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The role of two- or three-field nodal dissection in the surgical treatment of esophageal and gastroesophageal junction cancer in the minimally invasive era is still controversial. This review aims to clarify the extension of nodal dissection in esophageal and gastroesophageal junctional cancer. A basic evidence-based analysis was designed, and seven research questions were formulated and answered with a narrative review. Reports with little or no data, single cases, small series and review articles were not included. Three-field lymph node dissection improves staging accuracy, enhances locoregional disease control and might improve survival in the group of patients with cervical and upper mediastinal metastatic lymph nodal involvement from middle and proximal-third esophageal cancer.

BACKGROUND People who smoke and who face challenges trying to quit or wish to continue to smoke may benefit by switching from traditional cigarettes to noncombustible nicotine delivery alternatives, such as heated tobacco products (HTPs) and electronic cigarettes (ECs). HTPs and ECs are being increasingly used to quit smoking, but there are limited data about their effectiveness. OBJECTIVE We conducted the first randomized controlled trial comparing quit rates between HTPs and ECs among people who smoke and do not intend to quit. METHODS We conducted a 12-week randomized noninferiority switching trial to compare effectiveness, tolerability, and product satisfaction between HTPs (IQOS 2.4 Plus) and refillable ECs (JustFog Q16) among people who do not intend to quit. The cessation intervention included motivational counseling. The primary endpoint of the study was the carbon monoxide–confirmed continuous abstinence rate from week 4 to week 12 (CAR weeks 4-12). The secondary endpoints included the continuous self-reported ≥50% reduction in cigarette consumption rate (continuous reduction rate) from week 4 to week 12 (CRR weeks 4-12) and 7-day point prevalence of smoking abstinence. RESULTS A total of 211 participants completed the study. High quit rates (CAR weeks 4-12) of 39.1% (43/110) and 30.8% (33/107) were observed for IQOS-HTP and JustFog-EC, respectively. The between-group difference for the CAR weeks 4-12 was not significant (P=.20). The CRR weeks 4-12 values for IQOS-HTP and JustFog-EC were 46.4% (51/110) and 39.3% (42/107), respectively, and the between-group difference was not significant (P=.24). At week 12, the 7-day point prevalence of smoking abstinence values for IQOS-HTP and JustFog-EC were 54.5% (60/110) and 41.1% (44/107), respectively. The most frequent adverse events were cough and reduced physical fitness. Both study products elicited a moderately pleasant user experience, and the between-group difference was not significant. A clinically relevant improvement in exercise tolerance was observed after switching to the combustion-free products under investigation. Risk perception for conventional cigarettes was consistently higher than that for the combustion-free study products under investigation. CONCLUSIONS Switching to HTPs elicited a marked reduction in cigarette consumption among people who smoke and do not intend to quit, which was comparable to refillable ECs. User experience and risk perception were similar between the HTPs and ECs under investigation. HTPs may be a useful addition to the arsenal of reduced-risk alternatives for tobacco cigarettes and may contribute to smoking cessation. However, longer follow-up studies are required to confirm significant and prolonged abstinence from smoking and to determine whether our results can be generalized outside smoking cessation services offering high levels of support. CLINICALTRIAL ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03569748; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03569748

Objective Plication of the diaphragm is a life-changing procedure for patients affected by diaphragm paralysis. Traditionally, this procedure is performed through a thoracotomy. Access to the diaphragm via this incision is poor and the indications for surgery are limited to patients who can actually sustain such an invasive approach and associated morbidities. A minimally invasive approach was developed to improve the surgical management of diaphragm paralysis. Methods Patients underwent minimally invasive diaphragm plication either by video-assisted or robotic surgery through a 3-port technique with CO2 insufflation. Patients were followed at the routine 6-week clinic and also by telephone consultation 6 to 12 months postoperatively. Data were collected on postoperative complications, postoperative pain or numbness, symptomatic improvement, and change to quality of life following surgery. Results Forty-eight patients underwent 49 minimally invasive diaphragm plication. Median postoperative length of hospital stay was 4 days (range: 2 to 34 days) and there were no cases of mortality. Mean reduction in Medical Research Council dyspnea score per patient was 2.2 points (mode: 3 points). Twenty-eight patients (77.8%) reported a significant symptomatic improvement enabling improvements in quality of life, and 97.2% ( n = 35) were satisfied with the surgical outcome. Conclusions Minimally invasive diaphragm plication is a safe procedure associated with prompt postoperative recovery. It is effective at reducing debilitating dyspnea and improving quality of life.

