Clinical utility of psoas muscle volume in assessment of sarcopenia in patients with early-stage non-small cell lung cancer.

Purpose: Sarcopenia influences postoperative outcomes of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Imaging tools for evaluating and diagnosing sarcopenia have developed, and a novel method of psoas volume index (PVI) obtained by measuring bilateral psoas major muscle volume has been reported. However, the relationship between sarcopenia based on PVI and clinical outcomes has not been fully investigated for patients with early-stage NSCLC.

Prognostic impact of artificial intelligence-based volumetric quantification of the solid part of the tumor in clinical stage 0-I adenocarcinoma.

Introduction: The size of the solid part of a tumor, as measured using thin-section computed tomography, can help predict disease prognosis in patients with early-stage lung cancer. Although three-dimensional volumetric analysis may be more useful than two-dimensional evaluation, measuring the solid part of some lesions is difficult using this methods. We developed an artificial intelligence-based analysis software that can distinguish the solid and non-solid parts (ground-grass opacity).

Artificial intelligence analysis of three-dimensional imaging data derives factors associated with postoperative recurrence in patients with radiologically solid-predominant small-sized lung cancers.

Objectives: Indications of limited resection, such as segmentectomy, have recently been reported for patients with solid-predominant lung cancers ≤2 cm. This study aims to identify unfavourable prognostic factors using three-dimensional imaging analysis with artificial intelligence (AI) technology.

Methods: A total of 157 patients who had clinical N0 non-small cell lung cancer with a radiological size ≤2 cm, and a consolidation tumour ratio > 0.

Effect of photodynamic therapy (PDT) on a rat model of bleomycin-induced interstitial pneumonia.

Background: Even if lung cancer is detected at an early stage, surgery may be difficult in patients with severe comorbidities, like interstitial pneumonia (IP). Radiation therapy cannot be performed due to the high risk of acute IP exacerbation. Therefore, an effective alternative, such as photodynamic therapy (PDT), is required.

The Correlation Between Fissureless Technique and Prolonged Air Leak for Patients Undergoing Video-Assisted Right Upper Lobectomy.

Purpose: We aimed to assess the clinical usefulness of the fissureless technique, which avoided dissection of the lung parenchyma over the pulmonary artery, in preventing prolonged air leak after video-assisted thoracic surgery right upper lobectomy (VATS RUL).

Methods: Perioperative outcomes, including the frequency of prolonged air leak after fissureless technique or traditional fissure dissection technique, which dissected the lung parenchyma through the fissure, were compared in patients who underwent VATS RUL (n = 213) between January 2016 and March 2020. We adopted our fissural grade to evaluate the degree of fused fissure ranging from II (light incomplete fissure) to IV (severe incomplete fissure), which covered all fissural grades in 213 patients.

Comparative analysis of the results of video-assisted thoracic surgery lobectomy simulation using the three-dimensional-printed Biotexture wet-lung model and surgeons' experience.

Objectives: We performed a comparative analysis of the performance of video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) lobectomy simulation using three-dimensional-printed Biotexture lung models by surgeons classified according to their level of expertise. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between surgeons' experience and time to complete the VATS lobectomy simulation.

Methods: Participants were divided into 3 groups: group A included those who had no experience of actual VATS lobectomy (n = 11), group B included those who had performed 5-10 VATS lobectomies (n = 12) and group C included those who had performed >100 VATS lobectomies (n = 6).

Prognostic impact of solid-part tumour volume doubling time in patients with radiological part-solid or solid lung cancer.

Objectives: The measurement of part-solid and whole tumour sizes in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) using computed tomography (CT) has been widely accepted for assessing clinical outcomes. Although the volume doubling time (VDT) of a tumour is useful for distinguishing high-risk nodules from low-risk ones, it remains to be clarified whether separate calculation of whole-tumour VDT and solid-part tumour VDT (SVDT) greatly affects the survival rate of patients with radiologically node-negative part-solid or solid NSCLC.

