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Several studies have demonstrated that for complex surgical procedures, surgeons who treat more patients have better outcomes than their lower-volume counterparts. The aim of this paper is to review the experience with video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) lobectomies in our small thoracic unit (group A), to understand whether our short-term results were different to the outcomes obtained by the same surgeon previously working in a high-volume unit (group B). 37 patients underwent VATS lobectomy. Hospital stay was on average 4.5 days (group A) versus 4.1 days (group B). Operative time and the number of ‘frozen sections’ were higher in group A. Hospital mortality was 0. VATS lobectomies are a safe approach in a low-volume unit formed by a single surgeon with a previous high-volume experience.

Since 1998, we started a clinical program for awake video-assisted thoracic surgery in our unit using four-step local anesthesia and sedation. Throughout the years, we experienced several difficult cases, three of them had complications postpneumonectomy. The aim of this paper is to report these three cases.

Cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraoperative intrapleural chemotherapy (HITHOC) are a known option for malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM). This prospective study was started to prove that pleurectomy/decortication and HITHOC could be successfully performed in a low volume center. Criteria of inclusion were a proven diagnosis of MPM, early-stage disease and good performance status. Six consecutive patients were enrolled. After pleurectomy/decortication, intrapleural cisplatin was administered for 60 min at 42.5°C. Wedge resections and diaphragmatic reconstruction were added in two and one patient, respectively. Morbidity was 16.6%. Mortality was nil. Hospital stay was 7.8 days. Mean survival was 21.5 months (range: 6–30). This small experience confirms that pleurectomy/decortication and HITHOC are a good therapeutic option in the multimodality treatment of MPM. A randomized controlled trial is necessary.

In the last 30 years the introduction of VATS in the surgical practice made possible to perform a wide range of thoracic operations including thymectomy. We describe our single incision video-assisted transcervical thymectomy (VATT) for non-thymomatous myasthenia gravis and/or small (

In recent years, some authors started an awake surgery program for lung metastasectomy. Very few information are available, and there have been no randomized trials. Taking a cue from a clinical scenario a review on PUBMED was conducted from January 2000 to July 2017. The Following search terms were used to retrieve potentials published articles: “awake surgery” or “awake lung surgery” or “awake surgery for lung metastasectomy” or “non-intubated lung metastasectomy” or “awake surgery for pulmonary metastasectomy” or “non-intubated pulmonary metastasectomy” or “awake surgery for lung metastases” or “non-intubated lung metastases” or “awake surgery for pulmonary metastases” or “non-intubated pulmonary metastases”. Literature search yielded 5,295 studies, of which only 3 fulfilled our inclusion criteria, but only 2 studies presented statistical analysis for the survival and they were from the same group. Awake surgery for LM is a possible choice for selected patients when the general anesthesia or the intubation is contraindicated. Although there is “some encouraging” evidence regarding awake LM, its quality is still very weak to confirm the effectiveness for this approach. The initial positive results can drive further research in this direction, but caution is necessary.

Pulmonary ground glass opacity (GGO) is becoming an important clinical dilemma in oncology as its diagnosis in clinical practice is increasing due to the introduction of low dose computed tomography (CT) scan and screening. The incidence of cancer in GGO has been reported as high as 63%. The purpose of this manuscript is to review best available evidence papers on management of GGO in lung cancer to address the following questions: (I) how to correlate CT findings with malignancy; (II) when and who operate? (III) how to perform intraoperative detection of intrapulmonary GGO? (IV) wedge, segmentectomy or lobectomy? Taking a cue from a clinical scenario, a review on PubMed was conducted. The words search included: "Lung ground glass opacity". The research was limited to human and adults. We considered all published articles from 1990 to April 2017, which reported on at least sufficient data, to be eligible. The literature search was limited to articles in English. A total of 1,211 articles have been found. Interestingly, while in 1991, only one paper was published on low-dose high-resolution CT, in 2016, 126 papers have been published. Most cited and recent papers have been chosen for discussion. Many recent papers have been published from Asian groups. It is clearly not possible to conclude from these data what is the best strategy for GGO in the lung cancer screening era. Certainly, when there is uncertainty, personal opinion and experience should not influence decision making, on the contrary decision should be taken by a multidisciplinary team.

Unilateral single left pulmonary vein is a congenital anomaly of the pulmonary venous system. Surgical treatment is not commonly required for this anatomical variant except in rare circumstances. No previous cases of lung cancer involving the intrapericardial portion of a single left pulmonary vein have been published in the peer-reviewed literature. We describe the case of a 69-year-old man with lung cancer invading single left pulmonary vein, which required intrapericardial pneumonectomy and partial resection of the left atrium.

