or multicentric and usually involves the mediastinum.

Is Routine Spiral CT-Chest Justified in Evaluation of the Major Blunt Trauma Patients?

Study: New generation spiral CT scanners permit multiple consecutive CT examinations on the same trauma patient in a short period of time. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic role and therapeutic impact of routine spiral CT chest in multiply injured patients or patients with a suspicious mechanism of injury.

Patients And Methods: This prospective study included 443 patients with blunt chest trauma.

Solitary benign fibrous tumors of the pleura.

Solitary benign fibrous tumors of the pleura are very rare. Seven patients (mean age, 52 years) who presented between 1995 and 2005 were studied retrospectively. They had nonspecific chest symptoms and no history of asbestos exposure or smoking.

Gigantic enlargement of the thymus gland.

True massive thymic hyperplasia is a very rare entity, characterized by an increase in the size and weight of the thymus gland, without an apparent cause. Surgery has been required in patients with severe respiratory distress. We present an idiopathic true massive thymic hyperplasia in a 5-month-old boy.