Clinical analysis of 81 cases of pulmonary cryptococcosis / 中华外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To clarify the clinical feature, diagnosis and therapy of the pulmonary cryptococcosis (PC).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A retrospective study of cases with PC who were diagnosed by pathological examinations between January 1996 and December 2010 was conducted. Eighty-one cases were enrolled in the study (58 male and 23 female patients; mean age of (51±11) years). Forty-one cases were asymptomatic at the time of diagnosis. There were single pulmonary lesions in 50 cases, and multiple lesions in 31 cases. Fourteen lesions (17.3%) were located in left upper lobe, 27 (33.3%) in left lower lobe, 21 (25.9%) in right upper lobe, 3 (3.7%) in right middle lobe, 28 (34.6%) in right lower lobe, and 3 (3.7%) diffusely involved bilateral lungs. The tumors ranged from 0.8 to 10.0 cm in diameter with a mean of (2.9±1.8) cm. All the cases were misdiagnosis prior to the surgical resection, and histologically confirmed by postoperative pathological specimens.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>All the cases received surgical treatment including complete resection in 69 cases, and palliative resection in 12 cases. Resections were performed by means of video-assisted thoracoscopy in 31 cases and thoracotomy in 50 cases. Surgical resections included pulmonary wedge excisions in 42 cases, and lobectomies in 39 cases. After histological confirmation, 63 cases (77.8%) were treated with antifungal agents, which consisted of fluconazole in 38 cases, itraconazole in 18 cases, amphotericin B in 6 cases, and flucytosine in 4 cases. There were no intraoperative death, but two cases died for cryptococcal meningoencephalitis in the postoperative period. Operative morbidity occurred in 7 (8.6%) cases. The median follow-up was 42.5 months (6 to 84 months). There were 2 local relapses of PC, and 9 cases with complications of anti-fungal agents.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The clinical manifestations of PC are mild and non-specific, with no characteristic radiographic manifestations. Surgical resection is usually indicated for definite diagnosis and treatment. Antifungal drug therapy is indispensable even after complete resection.</p>

Surgery treatment for pulmonary sclerosing hemangioma / 中华外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the clinicopathological features and surgical treatment of pulmonary sclerosing hemangioma (PSH).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Clinic data of PSH patients admitted by surgical resection from January 1985 to December 2010 was analyzed retrospectively. One hundred and sixty-five patients were enrolled in the study. There were 27 male and 138 female patients with a mean age of (48 ± 13) years. Seventy-nine patients were asymptomatic at the time of diagnosis. Eighty-nine tumors arose in the right lung (27 in right upper lobe, 24 in right middle lobe, 34 in right lower lobe, 2 in right upper lobe with invasion of right middle lobe, 1 in right middle lobe with invasion of right lower lobe, and 1 case with multiple lobe lesions), 75 in the left (33 in left upper lobe, 42 in left lower lobe), and 1 in the bilateral. There were huge mass lesions in 2 cases, endobronchial lesions in 2 cases, and multiple lesions in 6 cases. The mean size of the lesion was (2.6 ± 0.9) cm (ranging from 0.9 to 10.0 cm). Forty-eight cases (29.1%) were misdiagnosed as malignancies preoperatively, and 41 cases (24.8%) were misdiagnosed intraoperatively.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Resections were performed by means of video-assisted thoracoscopy (n = 53) and thoracotomy (n = 112). Surgical resection included pulmonary wedge excision in 61 patients, lobectomy in 89 patients, right bilobectomy in 5 patients, anatomic segmentectomy in 2 patient, enucleation in 6 patients, and synchronous bilateral pulmonary wedge resection in 1 patient. Operative mortality and morbidity occurred in 0 and 2 (4.3%) patients, respectively. Mean follow-up was 34.7 months (ranging from 6 to 62 months). There was no local recurrence or death from PSH.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>PSH is a rare benign lung tumor. It is difficult to make accurate diagnosis preoperatively, and sometimes even intraoperative frozen sections can't differentiate it from malignant tumors. Surgical resection is usually indicated for definite diagnosis and treatment. Partial resection is a sufficient treatment in view of uncommon tumor recurrence. Thoracoscopic surgery is recommended for PSH.</p>