As part of the Second Catania Symposium on Thoracic Oncology, as we started the experience with video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) lobectomy for lung malignancies, we reviewed our data and argued some comments in a more general discussion. Operated patients with non-small-cell lung cancer were divided in two groups and compared: VATS (collected in a prospective database) and open (historical group). Out of 74 patients, 31 in group A and 44 in group B. The majority of patients in group A were stage I–II. Mean operative time was shorter in group A. Postoperative hospital stay was shorter in group A. There was no mortality. VATS is effective and safe to perform pulmonary lobectomy in our unit, and it represents our preferred approach for early-stage lung cancer.

Follicular dendritic cell sarcoma is a rare and aggressive tumor and its management is a major clinical challenge. Surgery is considered the mainstay of treatment and no adjuvant approach has demonstrated the ability to reduce the rate of relapses. We report on a case of a man with a 26-year clinical history of mediastinal follicular dendritic cell sarcoma, with several relapses after multiple surgical interventions. The impact of chemotherapy was very small, unlike the radiation therapy that was performed twice, with an interval time of 8 years, through an intensity-modulated technique and an altered fractionation schedule.

The uniportal-video assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) technique comprises operations which can be performed with skin incisions ranging from 2 to 8 cm and the manifest result of the introduction of the uniportal lobectomy had made possible to increase rapidly the number of published papers on this subject. Many of the large ensuing literature report incomplete historical information on uniportal VATS, and doubts exist about the indication of uniportal VATS for some thoracic oncologic pathologies. Known limitations have been overcome. On the other hand, the modern thoracic surgical team includes one surgeon, one assistant and a scrub nurse, and it is clear that the new generation of thoracic surgeons need to use the “less” used hand. The new technology which permitted the introduction of the uniportal VATS could influence the future need of thoracic surgeons worldwide.

Solitary fibrous tumors of the pleura are rare intrathoracic neoplasms, especially in the giant form. The treatment of choice remains complete surgical resection which provides a benign clinical outcome. All patients need long-term follow-up due to the possibility of late recurrences. We describe 2 new cases of giant pleural fibrous tumor, which underwent resection via thoracotomy, and discuss the diagnostic and therapeutic modalities.

Lung biopsy is the last option to obtain lung tissue for a precise diagnosis in patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD). Several surgical techniques have been reported. The successful application of a hybrid approach is herein reported. The procedure utilizes a single-trocar video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery technique to localize and withdraw the tip of the lingula outside the chest to perform a biopsy in the diagnosis of ILDs. The advantages of this technique over other commonly used methods have also been discussed.

Among all diverticula of the esophagus, epiphrenic diverticula occur less frequently than those in the pharyngo-esophageal segment. Two simultaneously occurring diverticula in the epiphrenic esophagus are very rarely reported in the English literature. A 52-year-old woman had a 3-year history of troublesome dysphagia, heartburn, chest pain and cough. Initial investigation included a physical examination and a barium swallow, which showed the presence of two diverticula in the epiphrenic esophagus. Esophagoscopy confirmed the presence only of the lower diverticulum. The patient underwent a left thoracotomy, the esophagus was mobilised from the hiatus to the aortic arch. The necks of the diverticula were localised in the posterior wall and between them there was a bridge of circular muscular fibres, which was divided. Diverticulectomy over an intra-esophageal 54 F Maloney dilator was performed. The upper diverticulum was left intact because it disappeared after the bridge of esophageal muscles has been myotomized. A long myotomy was carried out, and a modified Belsey fundoplication was added. The postoperative course was uneventful, and the patient remains well at 10 years with no recurrence of symptoms.

ABSTRACT Cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic-intraoperative-intrapleural-chemotherapy (HITHOC) is a known approach for malignant pleural diseases (MPD). This study was started to clarify the role of cytoreductive surgery and HITHOC in MPD. Criteria of inclusion were early-stage disease in malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM), young age, good condition and selected stage-M1a lung cancer. Six patients with MPM and two patients with lung cancer were enrolled. After surgical debulking, intrapleural cisplatin was administered for 60 min at 42.5°C. Wedge, rib resection and repaired diaphragm were added in three, one and one patient, respectively. Morbidity, toxicity and mortality was nil. Hospital stay was 8 days. Mean survival is 13.6 months. This experience confirms that cytoreductive surgery and HITHOC is a good option in the treatment of MPD. A randomized controlled trial is necessary.

