Recurrent Pneumothorax Caused by an Unexpected Lymphangioleiomyomatosis: A Case Report

Lymphangioleiomyomatosis is a rare disease characterized by the proliferation of atypical smooth muscle cells. Recurrent pneumothorax is a frequent complication of lymphangioleiomyomatosis. We present the case of a 41-year-old woman who presented with recurrent pneumothorax. Video-assisted thoracic surgery was performed. We did not suspect the possibility of lymphangioleiomyomatosis because of the presence of very few cysts on chest computed tomography.

Prognosis of Synchronous Double Primary Lung Cancer Based on Immunohistochemical Staining

Objective@#This study evaluated the prognosis of strictly selected synchronous double primary lung cancer. @*Methods@#The records of patients who underwent complete resection for synchronous double primary lung cancer were reviewed. Only patients who had different histologic types or the same histologies without nodal metastasis or different patterns of immunohistochemical staining were included. For survival analysis, the Kaplan-Meier method was used, and for comparison of the survival rate, a log-rank test was used. @*Results@#Eighteen males and two females with a mean age of 67.0 years were included. Eight patients (40.0%) had the same histology and 12 patients (60.0%) had different histology in each tumor. Of the eight patients with the same histology, five had squamous cell carcinoma and three had adenocarcinoma, and the immunohistochemical staining results of all eight showed different patterns of p53 and epidermal growth factor receptor expression in each tumor. The median follow-up was 33.5 months (range, 6.1–102.3 months) for all patients and 41.6 months (range, 28.9–102.3 months) for the surviving patients. The 1- and 5-year overall survival rate and disease-free survival were 80.0% and 63.3%, and 70.0% and 33.3%, respectively. The 5-year overall and diseasefree survival of patients with identical and different histology was 56.3% and 31.3%, and 66.7% and 35.0%, respectively, which was no significant difference. There were no significant prognostic factors for overall survival and disease-free survival. @*Conclusion@#The prognosis of synchronous double primary lung cancer was good in highly selected patients with any type of surgical resection. A large number of patients is needed for appropriate and standardized selection process.

Traumatic Right Pulmonary Artery Rupture after Accidentally Being Stepped on the Chest

Traumatic pulmonary artery rupture is a rare, life-threatening injury. Currently, no strict guidelines for its management exist. Herein, we report a successful surgical repair of a right pulmonary artery rupture caused by being stepped on.

Traumatic Right Pulmonary Artery Rupture after Accidentally Being Stepped on the Chest / 대한흉부외과학회지

Traumatic pulmonary artery rupture is a rare, life-threatening injury. Currently, no strict guidelines for its management exist. Herein, we report a successful surgical repair of a right pulmonary artery rupture caused by being stepped on.

The Different Effect of VEGF Polymorphisms on the Prognosis of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer according to Tumor Histology

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) contributes to tumor angiogenesis. The role of VEGF single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in lung cancer susceptibility and its prognosis remains inconclusive and controversial. This study was performed to investigate whether VEGF polymorphisms affect survival outcomes of patients with early stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) after surgery. Three potentially functional VEGF SNPs (rs833061T>C, rs2010963G>C, and rs3025039C>T) were genotyped. A total of 782 NSCLC patients who were treated with surgical resection were enrolled. The association of the SNPs with overall survival (OS) and disease free survival (DFS) was analyzed. In overall population, none of the three polymorphisms were significantly associated with OS or DFS. However, when the patients were stratified by tumor histology, squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and adenocarcinoma (AC) had significantly different OS (Adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] = 0.76, 95% CI = 0.56–1.03 in SCC; aHR = 1.33, 95% CI = 0.98–1.82 in AC; P for heterogeneity = 0.01) and DFS (aHR = 0.75, 95% CI = 0.58–0.97 in SCC; aHR = 1.26, 95% CI = 1.00–1.60 in AC; P for heterogeneity = 0.004) according to the rs833061T>C genotypes. Our results suggest that the prognostic role of VEGF rs833061T>C may differ depending on tumor histology.