Lung transplantation in a Chinese single center: 7 years of experience / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Lung transplantation (LT) is a viable option for patients with end-stage lung diseases, but in China, the supply is limited, and the experience with LT is rare too. This study aimed to evaluate the survival and postoperative complications of recipients undergone LT.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>From January 2003 to May 2010, all patients who underwent LT were included. The clinical data of recipients were analyzed retrospectively, including demographic characteristics, survival rate, and the occurrences of postoperative complications, acute rejection and bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>In total, 37 patients underwent LT. The early mortality (≤ 30 days) was 14% (5/37). Cumulative survival rate was 78%, 70%, 70% and 42% at 1, 3, 5 and 6 years, respectively. In 37 patients, 5 (14%) developed fungal infections, 9 (24%) pulmonary bacterial infections, and 6 (16%) had bronchial anastomosis complications after LT. At three months post-transplantation, a significant improvement was observed in lung function (P < 0.05). Fifteen recipients (41%) developed acute rejection within the first year. Freedom from bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome was 89%, 85% and 80% at 1, 2 and 3 years after transplantation.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Despite the limited number of cases, the survival and occurrences of complications after LT were comparable to the international experience. Single LT may be a reasonable option for some patients with end-stage pulmonary diseases.</p>

Cytokine responses after lobectomy for early non-small cell lung cancer: a prospective randomized comparison of video-assisted thoracic surgery and open thoracotomy / 中华外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To compare video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) and open thoracotomy (OT) on acute inflammatory responses and immunosuppression after lobectomy for early non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Present prospective randomized study. OT or VATS lobectomy was performed in patients who met enter criteria and clinical data was collected. Plasma concentration of IL-6, IL-8 and IL-10 were measured before surgery and at postoperative day (POD) 1 and POD 3. There were 271 patients underwent lobectomy for early NSCLC, including of 133 patients in group VATS and 138 patients in group OT from January 2007 to June 2008. There were 132 males and 139 females, aging from 19 ∼ 70 years with a mean of (56 ± 8) years.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Compared with OT group, shorter postoperative hospital stay [(8.2 ± 2.5) d vs. (9.8 ± 6.2) d, P = 0.03], lower morbidity rate (11.3% vs. 21.7%, P = 0.02) and lower increase of plasma concentration of IL-6 at POD 1 [(35 ± 25)% vs. (65 ± 43)%, P = 0.00], IL-6 at POD 3 [(14 ± 22)% vs. (55 ± 44)%, P = 0.00] and IL-10 at POD 1 [(25 ± 20)% vs. (43 ± 35)%, P = 0.00] were observed in patients of VATS group.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>VATS lobectomy for early NSCLC is associated with less acute inflammatory responses and less immunosuppression when compared with OT.</p>

Surgical treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis combined with endobronchial tuberculosis / 中华外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the experience of surgical treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis with endobronchial tuberculosis.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The clinical data of 85 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis and endobronchial tuberculosis undergoing surgical resection from 1967 to 2004 were reviewed retrospectively. Forty-five cases were bronchial stenosis. Four cases were tracheal stenosis. Sixteen cases underwent right upper lobectomy. One case underwent right upper and middle lobectomy. Three cases underwent right middle lobectomy. Five cases underwent right middle and lower lobectomy. Two cases underwent right lower lobectomy. Twelve cases underwent left upper lobectomy. Four cases underwent left lower lobectomy. Eight cases were assisted with sleeve lobectomy. Six cases underwent right pneumonectomy (with partial tracheal resection and tracheal reconstruction in 3 cases). Thirty cases underwent left pneumonectomy. One case underwent left lower lobectomy who underwent left upper lobectomy 2 years ago. Four cases were assisted with sleeve pneumonectomy. Three cases underwent tracheal segment resection and tracheal reconstruction. One case underwent left upper bronchial and pulmonary artery sleeve resection. One case underwent biopsy.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>No surgical mortality occurred. There was 1 case of bronchopleural fistula and 1 case of empyema in the 35 cases (without sleeve lobectomy) who underwent lobectomy. There were 3 cases of bronchopleural fistula and 4 cases of empyema in the 33 cases (without sleeve pneumonectomy) who underwent pneumonectomy (P < 0.05). There were 5 cases of atelectasis in the 35 cases who underwent lobectomy and 3 cases of atelectasis in the 8 cases who underwent sleeve lobectomy (P < 0.01). In the follow-up of 3 to 10 years, 1 case died due to acute respiratory distress syndrome 7 years postoperatively.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>It is important to resect all the tissue which has been infected. With the routine anti-tuberculosis chemotherapy during the perioperative period, the effect of surgical treatment is superior to others. Fewer pneumonectomy is also important.</p>

