Diaphragmatic repair of two cases of hepatic hydrothorax using video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery.

Hepatic hydrothorax is defined as the presence of a significant pleural effusion that develops in a patient with cirrhosis of the liver who does not have underlying cardiac or pulmonary disease. There are few published case reports dealing with hepatic hydrothorax treated surgically because patients with hepatic hydrothorax have end-stage liver disease. Recently, we treated two patients with refractory hepatic hydrothorax by directly suturing the diaphragmatic defects during video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS).

Hereditary factors in multiple primary malignancies associated with lung cancer.

Purpose: There are differences between lung cancer alone and multiple primary malignancies associated with lung cancer (MPMLC) in terms of clinical characteristics. However, the importance of these differences has not yet been clarified.

Methods: Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed on 123 patients with MPMLC and 815 patients with lung cancer alone who underwent operative procedures for lung cancer from August 1982 to March 2004.

A case report on a full-thickness chest wall reconstruction with polypropylene mesh and stainless steel mesh concurrently using a transverse rectus abdominis myocutaneous flap.

A full-thickness chest wall resection requires subsequent chest wall reconstruction. A chest wall resection and reconstruction was performed using a transverse rectus abdominis myocutaneous (TRAM) flap, together with polypropylene mesh (Marlex mesh) and stainless steel mesh (SSM). A 71-year-old man was diagnosed as having recurrent lung cancer in the chest wall, and underwent surgical resection.

Enucleation of esophageal leiomyoma with azygos continuation of the inferior vena cava: report of a case.

We herein report a rare case of esophageal leiomyoma in an 18-year-old woman with azygos continuation of the inferior vena cava. A submucosal tumor was located in the left wall of the esophagus behind the carina. The enlarged azygos vein made video-assisted thoracic surgery so difficult that conversion to a minithoracotomy and transection of the right superior intercostal vein were necessary to fully visualize the tumor.

Characteristics of multiple primary malignancies associated with lung cancer by gender.

Background: There are gender differences in multiple primary malignancies associated with lung cancer (MPMLC) in terms of clinical characteristics. However, the importance of these differences in the management of patients has not been clarified.

Objective: Differences in characteristics affected by gender were investigated in MPMLC to identify factors important for the proper management of the patients.

Resection of sternal tumors and reconstruction of the thorax: a review of 15 patients.

Purpose: We report our experience of resecting sternal tumors, followed by reconstruction of the skeletal and soft-tissue defects, and discuss the usefulness of sandwiched Marlex and stainless-steel mesh.

Methods: Fifteen patients underwent resection of a sternal tumor and chest wall reconstruction with autologous bone grafts, sandwiched Marlex and stainless-steel mesh or a titanium plate, and musculocutaneous flaps. The sternal tumors were from locally recurrent breast carcinoma in ten patients, metastasis from other organs in three, and primary chondrosarcoma in two.

Resection of sternal metastasis from endometrial carcinoma followed by reconstruction with sandwiched marlex and stainless steel mesh: report of a case.

We report the successful resection of sternal metastasis from endometrial carcinoma, followed by reconstruction of the chest defect, in an 87-year-old woman. We performed subtotal sternectomy and concurrent resection of the ribs and overlying soft tissue. The skeletal defect was then reconstructed with sandwiched Marlex and stainless steel mesh, and soft tissue coverage was accomplished by using a pectoralis major advancement flap.

Determining the plasma concentration of ketamine that enhances epidural bupivacaine-and-morphine-induced analgesia.

N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonists enhance opioid-induced analgesia. The plasma concentration of ketamine, an NMDA receptor antagonist that enhances epidural morphine-and-bupivacaine-induced analgesia, is not known. We examined 24 patients with lung carcinoma or metastatic lung tumor who underwent video-assisted thoracic surgery in a placebo-controlled, double-blind manner 4 h after emergence from anesthesia.

Human pulmonary dirofilariasis in a patient whose clinical condition altered during follow-up.

Pulmonary dirofilariasis is a rare disease. We have experienced a case which developed pleural effusion while being followed, rendering it difficult to establish the diagnosis. The patient, a 53-year-old woman, had previously undergone two operations; one for uterine cancer and another for breast cancer.