Use of CO in video assisted thoracic surgery and single-lumen endotracheal tube-a new less invasive approach.

Carbon dioxide (CO) has been extensively used to allow laparoscopic procedures, due to its extensive advantages in obtaining a fairly innocuous pneumoperitoneum to allow visceral dissection. Its use in video assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) has seldom been described. We present our experience in more than 100 patients, operated for various thoracic pathologies, in whom we created a surgical pneumothorax to allow different surgeries to be undertaken.

Cardiac surgery using a single thoracic port-current status and future directions.

Cardiac surgery is almost universally performed through a median sternotomy, an approach which is painful, unestethical, and prone to life-threatening infections. Minimally invasive cardiac surgery has tried to avoid problems associated with full sternotomy for many years. Recently, uniportal thoracic surgery was shown to be very advantageous when compared to standard thoracotomy and classical video assisted thoracic surgery (VATS).

Metastatic melanoma - a review of current and future drugs.

Background: Melanoma is one of the most aggressive cancers, and it is estimated that 76,250 men and women will be diagnosed with melanoma of the skin in the USA in 2012. Over the last few decades many drugs have been developed but only in 2011 have new drugs demonstrated an impact on survival in metastatic melanoma.

Methods: A systematic search of literature was conducted, and studies providing data on the effectiveness of current and/or future drugs used in the treatment of metastatic melanoma were selected for review.