Clinical significance of positive Raoultella Ornithinolytica and Staphylococcus hominis cultures in a post lobectomy patient. A case report.

Raoultella Ornithinolytica (RO) is an encapsulated, Gram- negative, nonmotile aerobic rob which was reclassified from Klepsiella genus belonging in the family of Enterobacteriaceae. It is a rare human infection and few cases have been reported in post thoracotomy patients. Here we present a case of a left lower lobectomy patient that was complicated by pleural effusion and high fever with positive sputum cultures of Raoultella Ornithinolytica and positive pleural fluid cultures of Staphylococcus hominis. It is related with aquatic life poisoning. There are few cases reported and even fewer postoperatively. The infection is rare in human therefore the bacteria is still underreported.

Chilaiditi's sign or syndrome? Diagnostic question in two patients with concurrent cardiovascular diseases.

Chilaiditi's sign is the asymptomatic, usually incidental radiographic finding, in which a part of the intestine is located between the liver and the diaphragm. The term Chilaiditi syndrome is referred to cases with symptomatic hepatodiaphragmatic interposition. Chilaiditi's syndrome is usually associated with abdominal or lower thoracic symptoms. We present here the cases of two patients that were admitted with predominantly thoracic  atypical pain. During cardiac work up, it was found that there was a concurrent heart disease for which both patients were managed. Although both patients were treated for the heart disease, a full conservative treatment was implemented, having in mind that Chilaiditi's syndrome instead of sign could be responsible for the symptoms. Patients' course was uneventful and they are regularly followed up.

Two foreign bodies embedded in the intraventricular septum: A case report.

A 23-year old male was presented at the outpatient clinic of our department reporting that he had been subjected to insertion of foreign bodies in his chest. Physical examination was unremarkable. Imaging studies revealed the presence of two bodies in the subcutaneous tissue of the anterior chest wall and two needle-shaped intramyocardial bodies that were impacted in the intraventricular septum. Due to late appearance, the position, and because of the absence of symptoms, it was decided that the patient should be managed conservatively. Today, five years after the incident, the patient remains asymptomatic and he is followed-up regularly.

Unusual symptomatic late onset presentation of aberrant right subclavian artery: report of two cases and short literature review.

Aberrant subclavian arteries are congenital vascular anomalies that usually do not cause any symptoms. When symptomatic they are considered as a rare cause of dysphagia. This presentation is known as dysphagia lusoria. They are diagnosed by barium swallow or contrast-enhanced computed tomography, although it may be an incidental finding. Management varies from life modifications and drug therapy to surgical intervention. We report two cases of the unusual form of late onset symptomatic presentation because of the presence of aberrant right subclavian artery. Main symptom was chest pain without dysphagia. Due to age and medical comorbidities both patients where managed conservatively.

Aneurysmal rib cyst.

Thoracic cage is the site of development of various primary or metastatic tumors. An aneurysmal rib cyst is a benign tumor arising from the chest wall. Aneurysmal rib cyst is considered a rare surgical entity and its presence must be followed by removal for histology examination. We present here the case of an aneurysmal rib cyst to a young 33-year-old female. The tumor was presented as an expanding left anterior second rib mass during a self-breast examination. Chest x-ray showed a shadow on the left upper lung area and CT scan revealed a large multicystic mass in the anterolateral left 2nd rib protruding underneath the thoracic major muscle. We discuss the clinicopathological characteristics of this tumor and its surgical management along with a short literature review.

Mechanisms of oxidative stress and myocardial protection during open-heart surgery.

Cold heart protection via cardioplegia administration, limits the amount of oxygen demand. Systemic normothermia with warm cardioplegia was introduced due to the abundance of detrimental effects of hypothermia. A temperature of 32-33°C in combination with tepid blood cardioplegia of the same temperature appears to be protective enough for both; heart and brain. Reduction of nitric oxide (NO) concentration is in part responsible for myocardial injury after the cardioplegic cardiac arrest. Restoration of NO balance with exogenous NO supplementation has been shown useful to prevent inflammation and apoptosis. In this article, we discuss the "deleterious" effects of the oxidative stress of the extracorporeal circulation and the up-to-date theories of "ideal'' myocardial protection.

Surgical treatment for malignant pleural mesothelioma: extrapleural pneumonectomy, pleurectomy/decortication or extended pleurectomy?

Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is an asbestos-related disease with a dismal prognosis. Ethic, social, legal and economic parameters are implicated in its management. It is quite clear that multimodality therapy is necessary to improve long-term results but precise treatment schemes have not yet been equivocally accepted. The extent of surgery is questioned and radical operations are highly debatable. On the other hand, debulking or cyto-reductive surgery have been also proposed within a multimodality approach. However, the role and order of adjuvant or neoadjuvant use of chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery has not been established. The aim of this study was to analyze contemporary studies on the impact of different surgical approaches on outcome of patients with MPM.