Subtype Classification of Lung Adenocarcinoma Predicts Benefit From Adjuvant Chemotherapy in Patients Undergoing Complete Resection.

Purpose: The classification for invasive lung adenocarcinoma by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer, American Thoracic Society, European Respiratory Society, and WHO is based on the predominant histologic pattern-lepidic (LEP), papillary (PAP), acinar (ACN), micropapillary (MIP), or solid (SOL)-present in the tumor. This classification has not been tested in multi-institutional cohorts or clinical trials or tested for its predictive value regarding survival from adjuvant chemotherapy (ACT).

Patients And Methods: Of 1,766 patients in the IALT, JBR.

Hounsfield units variations: impact on CT-density based conversion tables and their effects on dose distribution.

Purpose: Determination of dose error margins in radiation therapy planning due to variations in Hounsfield Units (HU) values dependent on the use of different CT scanning protocols.

Patients And Methods: Based on a series of different CT scanning protocols used in clinical practice, conversion tables for radiation dose calculations were generated and subsequently tested on a phantom. These tables were then used to recalculate the radiation therapy plans of 28 real patients after an incorrect scanning protocol had inadvertently been used for these patients.

Wide tangential fields including the internal mammary lymph nodes in patients with left-sided breast cancer. Influence of respiratory-controlled radiotherapy (4D-CT) on cardiac exposure.

Purpose: To evaluate the impact of wide-tangent fields including the internal mammary chain during deep inspiration breath-hold (DIBH) radiotherapy in patients with left-sided breast cancer on cardiac exposure.

Patients And Methods: Eleven patients with left-sided breast cancer were irradiated postoperatively and underwent CT scans during free breathing and DIBH. For scientific interest only, treatment plans were calculated consisting of wide tangents including the ipsilateral mammary lymph nodes using both, the free breathing and respiratory-controlled CT scan.

Postoperative irradiation of left-sided breast cancer patients and cardiac toxicity. Does deep inspiration breath-hold (DIBH) technique protect the heart?

Purpose: To evaluate the impact of deep inspiration breath-hold (DIBH) technique during postoperative left-sided tangential breast irradiation on minimizing irradiated heart amount compared to normal breathing.

Patients And Methods: In 22 patients with left-sided breast cancer, postoperative CT scanning was performed in different respiratory phases using the Varian Real-time Position Management System for monitoring of respiratory chest wall motion. Each patient underwent two CT scans: during normal breathing and DIBH.

Aortic valve replacement in an adult 20 years after a single-stage extra-anatomic repair of an interrupted aortic arch.

Interrupted aortic arch is a rare congenital malformation, which is defined as a loss of luminal continuity between the ascending and descending aorta. Usually, there is a considerable distance between the ascending and descending parts of the aorta. According to the classification system of Celoria and Patton, three subtypes have to be differentiated.

Austrian breast cancer patterns-of-care studies PCS93 and PCS01 versus PCS85 to identify changes in national practice.

Purpose: To determine the patterns of evaluation and treatment in Austrian breast cancer patients treated with surgery and radiotherapy in 1993 (PCS93) and 2001 (PCS01), and to compare these with the results of PCS85.

Material And Methods: According to the evaluation process of the Austrian PCS85, ten randomly selected patient charts from every Austrian radiotherapy center from 1993 (n=100) as well as 2001 (n=120) were reviewed. The work-up included surgical and (histo)pathologic information, systemic therapy and detailed information on radiation therapy.

Arterial oxygen tension increase 2-3 h after hyperbaric oxygen therapy: a prospective observational study.

Background: Inhalation of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) has been reported to decrease arterial oxygen tension (PaO(2)) in the early period after exposure. The current investigation aimed at evaluating whether and to what extent arterial blood gases were affected in mechanically ventilated intensive care patients within 6 h after HBO treatment.

