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Background: Diagnosis and treatment of small and isolated lung nodules remain challenging issues. Purpose: The aim of this article is to report the technique of real-time navigation using holographic reconstruction technology combined with a robot assisted thoracic surgery (RATS) platform for lung resection in patients with  small deep nodules . Research Design: The pre-surgery 3D planning was based on the chest CT scan. The reconstruction was uploaded to a head-mounted display for real-time navigation during mini invasive robot assisted surgery performed with an open console platform. We evaluated this technique with the success rate of diagnosis, the operative time and the post-operative course. Study Sample: This technique was performed in 6 patients (4 female, mean age 65 years) to date. Results: The precision of the head-mounted display based localization system was effective in all cases without the need of open conversion. The mean diameter of the nodules was 8 mm (6-9). The diagnosis was a lung cancer (n = 5) and tuberculoma (n = 1). The mean operative time was 125 min (100-145). The mean hospital stay was 2.5 days (1-3). Conclusions: In conclusion, the intraoperative navigation using the 3D holographic assistance was an helpful tool for mini invasive RATS lung segmentectomy without the need of preoperative localization., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

The relationship between infectious disease and therapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors remains unknown. We report the case of a 50-year-old woman with metastatic lung adenocarcinoma who responded remarkably well to immunotherapy and underwent upper right lobectomy. Three weeks after hospital discharge, she was readmitted for severe dyspnea due to mainstem bronchus compression by mediastinal mass. Histological analysis of transbronchial needle aspiration revealed A. fumigatus. After six months of voriconazole regimen, her symptoms improved with the regression of bronchial compression. Postoperative progression of pseudo-tumoral mass in patients treated with long-term immunotherapy may be related to opportunistic infectious disease and requires investigation., (Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.)

The implementation of chemoradiation combinations has gained great momentum in clinical practices. However, the full utility of this paradigm is often restricted by the discordant tempos of action of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Here, a gold nanoparticle-based radiation-responsive nanovesicle system loaded with cisplatin and veliparib, denoted as CV-Au NVs, is developed to augment the concurrent chemoradiation effect in a spatiotemporally controllable manner of drug release. Upon irradiation, the in situ generation of •OH induces the oxidation of polyphenylene sulfide from being hydrophobic to hydrophilic, resulting in the disintegration of the nanovesicles and the rapid release of the entrapped cisplatin and veliparib (the poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitor). Cisplatin-induced DNA damage and the impairment of the DNA repair mechanism mediated by veliparib synergistically elicit potent pro-apoptotic effects. In vivo studies suggest that one-dose injection of the CV-Au NVs and one-time X-ray irradiation paradigm effectively inhibit tumor growth in the A549 lung cancer model. This study provides new insight into designing nanomedicine platforms in chemoradiation therapy from a vantage point of synergizing both chemotherapy and radiation therapy in a spatiotemporally concurrent manner., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Objectives: With the evolution of technology in the field of thoracoscopy, three-dimensional (3D) endoscopic systems with 4 K resolution have recently come into use. This study aimed to determine perioperative outcomes of video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) lobectomy performed a year after the 4 K three-dimensional (3D) endoscopic system installation and compare them with those of the high-definition (HD) 3D endoscopic system., Methods: We included patients who underwent complete VATS (cVATS) lobectomy for primary lung cancer using an HD3D endoscopic system (HD3D group, June 2015-September 2021, n = 251) or 4K3D endoscopic system (4K3D group, October 2021-September 2022, n = 47). The perioperative outcomes were compared between the two groups., Results: The operation time was significantly shorter in the 4K3D group (mean, 189.5 min) than in the HD3D group (208.5 min; p = 0.021), and the 4K3D group did not require conversion to thoracotomy or transfusion. The 4K3D group had less blood loss volume (4K3D group: mean, 24.0 mL vs. HD3D group: 43.3 mL; p = 0.105) and shorter chest drainage duration (4K3D group: mean, 2.3 days vs. HD3D group: 3.1 days; p = 0.115) and hospitalization period (4K3D group: mean, 7.9 days vs. HD3D group:10.0 days; p = 0.226) than the HD3D group, with no significant difference. No difference was observed in the incidence of ≥ Grade IIIa complications (p = 0.634)., Conclusion: The 4K3D endoscopic system significantly shortened the duration of cVATS lobectomy. It is useful for lung resection and may replace other endoscopy systems., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to The Japanese Association for Thoracic Surgery.)

