[Thoracic trauma: analysis of 987 cases]. / Gögüs travmalari: 987 olgunun analizi.

In Izmir Chest Diseases and Thoracic Surgery Training Hospital, Department of 1st Thoracic Surgery, between 1988 and 1998, 987 patients who were treated for their chest trauma were retrospectively reviewed in regard to their age, sex, cause of trauma, associated organ injuries, treatment modality, complication rate and mortality. In 710 (72%) cases of chest injuries were related to blunt trauma and 277 (28%) patients sustained penetrating trauma. 402 (41%) patients underwent tube thoracostomy only. While majority of patients (553 pts, 56%) were managed conservatively, only 32 (3%) underwent thoracotomy. Complication rate in our series was 4.6% and the most frequently atelectasis was seen. 13 patients died due to trauma related causes (mortality: 1.3%). There was no difference between blunt and penetrating trauma patients in view of morbidity and mortality rates (p = 0.29 and p = 0.10, respectively). Mean hospital stay among all patients was 9.6 +/- 8.6 days. This period was 10.0 +/- 8.5 days in blunt trauma group, and 8.4 +/- 8.6 days in penetrating trauma group. However this difference has reached statistical significance at a p value of 0.0068.

Atypically located pericardial cysts.

Pericardial cysts are generally recognized when they present in a cardiophrenic angle, but may not be suspected when they occur elsewhere in the thorax. To highlight the unusual localisations of pericardial cysts, we represent two patients with cysts of which one was adjacent to the left pulmonary hilum and the other was located in the subpulmonary region. The clinicians should take into consideration this entity in the differential diagnosis of cystic lesions of the mediastinum.