Mid-term effects of lung volume reduction surgery on pulmonary function in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Now lung volume reduction surgery (LVRS) has become one of the most effective methods for the management of some cases of severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We evaluated the mid-term effects of LVRS on pulmonary function in patients with severe COPD.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Ten male patients with severe COPD aged 38 - 70 years underwent LVRS and their pulmonary function was assessed before, 3 months and 3 years after surgery. The spirometric and gas exchange parameters included residual volume, total lung capacity, inspiratory capacity, forced vital capacity, forced expiratory volume in one second, diffusion capacity for CO, and arterial blood gas. A 6-minute walk distance (6MWD) test was performed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>As to preoperative assessment, most spirometric parameters and 6MWD were significantly improved after 3 months and slightly 3 years after LVRS. Gas exchange parameters were significantly improved 3 months after surgery, but returned to the preoperative levels after 3 years.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>LVRS may significantly improve pulmonary function in patients with severe COPD indicating for LVRS. Mid-term pulmonary function 3 years after surgery can be decreased to the level at 3 months after surgery. Three years after LVRS, lung volume and pulmonary ventilation function can be significantly improved, but the improvement in gas exchange function was not significant.</p>

The clinical features of postoperative ventilator-associated pneumonia after lung surgery / 中华外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the clinical features of postoperative ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) after lung surgery.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Of 104 patients who had undergone lung surgery and been treated with ventilator in our surgical intensive care unit between January 2003 and March 2005, 35 patients met with the criteria of both VAP and postoperative pneumonia (POP), and 41 cases had no evidences of pneumonia. The clinical and laboratory data of all 76 cases were recorded and analyzed by a statistical software package (SPSS).</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The diagnosis of postoperative VAP was established clinically in 35 patients (46.1%), and etiologically in 33 cases. Compared to the patients without postoperative VAP, the patients with postoperative VAP had a significantly longer mean interval between intubation and operation [(2.7 +/- 2.9) days vs. (1.6 +/- 1.7) days, P = 0.039], a longer duration of mechanical ventilation [(32.2 +/- 37.7) days vs. (4.2 +/- 2.9) days, P < 0.001], and higher morbidity (20.0% vs. 2.4%, P = 0.013). There was a significant difference in mean duration of mechanical ventilation between the 15 cases of early-onset VAP and 20 cases of late-onset VAP (17 +/- 15 days vs. 43 +/- 46 days, P = 0.042). Among the initially detected pathogen, Staphylococcus aureus remains the most common Gram-positive coccus whereas Acinetobacter Baumannii took the place of Pseudomonas aeruginosa as the top Gram-negative rod.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Postoperative VAP after lung surgery has different clinical features from VAP in medical ICU.</p>

