Effect of training on patient outcomes following lobectomy.

BACKGROUND: Little is known about the effect of surgical training on outcomes in thoracic surgery. The impact of surgeon training on outcomes following lung resection was examined, focusing on lobectomy as a marker operation. METHODS: 328 consecutive patients who underwent lobectomy at our institution between 1 October 2001 and 30 June 2003 were studied. Data were collected prospectively during the patient's admission as part of routine clinical practice and validated by a designated audit officer. Patient characteristics and postoperative outcomes were compared between trainee led and consultant led operations. RESULTS: In 115 cases (35.1%) the operation was performed by a trainee thoracic surgeon as the first operator. There were no significant differences in patient characteristics between the two groups. In-hospital mortality was similar for operations led by trainees and consultants (3.5% and 2.8%, respectively; p > 0.99). Outcomes in the two groups did not differ significantly with respect to respiratory, cardiovascular, renal, neurological, chest infection, bleeding, and gastrointestinal complications. Survival rates at 1 year were 82.6% for procedures led by trainees compared with 81.7% for procedures led by consultants (p = 0.83). CONCLUSIONS: With appropriate supervision, trainee thoracic surgeons can perform lobectomies safely without compromising short or intermediate term patient outcome.

Foreign body in tracheal bronchus simulating bronchogenic cancer.

A foreign body in the bronchial tree may mimic many pathological conditions. We present a case of a 62-year-old patient with a foreign body in the tracheal bronchus simulating bronchogenic cancer. After the removal of the foreign body, there has been a gradual regression of the foreign body induced inflammatory changes. To the best of our knowledge, a similar case has not been reported in the English medical literature.

Granular cell tumor of the esophagus.

Granular cell tumor is an uncommon lesion which is usually seen in the tongue, skin and breast. It has rarely been noted in the esophagus, this case being the 16th in the literature. Eleven of these patients had tumors removed at operation and four were found at postmortem examination. The tumor appears to be benign in character, although one case has been reported with metastases. Granular cell tumors of the esophagus should be surgically removed and may require wide excision because of fixation of the mucosa. The pathological characteristics of this tumor are reviewed.

Cystic thymoma simulating pulmonary stenosis.

A 36-year-old man presented with chest pain, an anterior mediastinal mass and a loud pulmonary systolic murmur. At operation a large, tense, well encapsulated, cystic thymoma was found to be compressing the right ventricular outflow tract and the main pulmonary trunk, producing a systolic thrill over the artery. After excision of the cyst, the thrill and the murmur disappeared and there was complete symptomatic relief. Classification, pathology, clinical presentation, diagnosis and treatment of cysts of the thymus are discussed. The syndrome of pulmonary artery compression characterized by a triad of chest pain, dyspnoea and a loud pulmonary systolic murmur, which decreases in intensity during inspiration, is described. Pertinent literature on cysts of the thymus, and acquired pulmonary stenosis due to extrinsic compression is reviewed.

Aortic valve replacement for severe aortic regurgitation caused by idiopathic giant cell aortitis.

Giant cell aoritis occurred in a 25-year-old woman, with absent pulses in the left arm and severe aortic regurgitation from dilatation of the valvar annulus. The aortic valve was replaced by a Starr-Edwards prosthesis, and the patient was treated with steroids. Five years later, she continues asymptomatic and haemodynamically stable. The left brachial and radial pulses have returned.

Haemangioleiomyomatous tumour of the lung.

A case of haemangioleiomyomatous tumour of the lung, occurring as a peripheral, solitary nodule in an asymptomatic 54-year-old man is presented. The tumour was well-demarcated and microscopically it was characterised by the presence of vascular spaces with endothelial, pericytic, and, predominantly, smooth muscle proliferation. Islands of cartilage and slit-like spaces lined by bronchial epithelium make this a hamartomatous lesion of a quite distinctive and unusual variety, which does not fit any of the well-recognised patterns of hamartomas previously described. The long-term prognosis after limited excision is considered to be favourable.