To construct a new pulmonary nodule diagnostic model with high diagnostic efficiency, non-invasive and simple to measure.This study included 424 patients with radioactive pulmonary nodules who underwent preoperative 7-autoantibody (7-AAB) panel testing, CT-based AI diagnosis, and pathological diagnosis by surgical resection. The patients were randomly divided into a training set (n = 212) and a validation set (n = 212). The nomogram was developed through forward stepwise logistic regression based on the predictive factors identified by univariate and multivariate analyses in the training set and was verified internally in the verification set.A diagnostic nomogram was constructed based on the statistically significant variables of age as well as CT-based AI diagnostic, 7-AAB panel, and CEA test results. In the validation set, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and AUC were 82.29%, 90.48%, 97.24%, and 0.899 (95%[CI], 0.851-0.936), respectively. The nomogram showed significantly higher sensitivity than the 7-AAB panel test result (82.29% vs. 35.88%, p0.001) and CEA (82.29% vs. 18.82%, p0.001); it also had a significantly higher specificity than AI diagnosis (90.48% vs. 69.04%, p = 0.022). For lesions with a diameter of ≤ 2 cm, the specificity of the Nomogram was higher than that of the AI diagnostic system (90.00% vs. 67.50%, p = 0.022).Based on the combination of a 7-AAB panel, an AI diagnostic system, and other clinical features, our Nomogram demonstrated good diagnostic performance in distinguishing lung nodules, especially those with ≤ 2 cm diameters.• A novel diagnostic model of lung nodules was constructed by combining high-specific tumor markers with a high-sensitivity artificial intelligence diagnostic system. • The diagnostic model has good diagnostic performance in distinguishing malignant and benign pulmonary nodules, especially for nodules smaller than 2 cm. • The diagnostic model can assist the clinical decision-making of pulmonary nodules, with the advantages of high diagnostic efficiency, noninvasive, and simple measurement.

Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide. Literature reports depression and anxiety are the most common psychiatric symptoms in cancer patients. Notably, lung cancer is associated with major depressive disorder in 5–13% of cases. The present article aims to give an overview regarding the impact of mood disorders on the outcomes of patients affected by lung cancer. Our review showed that pharmacological treatment and psychotherapy can be useful to improve the quality of life of patients with lung cancer. Moreover, the treatment of depression and anxiety can be associated with a reduced mortality. In conclusion, it is important to consider psychiatric care as important as other adjuvant oncologic therapies in patients with cancer.

Down Syndrome is a genetic disorder caused by a third copy of chromosome 21. One of the main feature of the syndrome is the facial dysmorphism, characterized by broad, flat face, oblique eyelid rhymes, skin folds at the inner corner of the eyes (epicanthus), receding chin, protrusion of the tongue. These features are often social and functional obstacles, reducible with surgical interventions. The first facial plastic/cosmetic surgery approaches on Down children were performed in 1960 in Germany, Great Britain and the United States, where plastic surgeons began to reshape the Down patients physiognomy through the surgical correction of the face, tongue, eyes, nose, of the nostrils, of the neck. Recent studies have shown that in spite of the tendency to infections and early pulmonary hypertension in children with DS, surgery is not contraindicated, as previously suggested, but can be performed with very good results. This treatment has aesthetic, functional, rehabilitative, social effects, as well as favorable outcome on the familiar behavior. However different issues emerge in cases of patients presenting intellectual disability and unable to understand the consequences or the side effects related to plastic surgery. In this aspect, different Countries have enacted distinct laws directly regulating the consensuses for such intervention, with the goal to reduce the risks for the affected patients and the respect of their willing and social inclusion.