ABSTRACT Lung metastasectomy is considered a safe and potentially curative procedure despite there is not a strong evidence that metastasectomy prolongs long-term survival in patients with lung metastases. Moreover, the debate is open regarding the best approach for lung metastasectomy, video-assisted thoracic surgery versus open approach. A systematic review of literature to clarify what is the best approach to prolong survival in patients with lung metastases was performed. Our study confirms that overall survival is equivalent for video-assisted thoracic surgery and thoracotomy, therefore the ‘gold standard’ surgical treatment for lung metastases remains a point of debate. The choice of the surgical approach still depends more on the single center or surgeon practice than on strong scientific evidence. A prospective randomized trial could clarify the question.

A total of 13 patients (11 females, average age of 63 years) with elastofibromadorsi were retrospectively analyzed. The disease was confirmed by surgical intervention in five cases. In other patients (n = 8) the diagnosis was achieved on the basis of clinical and radiological features. Typical imaging features allow for the diagnosis of elastofibromadorsi. Symptomatic lesions need to be surgically removed, whereas asymptomatic ones could be clinically and radiologically monitored.

ABSTRACT: Multiple factors are implicated in the long-term survival of patients who have undergone esophagectomy, among these the involvement of longitudinal and circumferential resection margins are well known important prognostic factors. A few studies have assessed the impact of the operative approach on the status of the resection margins, and the data are not well reported, often unclear and, more importantly, there is no scientific evidence or published guideline on what the optimal proximal, distal or circumferential resection margin clearance should be. Owing to the lack of clarity on these points, we undertook a systematic literature review of the impact of longitudinal and circumferential resection margins in patients with operable esophageal cancer, the prognostic significance of margin involvement and the role of neoadjuvant therapy.

Symptomatic mediastinal location of an extra-adrenal myelolipoma is extremely rare. We describe a 56-year-old female with unusual pain in the right lower posterior chest radiated to the neck and to the upper abdomen. Chest CT showed a lesion of 3.5 x 2.2 cm in the posterior mediastinum. Video-assisted resection was performed and the final pathologic examination revealed the presence of a myelolipoma. Herein we discuss the clinical presentation, the differential diagnosis and treatment of mediastinal myelolipoma.

Some patients suffering from spontaneous primary pneumothorax have a normal appearing lung during video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS; stage I). There is a paucity of data on microscopic appearances of lung biopsies in patients with stage I pneumothorax. This prospective study aims to test the hypothesis that there is no histologically normal lung tissue in patients suffering from stage-I primary spontaneous pneumothorax. Apical VATS lung wedge resection was prospectively performed in patients with stage-I primary spontaneous pneumothorax. All specimens were sent for pathologic examination. The data recorded included age, sex, smoking history, tension pneumothorax, indications for surgery and hospital stay. A thorough literature review was also performed. Nineteen patients were operated on. Thirteen male and six female, mean age of 30 years. Twelve (63 %) patients were current smokers. Eleven patients had recurrent pneumothorax. Wedge lung biopsies were taken from the apex of the right upper lobe in 13 and the left upper lobe in six. One patient had a recurrent pneumothorax within 1 month. Pathologic examination demonstrated in all patients’ dilatation and destruction of the alveolar walls distal to the terminal bronchiole; fibrosis of the parenchymal septae; cystic dilatation of the airspaces and thickening of the visceral pleura. Literature review showed alteration of lung parenchyma with a striking variability. This study confirms that no normal apical lung parenchyma exists in patients with stage-I primary spontaneous pneumothorax. In the era of evidence-based medicine, wedge apical lung biopsy is, therefore, desirable to obtain a histological cause in patients with stage-I primary spontaneous pneumothorax.

Intrapulmonary bronchogenic cysts (IBC) represent 20% of abnormal budding of the respiratory tract. Lobectomy is the recommended treatment for IBC in symptomatic adults. We presented a case of a patient with an IBC involving the right upper and middle lobes (RUL-RML). A 27-year-old woman presented with a 2-month history of thoracic pain, cough and haemoptysis. An opacity was found on the chest X-ray. High-resolution CT/MRI showed a 7×4.5 cm marginated mass with an air bubble inside. A video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery was performed. The cyst was neither palpable nor visible. An intraoperative ultrasonography localised the cyst involving the RUL-RML. The lung above the cyst was incised, and a greenish-mucoid content was aspirated. A branch of the superior pulmonary vein was visible. The remaining cystic wall was cauterised. The patient was discharged on day 4. Histology confirmed the IBC. The patient is asymptomatic at a 16-month follow-up. The lung-sparing operation in a young woman with IBC involving the RUL-RML has been beneficial. A long-term follow-up is mandatory.