Protective measures undertaken during chest tube thoracostomy in COVID-19 outbreak.

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a newly emerging infectious disease that was first reported in China and has become a worldwide pandemic. Many surgical procedures are continuing to be performed during this state of pandemic as is thoracic surgery. We present six cases of tube thoracostomy in COVID-19 patients and the modifications to the routine surgical technique.

The effect of meteorological variables on spontaneous pneumothorax in two regions with different altitudes.

Spontaneous pneumothorax (SP) is defined as the presence of free air inside the pleural space. Many studies have reported that meteorological variables may trigger SP, but the mechanism is unknown. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of meteorological variables on the development of SP in two regions with different altitudes.

The effects of analgesic treatment and chest physiotherapy on the complications of the patients with rib fractures that arise from blunt chest trauma.

Background: This prospective study aims to investigate the effect of chest physiotherapy and analgesic therapy on the possible complications of isolated rib fractures attributable to blunt thoracic trauma, such as hemothorax and pneumothorax.

Methods: Patients who presented to Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University School of Medicine Hospital's Emergency Department and Thoracic Surgery outpatient clinics within the first 24 hours of the post-traumatic period and did not have additional intrathoracic complications at presentation with blunt thoracic trauma and who were diagnosed with isolated rib fractures were enrolled in this prospective research study. The groups were designated as the patients who would receive analgesic treatment only (Group A) and the patients who would receive chest physiotherapy and analgesic treatment together (Group B).

Can diffusion weighted MRI differentiate between inflammatory-infectious and malignant pleural effusions?

Aim: To assess exudative pleural effusions with diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DW-MRI) in order to determine non-invasive differentiation criteria for inflammatory-infectious and malignant effusions.

Materials And Methods: Thirty-two patients with pleural effusions underwent DW-MRI with 4 different b values (10, 500, 750 and 1000 s/mm2). ADC maps were generated automatically.

Löfgren's syndrome: an acute variant of sarcoidosis diagnosed by mediastinoscopy.

Löfgren's syndrome is an acute clinical form of sarcoidosis that is first described by Sven Löfgren as bilateral hilar lymphadenopathy together with Erythema Nodosum (EN) and accompanying arthritis/arthralgia. This syndrome has some differences in terms of treatment, prognosis and recurrence compared to sarcoidosis. In this report, we describe a 70 years old lady who admitted with multiple erythematous lesions and arthralgia of both lower extremities and she was diagnosed as Löfgren's syndrome via mediastinoscopy.