No Drain After Thoracoscopic Major Lung Resection for Cancer Helps Preserve the Physical Function.

Background: We previously proved that omitting chest tube drainage in select patients undergoing thoracoscopic major lung resection for cancer was safe. The aim of the present study was to clarify the impact of omitting postoperative chest tube drainage on preserving the early postoperative ventilatory capacity and exercise capacity.

Methods: The subjects of this retrospective study were 116 patients undergoing either thoracoscopic radical segmentectomy (n = 18) or lobectomy (n = 98).

Bilateral axillary artery aneurysms after Bentall procedure in Marfan syndrome.

A man with Marfan syndrome underwent a Bentall procedure for annuloaortic ectasia and severe aortic regurgitation at 43 years of age. Twenty-eight years after the Bentall procedure, he developed bilateral axillary artery aneurysms (length × diameter: right: 80 × 39 mm; left: 103 × 45 mm). Aneurysmectomy and reconstruction of the axillary artery were performed using an artificial vascular graft.

Structural valve deterioration of a mitral Carpentier-Edwards pericardial bioprosthesis in an 87-year-old woman 16 years after its implantation.

The second-generation pericardial valve, the Carpentier-Edwards perimount bioprosthetic (CEP) valve, shows dramatically improved durability as compared to the first-generation pericardial valve, and excellent performance has been obtained, in both the aortic and mitral positions. Especially in elderly patients with an implanted CEP valve, reoperation due to structural valve deterioration (SVD) is rarely required. Here, we report the case of an 87-year-old woman with an explanted CEP valve in the mitral position due to SVD, 16 years after its implantation.