Methods: Arterial blood gases were measured in 11 ventilated subjects [nine males, two females, synchronized intermittent mandatory ventilation (SIMV) mode] undergoing HBO therapy for necrotizing soft tissue infection (seven patients), burn injury (two patients), crush injury (one patient) and major abdominal surgery (one patient).

Anomalous origin of the brachiocephalic trunk from the left pulmonary artery with CHARGE syndrome.

Anomalous origin of the brachiocephalic trunk is a rare congenital malformation. This is a report about a case of an anatomic isolation of the left carotid artery with CHARGE syndrome.

Intrapleural instillation of rituximab for the treatment of malignant pleural effusions in NHL.

A patient with CD20(+) leukaemic lymphoplasmacytic Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) presented with bilateral malignant pleural effusions. Systemic chemotherapy, repeated percutaneous drainage and bilateral continous chest tube drainage were unable to control the effusions. Rituximab was instilled in a dose-escalating manner via the chest tubes into both pleural spaces, within two weeks the effusions resolved, and the patient has stayed free of symptoms for eight months ongoing.

Patterns of care in radiotherapy of breast cancer in Austria 1985: data acquisition and comparison with data of US-PCS 1983.

Purpose: In Austria, a Patterns of Care Study (PCS) has been conducted to evaluate the standards of practice for breast cancer patients. The year 1985 was selected in order to establish a base data set.

Materials And Methods: At all nine radiation therapy facilities active in patient treatment in 1985, ten patients charts were randomly selected and reviewed.

Protein expression profiles in adenocarcinomas and squamous cell carcinomas of the lung generated using tissue microarrays.

With the appearance of defect-targeted therapies, the definition of tumour protein expression profiles has gained increasing importance. Two lung carcinoma tissue microarrays, one including 75 primary adenocarcinomas (ACs) and the other comprising 67 primary squamous cell carcinomas (SQCCs), were generated in the present study. On both arrays, each tumour was represented by an average of five cores.

Influence of preservatives and topical steroids on ciliary beat frequency in vitro.

Objective: To measure the influence of topical steroids and the preservative potassium sorbate on the ciliary beat frequency (CBF) of human nasal mucosa in vitro.

Design: In vitro study of cultured ciliated cells of human nasal mucosa.

Methods: Human nasal mucosa was removed endoscopically and cultured for 10 days.

Minimal-invasive treatment of distal femoral fractures with the LISS (Less Invasive Stabilization System): a prospective study of 30 fractures with a follow up of 20 months.

Background: There is no consensus on the best treatment of distal femoral fractures.

Patients And Methods: In a prospective study, we treated 29 patients with 30 distal femoral fractures with the Less Invasive Stabilization System (LISS) from 1997 to 2000. Almost 1/2 of them had open fractures, 1/3 extraarticular type A and 2/3 articular fractures type C (AO classification) and these had been caused by high-energy trauma with concomitant severe injuries or osteoporosis.

Invasion of blood vessels as significant prognostic factor in radically resected T1-3N0M0 non-small-cell lung cancer.

Objectives: Radical resection is the therapy of choice in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, even in early stages (T1N0, T2N0) up to 35% of patients will experience recurrence. The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the prognostic influence of lymph vessel or blood vessel invasion in N0 patients.

The unreamed intramedullary tibial nail in tibial shaft fractures of soccer players: a prospective study.

Lower leg fractures are common and complex injuries in soccer players. Twenty-five mainly recreational soccer players who sustained a tibial shaft fracture were treated with the AO-UTN (Unreamed Tibial Nail). This prospective series included 25 males with a mean age of 28.

Cadaveric-biomechanical evaluation of bone-implant construct of proximal humerus fractures (Neer type 3).

Background: A biomechanical cadaver study was performed to test the stability and strength of screw osteosynthesis of surgical neck fractures of the humerus.

Methods: After bone density measurement, 64 cadaver proximal humerus bones were bent to create a subcapital fracture. The fracture was then stabilized by means of screw osteosynthesis randomly assigned to subgroups of screw positioning, size of screw, and stress test (torsion/bending).