Chest infection is a health care problem in many regions of the world, and pleural empyema is the most common type of surgical chest infection. In the past decennium, the introduction of nonintubated surgery and uniportal video-assisted thoracic surgery changed considerably surgical treatment of pleural empyema. Although the advantages seem evident, the need for randomized controlled trials is necessary to confirm the usefulness. Moreover, in the future, an education and training program for thoracic surgeons and anesthesiologists would allow increasing the number of awake surgical options in caring for patients with stages II to III empyema.

IntroductionNo previous study provides compelling evidence to convince surgeons to opt for one procedure over another for the treatment of Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma (MPM). Hyperthermic intrathoracic chemotherapy (HITHOC) adjunct to surgery for MPM has no definite role. The primary objective of this randomized pilot trial was to evaluate the feasibility for future large studies.MethodThe study design was a prospective randomized three-centric pilot trial (ISRCTN12709516). We recruited patients diagnosed with MPM and prospectively assigned them to two groups: Group A Video Assisted Thoracic Surgery (VATS) talc pleurodesis or Group B VATS P/D plus HITHOC. The main outcome measures were description of study feasibility. We collected socio-demographic and clinical patient information. Data of Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Cox regression analysis are presented.ResultsFrom November-2011 to July-2017 24 males and 3 females, with a median age of 68-years were enrolled (recruitment rate 5 patients/year). Preoperative stage was I-II, and 18 had epithelioid type. 14 patients were in the Group A. Operative mortality was 0. Follow-up ranged from 6 to 80 months. The median overall survival time started to diverge at 20 months. In Group A, it was 19 months (95% CI:12-25) and in Group B, it was 28 months (95% CI:0-56). Survival rate for the epithelioid type was 15 months (0-34) in groups A. and 45 months (0-107) in the Group B with an HR 0.77 (95% CI:0.28-2.2).ConclusionThese findings suggest that VATS P/D plus HITHOC may improve survival time in MPM patients undergoing surgical treatment and support the need for a larger multicenter randomized clinical trial.Strengths and limitations of this studythis pilot study represents an important step forward of the treatment of malignant pleural mesotheliomaThe study demonstrates the feasibility for a multicenter randomized trial to compare VATS P/D plus HITHOC with VATS talc pleurodesis in the management of MPMAlthough survival for the epitheliod type is 45 months, the inclusion of small number of patients is a limitation.Although neoadjuvant, adjuvant chemo-radio or immunotherapy have been administered to the patients, we have no specific information about doses for every single patient.A potential source of bias could be that the house staff of the Centre A has not been formally educated about the study while in the Centre B house staff was informed about the pilot trial.

The topic of pulmonary metastases has long been of high interest and ongoing controversy. There is a group of patients with pulmonary metastases who may benefit from curative resection. It remains unclear which among them will benefit from surgery in terms of survival. This work updates a previously proposed classification system for pulmonary metastases, similar in its essence to the tumor, nodes, metastasis (TNM) classification used for primary tumors and named pmTNM classification, where ‘pm' stands for ‘pulmonary metastasis’. The objective is to allow future studies to explore predictive and survival prognostic factors for pulmonary metastases and separate patients who will benefit from lung metastasectomy from those who will not. The secondary aim is to provide a classification system that will allow physicians, oncologists and surgeons to speak the same language in comparing their data and assessing the results of treatment of lung metastases.