Detection of micrometastasis in mediastinal lymph nodes in operable non-small cell lung cancers / 中华肿瘤杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>Using the LUNX-mRNA as a marker and RT-PCR technique to assess mediastinal lymph nodes in patients with operable NSCLC, to evaluate at gene level the feasibility of this method in detection of micrometastasis in NSCLC and the necessity of systematic mediastinal lymphadenectomy during surgery.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Twenty patients with operable NSCLC were involved in this study. The mediastinal lymph nodes were taken during operation. RT-PCR assay was carried out to detect the LUNX-mRNA. Ten cases with benign lung disease were assayed by the same method as control.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Seventy one mediastinal lymph nodes were obtained from 20 patients, 8 (11.3%) of which showed histologically metastasis with HE staining, while 23 (32.4%) were LUNX-mRNA positive by RT-PCR, P < 0.001. Micrometastasis was detected in 25.4% of all lymph nodes. LUNX-mRNA was found to be positive in 23.6% of lymph nodes from 15 patients with stage I A-II B NSCLC compared with 62.5% from 5 patients with stage III NSCLC, with a significant difference (P = 0.003).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>About 25.4% of mediastinal lymph nodes are with micrometastasis in patients with operable NSCLC. Systematic mediastinal lymphadenectomy is necessary to deal with the regional lymph nodes during surgery.</p>

Nitric Oxide ameliorates ischemia-reperfusion injury after rat lung transplantation / 中华器官移植杂志

Objective To investigate the effects of inhaled low dose nitric oxide(NO)on lung ischemia-reperfusion injury during flush and delayed 10 min after reperfusion.Methods Sixty health a- dult male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly allocated to the control and the NO group.Before the donor lung was harvested,the right hilus was clipped for 5 min(clipping test),then blood sample was collected from carotid artery for arterial blood gas analysis as baseline.Lung transplantation was per- formed in a“cuff-like”vessel anastomosis technique.Dynamic compliance(Cdyn)and resistance of airway(Raw)were monitored before operation(baseline)and after 2-h reperfusion.The graft's gas exchange and oxygenation were assessed by“clipping test”after 2-h reperfusion.The lung graft was harvested for measuring wet/dry weight ratio(W/D),the activity of myeloperoxidase(MPO)and in- ducible nitric oxide synthase(iNOS),the content of malonyldialdehyde(MDA),and the expression of iNOS gene and protein.Results After 2-h reperfusion,compared to the control group,PaO_2/FiO_2, OI,and Qs/Qt were improved significantly in the NO group(277?91 vs.157?47,P＜0.01;2.67?0.89 vs.4.72?1.48,P＜0.01;21.1?4.57 vs.27.1?2.37,P＜0.01,respectively).The activi- ties of MPO were significantly reduced in NO group(1.80?0.46 vs 3.08?0.65 U/g tissue,P＜0.01).The content of MDA in the lung tissue of NO group was significantly higher than that of the control group(34.8?7.9 vs.20.0?11.2 nmol/mg protein,P＜0.05).Inflammatory cell infiltration was also significantly reduced(P＜0.05).The expression of iNOS gene and protein in the lung tissue of NO group was significantly lower than that of the control group.The activities of iNOS were also significantly reduced in NO group(10.6?10.2 vs 97.8?82.2 nmol?g~(-1)?min~(-1),P＜0.05).The im- munohistochemical positive staining of iNOS was localized in the alveolar epithelial cells and the in- flammatory cells infiltrated in the alveolar spaces and mesenchymal tissue.But there were no signifi- cant differences between two groups in Cdyn,Raw and W/D ratio.Conclusion Inhaled low dose NO might mitigate the intrapulmonary shunt,prevent neutrophil sequestration,inhibit the expression of iNOS gene and protein in isograft,thereby ameliorate ischemia-reperfusion injury and improve the ox- ygenation of the graft.

Surgical management for pulmonary metastasis / 中华肿瘤杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the indications of resection for lung metastasis, the surgical procedure and factors affecting the survival based on our experience accumulated for 37 years.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 108 patients with pulmonary metastasis was treated by surgery. Pathology showed 93 carcinoma (86.1%) and 15 (13.9%) sarcoma. Totally 122 operations were performed: partial lung resection 51, segmental lobectomy 7, lobectomy 40, pneumonectomy 15.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>After surgery, the cumulative 1-, 3-, 5-, 7- and 10-year post-thoracotomy survivals were 87.9%, 47.3%, 31.7%, 23.7% and 13.9%, with an overall median survival of 34.8 months. Solitary lesions, disease-free interval (DFI) > 36 months, absence of extrathoracic disease and "open" thoracotomy were predictors of a longer survival whereas age, gender, symptom and pathology of the primary tumor were found statistically insignificant prognostic factors.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Surgery should be undertaken for patients who do fulfill these criteria, and "open" thoracotomy is a better choice. Surgical treatment for patients with short DFI and multiple lesions should be attempted with prudence.</p>