Survival with residual tumor on the bronchial margin after resection for bronchogenic carcinoma.

Sixty-four (14.7 percent) of 434 consecutive patients having pulmonary resection for bronchogenic carcinoma were found to have microscopic residual tumor on the cut margins of the resected specimens. These subjects were further subdivided histologically into those with direct extension of the tumor (34 patients), lymphatic permeation (14 patients), clumps of cancer cells in parabronchial tissues (six patients), and the presence of carcinoma in situ change (10 patients). Bronchopleural fistulas developed in eight (12.5 percent) of 64 patients. The operative mortality rate was 15.6 percent, with four of the deaths occurring as the result of bronchopleural fistulas. Thirty-two patients (50 percent) survived 1 year, 21 (32.8 percent) survived 3 years, and 15 (23.4 percent) lived for 5 years or more. The patients with tumor in the submucosal and peribronchial lymphatics had the worst prognosis. 78.6 percent having died within 1 year and the remainder within 3 years. All 5-year survivors were men with squamous cell carcinoma and had relatively small tumors (mean diameter 2.9 cm). No direct relationship between the length of the resected bronchial stump and survival could be established; a short stump did not preclude long survival. The possible factors involved in the relatively high 5 year survival rate in this group of patients and the therapeutic implications of these factors are discussed.

Comparative analysis of isolated aortic valve replacement with fascia lata and homograft valves.

Thirty-eight consecutive patients who underwent isolated replacement of the aortic valve with fascia lata in 1970 were compared with a similar series of patients undergoing homograft replacement of the aortic valve. These series were well matched in number, age sex of patients, symptomatology, valvular disease, electrocardiographic and roentegenographic changes, and preoperative cardiac catheterization data. The mean follow-up time was 73 months in the fascia lata series and 69.1 months in the homograft series, and all the post-operative survivors were reviewed. The early and long-term results were similar of the two series, and there was no statistical difference in the operative and late mortality, the incidence of early and late diastolic murmurs, valve failure necessitating valve replacement, infective endocarditis, thromboembolism, over-all survival, and survival with an intact valve. It is concluded that the long-term results of valve replacement using these two tissues, in the aortic position, are similar and there is little to choose between the two types of valves. If fascia lata, as we believe, is no longer acceptable as a satisafactory valve substitute, then homograft valves are not acceptable either.

Delayed non-mycotic false aneurysm of ascending aortic cannulation site.

Two cases of delayed non-mycotic false aneurysm arising from ascending aortic cannulation site, presenting one-and-a-hald years and seven years after cardiopulmonary bypass, are described. These two cases represent an incidence of 0.12% of this complication. Repair using profound hypothermia and circulatory arrest with femoral artery and femoral vein cannulation for cardiopulmonary bypass is recommended. The advantages and complications of aortic cannulation are discussed and recommendations to minimise the complications of cannulation are made. The clinical presentation and diagnosis of non-mycotic false aneurysms arising from the aortic cannulation site are described. In addition one delayed and two early cases of non-mycotic cannulation site false aneurysms previously published are analysed. Surgeons should be alert to the possibility of this complication in all patients who have had aortic cannulation for cardiopulmonary bypass even in the distant past. Unexpected symptoms such as constant anterior chest pain, dysphagia, hoarseness, and increasing widening of the superior mediastinum on the chest radiograph warrant prompt investigation.

Tumour size as a prognostic factor after resection of lung carcinoma.

Two hundred and ninety-five patients who underwent resection for carcinoma of the lung are reviewed, with a particular view to size of tumour and survival rate. The carcinomas were divided into four groups by size. It was found that the larger the tumour the worse was the prognosis. The prognosis in large carcinomas could not be directly attributed to a preponderance of an unfavourable cell type, lymph node metastasis or mediastinal extension. Vascular dissemination at the time of operation is believed to be a major factor for the poor prognosis in this group of carcinomas. Radiotherapy before operation and early ligation of the pulmonary veins might improve the results of resection of large carcinomas.