Mediastinal malignant pleural mesothelioma with signs of tamponade is rare. Indication for reoperation for recurrent malignant pleural mesothelioma is a controversial but viable option in selected patients. We report a case of a 68-year-old man presenting with epithelioid malignant pleural mesothelioma who underwent a total of three debulking surgeries (pleurectomy/decortication) combined with hyperthermic intrathoracic chemotherapy. Five years after the first procedure, a third urgent operation was performed for recurrence of a large mediastinal mesothelioma causing acute symptoms of pericardial constriction and tamponade. The patient was alive for eight years since the first treatment and 36 months after the second reoperation.

Introduction: Although several Authors have emphasized the importance of surgery to obtain long term survival in malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM), no study identifies evident reasons to convince surgeons to decide for one or another technique. Aim: prospective randomized bi-centric pilot study to investigate the effects and survival of VATS debulking surgery and HITHOC vs VATS-talc pleurodesis in MPM. Method: Patients with MPM were assigned to 2-groups: a) VATS-talc pleurodesis; b) VATS-PD and HITHOC. Several factors and Kaplan-Meier survival curves have been analyzed. Results: 27 patients, 24 male, mean-age 66 (48-82) were enrolled. All patients were stage I-II. 14 pts in group A, 13 pts group B. Age, stage, histology, early complication, hospital stay and quality of life did not differ. Survival after the operation was 19.6 months (group A) vs 31.6 months (group B). Survival after diagnosis was 19.6 months (group A) vs 33.0 (group B). One and 2-year survival was 57% and 28,6% for group A and 69% and 54% group B. A divergent curve at Kaplan Meier analysis at 3 years (fig 1). One patient of group B underwent 2 reoperation. Mortality was 0. Conclusion: VATS debulking surgery and HITHOC may be preferred in MPM because 3-year survival was longer compared to VATS pleurodesis, while safety and tolerability were similar. This study could stimulate larger randomized studies.

In the modern era, thoracic surgeons are experiencing an increase interest in imaging patterns of early stage lung cancer due to the introduction of the ground glass opacity in clinical practice, and for the necessity to an accurate cancer localization to perform the appropriate type of resection. In this brief review we analyze the latest news regarding imaging patterns of early pulmonary nodules with special emphasis to ground glass opacity.

Aim: The aim of this study is to assess the efficacy of external laryngeal medialization acquired through a Gore-Tex implant in a 45 patients affected by unilateral vocal fold paralysis in abduction after pneumonectomy. Method: The cohort of patients was made up of 30 male (73.1%) and 11 female patients (26.9%) with an average age of 66.7 years in a range between 46 and 78 years. Results: The results were analyzed with the objective and subjective analysis of voicing and swallowing. In 95.2% of cases, voice and swallow improvement with statistically significant evidences. Conclusion: We can conclude that Gore-Tex implantation is a simple, reproducible and minimally invasive procedure for management of selected cases of vocal fold unilateral paralysis in the abductory position.

The value of pulmonary metastasis (PM) resection in the context of controlled primary tumor sites was shown to improve survival of patients if complete resection could be achieved. The surgeon’s approach can be modulated by various parameters pertaining to safety margins including local growth properties, size, spread and location of PMs. Lymph node dissection and assessment is recommended although its impact on survival remains unclear. Thoracoscopic surgery combined to thin slice chest CT scans has shown results comparable to thoracotomy in patients with few PMs. The management of PMs should therefore be discussed on an individual, interdisciplinary basis to offer the best possible oncological and surgical results as well as to maximize long term patient survival rates.

