[Bilateral and multiple traumatic pulmonary pseudo-cysts: a case report]. / Pneumatocele post-traumatico: a proposito di un caso a localizzazione multipla bilaterale.

Traumatic pulmonary pseudocyst is a very rare consequence of blunt chest trauma characterized by formation of cystic like parenchymal lesions. Generally multiple and bilateral distribution is more rare than a single localization. The computed tomography (CT) scan has an higher diagnostic value compared with conventional chest X-ray. Prognosis of traumatic pseudocysts is generally good with benign clinical course and spontaneous resolution within several months. However initial strictly patient follow-up is necessary to early discover and treat potentially severe complications. Utility of chest magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to exclude potentially severe infectious complications is described. Any complications required percutaneous drainage or surgical resection.

[Etiology, pathophysiology and management of post-traumatic pneumomediastinum: our experience]. / Pneumomediastino post-traumatico: meccanismi eziopatogenetici e management diagnostico-terapeutico. Nostra esperienza.

The Authors reported the cases of posttraumatic pneumomediastinum came to their observation over the past 8 years. The etiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, treatment and blunt injures eventually associated are discussed. Conclude that in the absence of associated injuries the treatment and the course of post-traumatic pneumomediastinum are the same that spontaneous pneumomediastinum.

[Pneumotorax and cannabis]. / Pneumotorace e cannabis.

AIM: After having read the articles by Treasure and Beshay about the particular incidence of spontaneous pneumothorax (SP) in patients with daily consumption of Cannabis the authors took a strictly control of these subjects reviewing their personal experience in the treatment of this condition. In particular, the prevalence of SP has been evaluated through genomic assay of monocorial twins. The strong impact of the inflammatory phenomena that have always supported the emphysema burning is 10 time higher among worldwide population and patients with SP. METHODS: In order to determine the real incidence of spontaneous pneumothorax in patients with proved daily assumption of Cannabis a retrospective analysis of patients with history of Cannabis drug abuse has been performed. In the period from January 2002 and June 2007,12 consecutive patients with SP and history of Cannabis abuse were enrolled. Selection criteria were: 1) age <16 years; 2) single-sided spontaneous pneumothorax; 3) history of daily Cannabis assumption. Patients with previous thoracic surgery/trauma and positive anamnesis for other drug assumption (ODA), snorkelling or work exposition to pollutions were excluded. In order to avoid the clinical overlapping of pathology and clinical symptoms due to other factors, patients with pleural effusion and documented similar episodes were excluded. This series focused on particular on twins. In all the patients an endopleuric drainage tube was inserted, and 3 patients underwent toracostomy. RESULTS: No operatory mortality and/or complications were observed. CONCLUSIONS: The role of the thoracic surgeon is important to sensitize on the problem of the circulation of light drugs among young people and their effects on the lung activity.

[Thoracic trauma: incidence, social and economic costs, educational opportunities. Experience on the last eight years of Thoracic Surgical Unit of Messina University]. / Il trauma toracico: incidenza, costi socio-economici, ricaduta didattico-formativa. Esperienza della Cattedra di Chirurgia Toracica dell'Università di Messina negli ultimi otto anni.

The Authors, after extensive introduction on the incidence, etiology, classification, pathophysiology, possible complications, diagnosis and treatment of thoracic trauma, relate their experience on the last eight years, stressing the diagnostic and therapeutic strategy in management of trauma simple and complicated and assessing finally serious social impact of these pathologies and the educational opportunities provided.

[Post-operative analgesia in thoracic surgery: physiopathological features, therapeutic framework and methodologies]. / Analgesia post-operatoria in chirurgia toracica: aspetti fisiopatologici, basi terapeutiche e metodi.

Pain after surgery is a major handicap for patients as it bounds and decreases ability for spontaneous movement, cough and deep breathing, aiding the onset of complications and invalidating the recovery capabilities of operated patients. In thoracic surgery, the need to compile and employ guidelines for post-surgical pain management has become a pressing requirement in recent years. Currently available protocols include several options of treatment that are frequently a subject in the most recent scientific papers and play a key role, as they constitute the framework upon which building with changes and fixes that take account of incidental circumstances, in relation to both patients and surgery, again for both the organizational and structural features of the surgical environment. Purpose of this job is a thorough analysis of post-operating analgesic treatments for thoracic surgery, introducing the most effective ones currently available as for channels and procedures of administration, as well as possible side effects or complications.

