BACKGROUND Pulmonary artery rupture can be a lethal complication of a pulmonary artery catheter (PAC). Different techniques have been used to manage PAC-induced pulmonary artery rupture, including double lumen endotracheal tube (DLT), bronchial blockers, pulmonary artery embolization, thoracotomy with hematoma evacuation, and extracorporeal life support for ventilation (ECLS). Single lumen endo...

BACKGROUND Recurrent pneumothorax is the most significant complication after discontinuation of thoracostomy tubes. The primary objective of the present study was to determine which method of tube removal, at the end of inspiration or at the end of expiration, is associated with a lesser risk of developing a recurrent pneumothorax. A secondary objective was to identify potential risk factors fo...

Background: Pulmonary lymphangiectasia (PL) is a rare disease characterized by dilation of the pulmonary lymphatic vessels. PL should be considered in differential diagnosis infants with pleural effusion, especially presence chylothorax. Case Presentation: A 3-week-old neonate presented tachypnea, cough, and reluctance to feed. Work-up found bilateral chylous effusion. The patient was initially...

STUDY OBJECTIVES We set out to determine whether there is a difference in postoperative pain and recovery after the patient undergoes the axillary muscle-sparing incision (ie, muscle-sparing thoracotomy [MT]) vs the modified posterolateral incision (ie, posterolateral thoracotomy [PT]). DESIGN Analysis of a database originally collected to determine the effect of the timing of epidural analge...

A 2-day-old baby boy, 38 weeks gestation, weight 2000 g was brought due to hypersalivation and imperforate anus with gasless abdomen on plain X-ray. He underwent a gastrostomy tube insertion and colostomy. In contrast study of the stomach, on the 5th postoperative day, the dye spilled into the tracheo bronchial tree and the catheter was seen, entering the right main bronchus. The patient underw...

A full term boy was admitted with respiratory distress in the fourth week of his life due to spontaneous chylothorax in his right hemithorax. Spontaneous chylothorax occurred previously in a first cousin of the neonate establishing that way the final diagnosis of familial idiopathic congenital pneumothorax. Failure of the conservative treatment consisting of chest tube drainage, discontinuation...

OBJECTIVE We sought to determine the current practice habits among clinicians treating spontaneous pneumothorax and bronchopleural fistula. METHODS Practice habits were determined by a randomized postal survey of 3,000 American College of Chest Physicians members. Group comparisons are performed by chi2 analysis with p<0.05 being significant. RESULTS Four hundred nine respondents (13.6%) in...

A series of 100 penetrating wounds of the abdomen and thorax is reviewed. Eighty-three were due to stab-wounds. The recent increase in incidence is confirmed and the distribution throughout the day and months of the year is given. The results and methods of treatment of thirtysix abdominal, ten thoraco-abdominal and thirtyseven thoracic wounds are given and described. An operative approach to a...

The management of the robotic thoracic surgical patient • requires the knowledge of minimally invasive surgery techniques involving the chest. Familiarity with the da Vinci • ® robot surgical system by the anesthesiologist is mandatory. Management of one-lung ventilation techniques with a left• sided double-lumen endotracheal tube or an independent bronchial blocker is required, along with flex...

BACKGROUND Spontaneous pneumothoraxes constituted 1/1000 hospital admissions. They are particularly one of life threatening health issues in combination with bilateral pneumothorax, tension pneumothorax, repertory failure or COPD. OBJECTIVES The cases of spontaneous pneumothorax represent a significant portion of the patients profile within the chest surgery clinics. The risk of recurrent pne...