We present a case of a 56-year-old male patient with stage IIIB (T3N2M0) poorly differentiated squamous cell carcinoma of the lung. Four cycles of chemotherapy were first applied, and the patient had stable disease. However, the patient refused to receive radiotherapy, therefore second-line treatment chemotherapy combined with anti-PD-1 immunotherapy was applied. Partial response was reached at the 4(th) cycle of chemotherapy combined with anti-PD-1 immunotherapy. The neoadjuvant strategy was prolonged to 10 cycles but no significant change was observed on tumor size. The patient then underwent video-assisted thoracoscopic left lower lobectomy. Eight cycles of adjuvant PD-1 immunotherapy were applied postoperatively. Perioperative immunotherapy demonstrated good curative effect in this patient and no recurrence was observed at the clinic 40 months following surgery. Here we intend to explore the concept of immunotherapy combined with chemotherapy and surgery in neoadjuvant and adjuvant setting, and to investigate the possibility of extending this strategy in patients with stage IIIB non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Aim: Adenoid cystic carcinoma is a rare tumor of head and neck region and its development in the thoracic region is even less frequent. This implies the absence of guidelines for therapeutic management and a consequent case-by-case approach. The role of radiotherapy is not yet clearly defined, but intensity-modulated radiotherapy allows for improved organ-at-risk sparing. Materials & methods: We have collected the cases of four patients treated at our institutions by the means of intensity-modulated radiotherapy, after endoscopic resection. Results & conclusion: Patients treated achieved long-term disease control of about 5 years, with a minimal acute toxicity. Longer follow-up is needed to drain conclusion on the impact of this treatment on overall survival.

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.

This report highlights the results of the Italian video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) Group, launched in mid 2013, which now has a website and an established database with over 4000 VATS lobectomy cases recruited from 67 thoracic surgery units across Italy. The year 2016 has been crucial for the following steps: inclusion of a dedicated biostatistician and a ‘Survey Analysis & Data Quality Check’; the First Consensus Meeting with statements consequently adopted as Recommendations for the Italian Thoracic Surgery Society and published in a peer-reviewed journal; two papers published under the logo Italian VATS Group and seven abstracts accepted at annual international meetings (European Society of Thoracic Surgeons, European Association of Cardio-Thoracic Surgeons, European Lung Cancer Conference and European Respiratory Society); the institution of a Master Course on VATS lobectomy; the partnership with AME Publishing Company.

We describe our experience, gained over the past 3 years, in the treatment of gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma, whose incidence has been increasing in recent years. In our series, we present the results to a follow-up of about 2 years for a total of 18 patients, treated with a particularly intensive combination treatment. It consists of neoadjuvant induction chemotherapy with the protocol docetaxel-cisplatin-5-fluorouracil for four cycles, before a concomitant chemoradiotherapy treatment. During combined phase, patients received an intensity-modulated radiotherapy and a weekly cisplatin. We will present the data to a long follow-up time and we will discuss the literature, the integration with thoracoabdominal surgery and other specific issues of this pathology.

Background: Subcentimetre pulmonary nodules can be challenging to locate either during video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) or by open techniques. In an era of increasing computed tomography scan availability the number of nodules that are identified that are suspicious for malignancy is rising, and thoracic surgeons require a reliable method to locate these nodules intraoperatively. Methods: Our aim was to evaluate, for the first time in the UK, resection of pulmonary nodules using radioactive dye labelling. Local research ethics approval was obtained and the study was submitted to the Integrated Research Application System (IRAS). All data were prospectively collected in our dedicated thoracic surgical database and analyzed at the conclusion of the study. This represents a consecutive series of patients, from January 2016 and until April 2017, who underwent this procedure at our institution: James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough, United Kingdom. The primary outcome measured was successful resection rate of the target nodules. Results: Twenty-three patients underwent radiolabeled excision of pulmonary nodules, their average age was 61 years (range, 28–79 years), 13 women and 10 men. The average maximum diameter of the nodule was 8 mm (range, 3–16 mm). All patients underwent successful excision of the target lesion (success rate 100%). One patient (4.3%) sustained pneumothorax following the CT-guided injection of the radio-labelled dye and this required chest drainage prior to general anesthesia. Conclusions: We conclude that technetium guided pulmonary nodule resection is a very reliable method for localization and resection of subcentimetre nodules which may be otherwise be difficult to identify.