Covering the staple line with a polyglycolic acid sheet after bullectomy for primary spontaneous pneumothorax prevents postoperative recurrent pneumothorax.

Background: Postoperative recurrent pneumothorax (PORP) can arise after surgery for primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP) that is recurrent or involves prolonged air leakage. In this study, which included 265 patients (279 cases) with PSP who underwent surgery at our department, the percentage of patients that did not experience PORP was compared between a group that underwent bullectomy alone (group A) and a group in which the staple line and the surrounding visceral pleura were covered with a PGA sheet after bullectomy (group B) in order to study the utility of PGA sheets for preventing PORP.

Methods: Among the patients with PSP who underwent surgery, the cases of 92 patients (98 cases) from Group A and 173 patients (181 cases) from Group B were reviewed retrospectively.

BCG vaccine elicits both T-cell mediated and humoral immune responses directed against mycobacterial lipid components.

The universe of antigens recognized by alphabeta T cells has recently been expanded to include not only major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-presented protein antigens but also CD1-presented lipid antigens. The significance of lipid-reactive T cells in host defense has been appreciated, using the guinea pig model of human tuberculosis. Here, we show that immunization with Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG), the commonly used anti-tuberculosis vaccine, induces activation of guinea pig cytotoxic T cells recognizing BCG lipids in the context of CD1 molecules.

Long-term survival of Askin tumor for 10 years with 2 relapses.

An abnormal shadow was noted on a chest X-ray of a 32-year-old female in a medical check-up in March 1995, 3 months after she had given birth. Thoracic CT detected a tumor in contact with the left thoracic wall, and tumorectomy was performed in May 1995. The tumor was diagnosed as a primitive neuroectodermal tumor (PNET).

Primary pulmonary mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma combined with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura and amyloidoma in the lung.

Three abnormal shadows were detected in the right lung on chest X-ray films and computed tomography in a 75-year-old woman during follow-up for idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura. Because a definitive diagnosis was not obtained through general examinations, exploratory thoracotomy was performed for diagnosis and treatment. The main lesion in the right middle lobe was diagnosed as mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma according to histopathological findings, cytogenic studies and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction analysis, and nodular lesions in S(3) and S(7) were diagnosed with Congo-red staining as local deposition of amyloid.

Temperature-dependent biosynthesis of glucose monomycolate and its recognition by CD1-restricted T cells.

Mycolic acids are long chain fatty acids that constitute the lipid-rich cell wall framework of mycobacteria. Upon infection, mycobacteria begin to synthesize glucose monomycolate (GMM), a glucosylated species of mycolic acids, by utilizing host-derived glucose as sugar source. Accordingly, GMM production serves as a good indicator for local invasion of mycobacteria, and its detection by the host immune system would favor efficient monitoring of mycobacterial infection.

Surgical treatment for lung cancer patients with poor pulmonary function.

Unlabelled: This retrospective study was aimed to review the risk factors of postoperative hospital death in lung cancer patients with poor pulmonary reserves. We performed surgery on 30 lung cancer patients (average age: 71 years) with less than 1.0L of preoperative forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1.

Thoracoscopic surgery in children.

Purpose: A minimally invasive thoracoscopic surgery offers several options in diagnosis and surgical treatment in the field of pediatric surgery. We would like to review our surgical experience and to assess the clinical outcomes and problems encountered during thoracoscopic surgery in children and adolescents focusing on children less than 6 years old.

Patients And Methods: In 1992 and 2003, 977 patients underwent thoracoscopic surgery for chest diseases.

Surgical treatment of lung cancer combined with interstitial pneumonia: the effect of surgical approach on postoperative acute exacerbation.

Unlabelled: Postoperative acute exacerbation of interstitial pneumonia (IP) is known to be a serious complication in the surgical treatment for primary lung cancer combined with IP. This retrospective study was conducted to investigate the influence of three different approaches to the thorax on postoperative acute exacerbation of IP in lung cancer patients. Forty-seven lung cancer patients who developed it underwent pulmonary resection between 1982 and 2003.

Prognostic significance of the tumor suppressor gene maspin in non-small cell lung cancer.

Background: Maspin is a serpin protease inhibitor, which is known to suppress tumor progression in breast cancer and to be regulated by wild-type p53. This study was performed to elucidate the biologic significance of maspin expression in non-small cell lung cancer.

Methods: To investigate whether maspin is involved in progression, clinicopathologic features, and prognosis of non-small cell lung cancer, we performed an immunohistochemical study using antimaspin antibody and identified the presence of maspin messenger ribonucleic acid in cancerous and noncancerous tissues by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analysis.

Endogenously expressed HIV-1 nef down-regulates antigen-presenting molecules, not only class I MHC but also CD1a, in immature dendritic cells.

The effects of Nef molecules on immature dendritic cells (iDCs) were analyzed using recombinant human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) with intact nef gene, pseudotyped with vesicular stomatitis virus glycoprotein, HIV/VSV-G/+Nef. When iDCs were infected with HIV/VSV-G/+Nef, the surface expression of CD1a, a molecule for presenting glycolipid/lipid antigens, was selectively down-regulated among CD1 molecules (CD1a, -b, -c, and -d) as well as class I MHC. Moreover, the CD1a molecules were also down-modulated and co-localized with DsRed2-tagged-Nef in CD1a-transfected cells.

Cutting edge: major CD8 T cell response to live bacillus Calmette-Guérin is mediated by CD1 molecules.

MHC class I-restricted CD8(+) T cells are a crucial component of the host defense against mycobacterial infection in mice, but it has often proved very difficult to identify the CD8 T cell response in humans. Human group 1 CD1 molecules (CD1a, -b, -c) mediate MHC-independent presentation of mycobacteria-derived lipid and glycolipid Ags to CD8(+) T cells, and their intracellular localization to the endocytic system may favor efficient monitoring of phagosome-resident mycobacteria. Here, we show that bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG)-immunized subjects contain a significant circulating pool of CD8(+) T cells that recognize BCG-infected DCs in a CD1-dependent, but MHC-independent, manner.