Analysis of competing risk parameters in irradiated prostate cancer patients.

Purpose: Retrospective competing risk analysis of prognostic factors in definitive-irradiated prostate cancer patients.

Patients And Methods: Data of 652 patients were analyzed according to three age subgroups (< 65, 65 < or = 75, > 75 years; Table 1). Pre-RT PSA values (median 13.

Penetration of piperacillin and tazobactam into pneumonic human lung tissue measured by in vivo microdialysis.

Objectives: The pharmacokinetic profile of antibiotics at the site of anti-infective action is one of the most important determinants of drug response, since it correlates with antimicrobial effect. Up to now, only limited information on the lung tissue pharmacokinetics of antibiotic agents has been available. The aim of this study was to measure, using a new microdialysis-based approach, antibiotic penetration into the extracellular space fluid of pneumonic human lung parenchyma.

Hemodynamic and oxygenation profiles in the early period after hyperbaric oxygen therapy: an observational study of intensive-care patients.

Background: We studied whether hemodynamic and oxygenation profiles are altered in critically ill patients after exposure to hyperbaric oxygen (HBO).

Methods: Ten intensive-care patients (two females, eight males) undergoing HBO treatment after major abdominal surgery, after burn injury and after CO poisoning were included. All subjects were put on mechanical ventilation and received continuous sedation, and had HBO treatment at 2.

Pneumopericardium due to intrapericardial perforation of a gastric ulcer.

A 88-year-old male patient presented with fever, singultus and retrosternal pain. After 8 days of antibiotic therapy not resulting in clinical improvement, he suddenly developed a pneumopericardium. Contrast swallow and endoscopy showed intrapericardial perforation of a benign gastric ulcer.

Fractionated intraluminal HDR 192Ir brachytherapy as palliative treatment in patients with endobronchial metastases from non-bronchogenic primaries.

Aim: To evaluate the efficacy of iridium-192 high-dose rate (HDR) endobronchial brachytherapy for the palliation of symptoms caused by endobronchial metastases of non-bronchogenic primaries.

Patients And Method: Between 1991 and 1998, eleven patients (female n = 3, male n = 8; age: median 66 years, range 44-81 years) underwent intraluminal HDR brachytherapy for histologically confirmed endobronchial metastases from non-pulmonary primary tumors of various sites like urogenital tract (n = 5), gastrointestinal tract (n = 3), ear/nose/throat (n = 2) and breast (n = 1). The median time between diagnosis of the primary non-bronchogenic tumor and histopathological diagnosis of the endobronchial metastases was 39 months, range 1-99 months.

Hyperbaric oxygen--an effective tool to treat radiation morbidity in prostate cancer.

Purpose: We report the results of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO) used in the treatment of radiation cystitis and proctitis following irradiation of prostate cancer.

Materials And Methods: Between June 1995 and March 2000, 18 men (median age 71 years) with radiation proctitis (n=7), cystitis (n=8), and combined proctitis/cystitis (n=3) underwent HBO therapy in a multiplace chamber for a median of 26 sessions (range 2-60). The treatment schedule (2.

Successful endoscopical sealing of malignant esophageotracheal fistulae by using a covered self-expandable stenting system.

Objective: Any treatment of tracheo-esophageal fistulae in end-stage malignant stenosis of the esophagus must be weighed against associated morbidity and mortality. In a prospective study we investigated benefits and risks of the use of one type of coated, self-expandable stent.

Patients And Methods: We treated four male and two female patients, (mean age 68.

Indications for surgery in tracheobronchial ruptures.

Objective: Ruptures of the tracheobronchial tree present a life-threatening situation. Nevertheless, therapy is still controversial. Though conservative treatment by antibiotics and intubation with the cuff inflated distal to the tear is favored by some authors, surgical repair is unavoidable in many cases.