[Malignant pleural mesothelioma: early diagnosis and multimodality management]. / Diagnosi precoce e terapie integrate del mesotelioma pleurico maligno.

Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a cancer with a poor prognosis, and its incidence increase, mainly as a result of exposure to asbestos. Universally acknowledged therapeutic approaches still don't exist at the moment, because of its refractory behaviour to all standard therapies; treatment protocols inclusive of either surgery, radiotherapy or chemotherapy have been largely employed, but usually with little impact on survival. For potentially operable pleural mesotheliomas new treatments tend to combine surgery both with new chemotherapy drugs and radiotherapy, in order to improve remarkably survival rates in selected cases. Other approaches, i.e. palliative, proved to be useful in the treatment of two major symptoms, namely dyspnea and thoracic pain. In this work the Authors are reporting their experience with malignant pleural mesothelioma, stressing the role of videothoracoscopy in the early diagnosis, weighing the radical cancer resection option and the effectiveness of multimodal treatment.

[Safety and effectiveness of lung volume reduction surgery for treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease]. / Sicurezza ed efficacia della riduzione chirurgica di volume polmonare nel trattamento della broncopneumopatia cronica ostruttiva.

Lung volume reduction surgery (LVRS) has been proposed and performed in order to decrease dyspnea and improve wordly life without major impairments in oxygen-dependent patients affected by serious chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and severe dyspnea that doesn't suffer drastic alterations notwithstanding rehabilitation procedures tailored for the specific case. The purpose of LVRS is to optmize thoraco-pulmonary dynamics, considerably compromised in these patients, relaxing the serious expiratory restraint to airflow and improving the muscular respiratory functionality. In this work the authors bring forth the physio-pathological foundations that justify the use of LVRS, also analyzing data brought by the international literature about surgery guidelines, short-term morbidity and mortality, clinical-functional effects and long-term survival. They also underline the need for careful evaluation research, aimed at getting a precise account of cardio-respiratory functional outcome, that will enable the positive accomplishement of the demanding and risky surgery, especially whenever the pathology has reached remarkable proportions or appears to be bilaterally localized. Only committing to painstaking analysis, setting and customization protocols, the latter especially addressing carefully chosen patients, can the surgeon rely on to achieve both short and long-term positive outcomes.

[Haemothorax and chylothorax: surgical approach]. / Emotorace e chilotorace: il loro interesse chirurgico.

Diseases causing blood accumulation in the pleural space (or haemothorax) are usually very demanding for diagnosis and require a multidisciplinar therapeutical approach in emergency. So, their treatment should always be immediate and should aim to restore the optimal patient's haemodynamic conditions and to find the site of bleeding. Chylothorax, a lymphatic effusion in the pleural space, is also a very important pathology, as it effects the nutritional and immunological state of the patient causing pleural involvement and respiratory insufficiency. Stabilisation of vital parameters with adequate systemic therapies (blood perfusions, fluids and pro-coagulation factors, TPN) preceeds surgery, which can be the placement of a thoracic drain or emergency thorascopy and/or thoracotomy. The Authors report the casistic of the latest three years for diagnosis and treatment of haemothorax and chylothorax stressing the advantages of a minimal invasive approach for evacuation and identification of the origin of bleeding and haemorrhage and/or lymphatic effusion control.

[Evaluation of lung function as a prognostic index before and after surgical resection due to NSCLC]. / Valutazione pre e postoperatoria della funzionalità respiratoria come indice prognostico dopo resezione polmonare per NSCLC.

