Prognostic factors in lung transplantation: the Santa Casa de Porto Alegre experience.

Background: Lung transplantation (LT) has been established as a current therapy for selected patients with end-stage lung disease. Different prognostic factors have been reported by transplant centers. The objective of this study is to report our recent results with LT and to search for prognostic factors.

Surgical treatment of benign tracheo-oesophageal fistulas with tracheal resection and oesophageal primary closure: is the muscle flap really necessary?

Objectives: Nowadays, despite the advances of the low-pressure high-volume cuffs, post-intubation tracheo-oesophageal fistula (TEF) still poses a major challenge to thoracic surgeons. The original technique includes interposition of muscle flaps between suture lines to avoid recurrence. It is not clear if this manoeuvre is indispensable and, in fact, we and others have faced problems with it.