Methods: The study included 258 patients with NSCLC who had radiologically node-negative, part-solid or solid tumours and who had at least 2 preoperative CT scans taken more than 30 days apart followed by radical lobectomy and systemic lymph node dissection between January 2012 and December 2015.

Correction to: Successful adjustment for self-expanding metallic stent migration using a flexible bronchoscope with two biopsy forceps technique.

In the original publication of the article, the corresponding author email address was published wrongly.

Assessment of emphysema severity as measured on three-dimensional computed tomography images for predicting respiratory complications after lung surgery.

Objectives: Emphysema is one of the main causes of respiratory complications in patients operated on for lung cancer. We have used three-dimensional computed tomography (3D CT) for surgical simulations, as well as for depicting emphysematous areas as low attenuation areas (LAAs) and visual scores based on the Goddard classification (Goddard score), which is a visual scale of the area of vascular disruption and LAA for each lung field. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of the 3D CT function for assessing emphysema severity and its association with respiratory complications.

Successful adjustment for self-expanding metallic stent migration using a flexible bronchoscope with two biopsy forceps technique.

Although tracheobronchial stents are widely used for tracheal obstruction due to malignant or benign stenosis, stent migration has been reported as a major postoperative complication. A self-expandable metallic stent (SEMS) is more easily introduced compared with silicone stents. However, it is also difficult to remove or replace without complications.

Repression of Smad3 by Stat3 and c-Ski/SnoN induces gefitinib resistance in lung adenocarcinoma.

Cancer-associated inflammation develops resistance to the epidermal growth-factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) in non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLCs) harboring oncogenic EGFR mutations. Stat3-mediated interleukin (IL)-6 signaling and Smad-mediated transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) signaling pathways play crucial regulatory roles in cancer-associated inflammation. However, mechanisms how these pathways regulate sensitivity and resistance to EGFR-TKI in NSCLCs remain largely undetermined.

High-quality 3-dimensional image simulation for pulmonary lobectomy and segmentectomy: results of preoperative assessment of pulmonary vessels and short-term surgical outcomes in consecutive patients undergoing video-assisted thoracic surgery†.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of 3-dimensional computed tomography (3D-CT) software in short-term surgical outcomes and the assessment of variations of pulmonary vessel branching patterns on performing video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS).

Methods: The study included 179 consecutive patients who had undergone VATS anatomical lung resection, of which 172 were lobectomies (96%) and 7 were segmentectomies (4%), from May 2011 through January 2013. There were 124 patients (69%) in whom 3D-CT was performed and 55 patients (31%) who had not undergone 3D-CT.

The thoracodorsal vascular tree-based combined fascial flaps.

In this study, combined fascial flaps pedicled on the thoracodorsal artery and vein were raised and used for thin coverage of dorsal surfaces of the fingers and the dorsum of hand and foot with favorable results. The combined fascial flaps consist of the serratus anterior fascia and the axillary fascia at the entrance of the latissimus dorsi. These flaps were used for reconstruction of the hand, fingers, or foot in nine patients.

Muscle sparing-2 transverse rectus abdominis musculocutaneous flap for breast reconstruction: a comparison with deep inferior epigastric perforator flap.

Breast reconstruction using free transverse rectus abdominis musculocutaneous (TRAM) flap can be divided into 4 muscle-sparing (MS) types: conventional TRAM flap containing full width muscle as MS-0, while deep inferior epigastric perforator (DIEP) flap containing absolutely no muscle as MS-3. We include only the muscle portion between the medial row and lateral row perforator vessels in TRAM flap, which is designated as MS-2. Between October 1999 and April 2006, the same surgeon performed 82 breast constructions using MS-2 free TRAM flaps in 79 patients.

Kimura disease: diagnostic imaging findings and surgical treatment.

We have encountered 11 cases of Kimura disease, comprising 10 males and 1 female. The ages at presentation ranged from 16 to 48 years, with a mean of 31.5 years.