BACKGROUND: Although there were several studies on survival, death and morbidity rates after lung resection, considering both limited and extended resections, lung exercise capacity has been quite seldom taken into account as an index for prognosis. The aim of this study compare the consequences of three kinds of lung resections (pneumonectomy, lobectomy and wedge resection), to test pre- and post-surgery exercise capacity for patients affected by NSCLC in order to obtain more detailed prognostic indices. METHODS: All the patients were studied by means of thorough lung static function and hemogas analytical tests before and after surgical resection, from 15 days to 12 twelve months' time past surgery. RESULTS: In fact, in relation to lung resection due to neoplasms, several studies pointed out that zone-limited resections show an obvious anatomical benefit in terms of parenchyma spair compared to lobectomy; however, it is underlined that the functional benefits of small resections don't really prevail over post-lobectomy anatomical advantages. Furthermore local relapses are more common after small resections rather than after lobectomy. CONCLUSIONS: Neither limited lung resection nor lobectomy alone, therefore, in accordance with nearly all the recent and still ongoing studies in this huge research field, has a significant effect on exercise capacity. Only pneumonectomy is associated with impaired exercise performance, and, nevertheless, quite below our expectations.

[Role of thymectomy in the treatment of myasthenia gravis: considerations and personal cases]. / Ruolo della timectomia nel trattamento della miastenia gravis: considerazioni e casistica personale.

The therapeutic impact of thymectomy on the clinical course of myasthenia gravis is still very controversial. In fact, while nowadays the surgical approach is widely adopted for thymomas, its role is still debatable in patients suffering from myasthenia gravis. The surgical approach of choice for total thymectomy is represented by median sternotomy. Other surgical methodologies include cervical access and partial sternotomy. All these approaches have shown excellent results in the exeresis of the thymus. More recently video-assisted thoracoscopic thymectomy has been proposed as a less invasive and similarly effective technique for the removal of this organ and the treatment of myasthenia gravis. Aim of the present study is to report Author's experience with thymectomy, emphasizing the data available in the international literature on the surgical mortality, complications and aesthetical results of the different surgical accesses.

[Pulmonary hernia]. / Le ernie polmonari.

Chest-wall hernia is a very unusual pathological event. The Authors report a singular diagnostic case of chest-wall hernia, miming rib tumor. Instrumental diagnostic tools and surgical treatment is reported. Finally patient's follow-up is discussed.

[Intestinal angiodysplasia]. / Angiodisplasie intestinali.

Intestinal angiodysplastic lesions represent one frequent source of gastro-enteric tract serious bleedings, endowed with present-day therapeutic implications. The Authors report a singular case of a bleeding of this kind. A selective arteriography analysis of the superior mesenteric artery immediately pointed out the necessity for a surgical intervention, which however has not proved being resolutive for recovery, because massive intestinal hemmorrhage recurrence occurred. The left gastric artery anomalous origin, being discovered in the first branch of the mesenteric artery, which was not recognized fully in advance, stressed, in fact, the need for a partial gastrectomy, firstly, and a full gastrectomy, subsequently. The post-surgery course got more serious for a small leak of the oesophageus-digiunal anastomosis and for a serious renal failure. NPT and haemodialysis helped to quickly solve those complications. Other hemorrhagic events have not occurred anymore, 5 years having passed since the surgical intervention.

[Endoscopic obstruction treatment]. / Terapia disostruttiva endoscopica.

The Authors reported the last year personal experience of disobstruction endoscopic therapy; they described therefore an examination of the several techniques proposed from the international literature and in particular dwell upon laser-therapy and airway stents implantation. They emphasized the treatment importance, mostly palliative, but the effective symptomatology improvement due to airway obstruction, bleeding, pain and secretions retenction. They emphasize finally the necessity of a careful and scrupulous patients selection for disobstruction endoscopic therapy.

[Surgical indications in pulmonary tuberculosis]. / Indicazioni chirurgiche nella tubercolosi polmonare.

Since the begin of the century, the surgery for treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis showed an important evolution. The procedure has proved to be useful in the 20% of patients. It appears that the percentage is drug-resistant or complicated. The authors describe their experience in the years from 1992 to 1997 and, in accordance with the literature in this field, outline the good prognosis to 5 years, with a percentage of 90-96% of non-infected patients. Very important is the time of surgical intervention, the compliance of the medical treatment in the previous 6 months, excepting in the emergency, and the perfect obliteration of pleural cavity to avoid next reinfection and the development of broncopleural fistulas.

[Thyroid surgery in assisted local anesthesia]. / Chirurgia tiroidea in anestesia locale assistita.