Objectives: The benefits of a rehabilitation programme before lung surgical resection for cancer remain to be defined. The purpose of this observational study was to assess the efficacy of preoperative rehabilitation and postoperative rehabilitation on short- and long-term outcomes in patients who were at high operative risk., Methods: Between January 2010 and December 2012, 20 consecutive non-operable patients (16 men and 4 women, mean age 66 years) with clinical N0 lung cancer were included. Eligibility criteria were lung function below guideline thresholds and/or associated severe comorbidities. The protocol included a cardiorespiratory perioperative rehabilitation programme. These patients were followed up at 5 years., Results: The average increase in forced expiratory volume (FEV)1 and of VO2max preoperatively was 12% and 3.5 ml/kg/min, respectively. All patients underwent a pulmonary surgical resection procedure. The morbidity and mortality rates were 20% and 5%, respectively. Nineteen patients returned home upon the completion of postoperative rehabilitation. After 5-year follow-up, the Kaplan-Meier 5-year survival rate was 52%., Conclusions: Perioperative pulmonary rehabilitation seems to allow surgical management of lung cancer by lung resection in first-line, non-eligible patients. The long-term survival of operated high-risk patients is encouraging despite the high complication rate.

Objectives: Common video systems for video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) provide the surgeon a two-dimensional (2D) image. This study aimed to evaluate performances of a new three-dimensional high definition (3D-HD) system in comparison with a two-dimensional high definition (2D-HD) system when conducting a complete thoracoscopic lobectomy (CTL)., Methods: This multi-institutional comparative study trialled two video systems: 2D-HD and 3D-HD video systems used to conduct the same type of CTL. The inclusion criteria were T1N0M0 non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) in the left lower lobe and suitable for thoracoscopic resection. The CTL was performed by the same surgeon using either a 3D-HD or 2D-HD system. Eighteen patients with NSCLC were included in the study between January and December 2013: 14 males, 4 females, with a median age of 65.6 years (range: 49-81). The patients were randomized before inclusion into two groups: to undergo surgery with the use of a 2D-HD or 3D-HD system. We compared operating time, the drainage duration, hospital stay and the N upstaging rate from the definitive histology., Results: The use of the 3D-HD system significantly reduced the surgical time (by 17%). However, chest-tube drainage, hospital stay, the number of lymph-node stations and upstaging were similar in both groups., Conclusions: The main finding was that 3D-HD system significantly reduced the surgical time needed to complete the lobectomy. Thus, future integration of 3D-HD systems should improve thoracoscopic surgery, and enable more complex resections to be performed. It will also help advance the field of endoscopically assisted surgery., (© The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: The benefits of a rehabilitation program before surgical lung cancer resection remain to be defined. The purpose of this prospective observational study was to assess the effects of rehabilitation together with the use of noninvasive ventilation (NIV) in patients who were at a high operative risk., Methods: Between January 2010 and June 2011, 20 consecutive patients (16 males, four females, mean age: 66 years [44-79]) with a clinical N0 non-small cell lung cancer were included. Eligibility criteria were predicted post-operative respiratory function (FEV1, VO2 max) below the guideline thresholds for eligibility for surgical resection and/or associated with severe co-morbidities. The protocol included a cardiorespiratory rehabilitation program and 3 hours of NIV each day. Functional tests were repeated after 3 weeks of therapy., Results: Participants displayed a significant increase in their FEV1 and VO2 max, which allowed surgical resection to go ahead in all patients (lobectomy, n=15; pneumonectomy, n=3; bilobectomy, n=2). The morbidity rate was 20% (acute renal failure, n=2; pneumonia, n=1; haemothorax, n=1). The mortality rate was 5% (myocardial infarction, n=1). Further postoperative rehabilitation allowed a return at home in 19 patients after a mean hospital stay of 11 days., Conclusion: Pulmonary rehabilitation associated with a period of preoperative NIV allows surgery to be performed in patients who are not initially eligible for resection. An evaluation of long-term outcomes survival in comparison to non-surgical therapies is necessary., (Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.)

Objective: The clinical practice of safe and efficient surgery and professional development of general thoracic surgical trainee are both important issues for mentors. We investigated the usefulness of a three-dimensional (3D) endoscopic system application for lung cancer treatment as a tool for training surgical trainees., Methods: Supervised by mentors, general thoracic surgical trainees were trained with video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) for primary lung cancer using a 3D endoscopic system to enable them to become operators. Video clinics using 3D images were held weekly. The group using 3D endoscopic system (66 cases in the 3D-VATS group) was compared with the group using conventional two-dimensional (2D) thoracoscopic system (35 cases in the 2D-VATS group) to perform VATS lobectomies., Results: There was no significant difference in operative time between both groups. However, the 3D-VATS group comprised significantly less experience than the 2D-VATS group. The intraoperative blood loss was significantly reduced for the 3D group (34 mL in the 3D-VATS group vs. 76 mL in the 2D-VATS group, P = 0.0007). There were no cases of conversion from VATS to open thoracotomy and intraoperative transfusion in either group., Conclusion: 3D-VATS and video clinics using 3D videos are useful training tools for general thoracic surgical trainees with little experience in open thoracotomy.