The impact on perioperative patients with non-small cell lung cancer by neoadjuvant chemotherapy / 中国肺癌杂志

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>To investigate whether neoadjuvant chemotherapy (MVP) could influence the safety of perioperative patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The regimen of chemotherapy was MVP (mitomycin+vindesine+cisplatin) for all patients. The patients undergoing 2 cycles of neoadjuvant chemotherapy, radical resection and 2 cycles of postoperative chemotherapy were compared with those undergoing similar resections and 4 cycles of similar postoperative chemotherapy.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Of the 107 eligible patients, 66 patients were in the neoadjuvant-chemotherapy group and 41 in control group. There was no statistical difference between these two groups in the distributions of gender, age, tumor staging and pathology. The neoadjuvant-chemotherapy group had longer operative duration (P=0.262), more operative blood loss (P=0.704), more amount of operative transfusion (P=0.811) and total amount of perioperative transfusion (P=0.074), and less amount of post-operative drainage (P=0.061) than those of the control group, but no statistical difference was found among them. No statistical difference was detected between two groups in the mortality (P=0.674) and the morbidity such as arrhythmia (P=0.608), bronchial parietal fistula (P= 0.378 ), pneumonia (P=0.622) and respiratory failure (P=0.285).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Neoadjuvant chemotherapy does not exert significant influence on the safety of perioperative patients with NSCLC.</p>

Pathogenicity and treatment of acute respiratory distress syndrome after thoracotomy / 中华外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the causes of acute respiratory distress (ARDS) after thoracotomy and to find out the measures to prevent ARDS.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The characteristics of incidence, pathogenicity and treatment of ARDS after thoracotomy in 31 patients were analysed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The patients who had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, long history of smoking, hypertension were prone to ARDS. Injury to lung in operation, shock and pulmonary infection probably caused ARDS. Clearing away respiratory tract secretion, preserving of a clear airway, controlling pulmonary infection, alleviating pneumonedema by diuresis, early executing tracheotomy or mechanic assistant ventilation by tracheointubation were keys to rescuing patients successfully.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>It is suggested that multi factors were related to ARDS after thoracotomy. Shock, injury to lung in operation, pulmonary infection, are important factors that lead to post-operative ARDS after thoracotomy. Early treatment can reduce mortality of ARDS.</p>

Influence of inflammatory cells on early-stage reperfusion injury of canine lung allograft / 第二军医大学学报

Objective:To investigate the roles of donor alveolar maerophages and the recipient circulating neutrophils in early-stage reperfusion injury of lung allograft,and to study the interaction between the 2 kinds of cells.Methods:Twenty pairs of size-and weight-matched adult mongrel dogs were randomly assigned to 4 groups:C(control),D(leukocyte-depleted blood reperfusion),M(maerophage inhibition)and DM(leukocyte-depleted plus macropbage inhibition).The 20 cases of left lung transplantations were performed by the same surgeon.All procedures were identical,except that the donors in Group M and DM received the macrophage inhibitor gadolinium chloride(14 mg/kg)intravenously 24 h before operation,and that the recipients in Group D and DM underwent initial 10 min reperfusion with leukocyte-depleted blood collected from donors'inferior vena cava. All lung allografts were reperfused for 2 h.Results:Compared with Group D and C,macrophage inhibition ameliorated PO_2/FiO_2 and mean pulmonary arterial pressure(mPAP)consistently after 30 min reperfusion in Group M and DM;the parameters of lung reperfusion injury(malonaldehyde activity,wet/dry ratio)at 120 min after reperfusion were also significantly improved(P