To evaluate the advantages of thyroidectomy under assisted local anesthesia, 35 cases operated on from January 1998 to February 1999 were reviewed. The patients were studied in ambulatory setting and adequately informed on the program of thyroid operation under local anesthesia. Multinodular goitre was present in all the cases. In 12 cases, it was intrathoracic. The morning of operation, all the patients underwent to pre-operative sedation and, in operative room, to local anesthesia with Mepivacaine 1% and adrenaline 1,200,000 U. The operations were performed with a mean of 30 cc of local anesthetic. During operation, in none case the conversion to general anesthesia was necessary. No mortality and morbility were registered. In the majority of cases, an analgesic was necessary meanly 4 hours after operation. The evening of operation in all the patient oral nutrition was restored. Twenty-nine patients were discharged from the hospital 48 hours after surgery. Eight days after operation, surgical recovery was evident in all the patients reviewed in the out patients setting. The advantages of thyroid surgery under assisted local anesthesia are outlined.

[Elective and emergency minimally invasive surgery in pleural diseases]. / La chirurgia mininvasiva nella patologia pleurica di elezione e d'urgenza.

In the last years the video-assisted thoracic surgery (V.A.T.S.) assumed an important order for the diagnosis and treatment of the pleural disease. In this particular field, the procedure allows obtaining almost the same outcomes of traditional surgery and is very safety. V.A.T.S. reduces hospital time and trauma with a fast return to the working life. The Authors describe their experience and outline the diagnostic and therapeutic indications for the treatment of choice and emergency.

[Reconstruction of the thoracic wall]. / La ricostruzione della parete toracica.

The resection of the thoracic wall for cancer, traumas or results of radiotherapy could require a reconstruction of the same wall with prosthetic material of different nature to the purpose of protect the important intrathoracic structures, avoid the flail chest and maintain a ventilation adjusted with aesthetically acceptable results. Numerous and varied they have been and they are the materials used to such aim, but the more numerous experiences concern the reconstructions of the wall with the employment of nets of Marlex or the patch of Gore-Tex. In the complete two years eight patients have arrived at our observation in which a prosthetic reconstruction has been performed with heterologous material. In three of them has been used the net of Marlex, in five the patch of Gore-Tex of two millimeters of thickness. The prostheses have stayed well you bear and in all the patients the authors have gotten a good stabilization of the thoracic wall.

[Azygos lobe and spontaneous pneumothorax]. / Lobo azygos e pneumotorace spontaneo.

The association azygos lobe-pneumothorax is a very rare event described in literature. The Authors report a case observed. The surgical procedure performed by traditional thoracotomy, was carried out with the section of the azygos and the resection of small blebs in pulmonary apex. Finally, emphasized possible different pathogenetic mechanisms.

[Open-window surgery of pleural empyema]. / Trattamento degli empiemi pleurici con open-window.

Thoracoscopic is performed for treatment of pleuric empiema with 65% of recovery. In the old patients the Authors achieved high grade of recovery with open window (OW) procedure. In the last two years, 7 patients with pleuric empiema underwent this treatment. In two patients the origin was tuberculosis, in 4 empiema was post-pneumonitic; in one case the cause was broncho-pleuric fistula after pneumonectomy. All the operations were performed under general anesthesia. The Authors began with thoracoscopy, drainage of cavity and then they performed the resection of one or more ribs and a pleuro-cutaneous flap: 5 patients recovered without complications. OW seems to be very useful in the case in which more radical approach is impossible. Continuous irrigations of the cavity, with rapid pulmonary expansion, permits recovery without the use of myocutaneous flaps.

[The surgical treatment of Zenker's diverticula by stapler diverticulectomy and myotomy under local anesthesia]. / Trattamento chirurgico dei diverticoli di Zenker mediante diverticolectomia meccanica e miotomia, in anestesia locale.

From 1990 to 1997, 12 patients with Zenker's diverticulum underwent TA 30-stapler diverticulectomy and cricopharyngeal myotomy. All patients were operated on under local anaesthesia. No death was observed. In two cases subcutaneous infection was drained with recovery. No post-operative fistulas were observed with radiologic control. At 6 months follow-up all patients were well. Advantages of both stapler diverticulectomy and local anesthesia are outlined.