BACKGROUND Chylothorax is a relatively rare but well-known complication of thoracic surgery. CASE PRESENTATION A 70-year-old man underwent right upper and middle bilobectomy and systematic lymph node dissection through a posterolateral thoracotomy for lung cancer. On the second postoperative day, he developed chylothorax that was treated with dietary management and pleurodesis. The discharge ...

Primary tumours of the brachial plexus are rare entities. They usually present as extrathoracic masses located in the supraclavicular region. This report describes two cases of benign schwannomas arising from the brachial plexus with an intrathoracic growth. In the first case the tumour was completely intrathoracic and it was hardly removed through a standard posterolateral thoracotomy. In the ...

UNLABELLED Postoperative acute exacerbation of interstitial pneumonia (IP) is known to be a serious complication in the surgical treatment for primary lung cancer combined with IP. This retrospective study was conducted to investigate the influence of three different approaches to the thorax on postoperative acute exacerbation of IP in lung cancer patients. Forty-seven lung cancer patients who ...

PURPOSE The postoperative recurrence rate of pneumothorax tends to be higher with thoracoscopic bullectomy than with conventional plication of bullae by axillary thoracotomy or posterolateral thoracotomy. We analyzed the risk factors for postoperative recurrence of pneumothorax in young patients treated with thoracoscopic bullectomy alone for primary spontaneous pneumothorax. METHODS Univaria...

Congenital posterolateral diaphragmatic defects, such as Bochdalek hernias (BHs), usually present during the neonatal period with respiratory symptoms and are associated with significant mortality (1). However, a subset of patients with BHs may remain asymptomatic during childhood, and the condition may present as a surgical emergency in adulthood (2). Surgical repair of the defect is the recom...

Congenital cystic adenomatoid malformation (CCAM) of the lung is an uncommon congenital anomaly, especially in young adults. This study reports an 18-yr-old male with CCAM involving the right upper lobe, who presented with a moderate spontaneous haemopneumothorax initially. The patient also had bilateral abdominal cryptorchidism which required surgical treatment earlier in childhood. The chest ...

In the past 11 years 233 patients have undergone 241 parietal pleurectomies for either recurrence of their spontaneous pneumothorax or failure to respond adequately to management by tube drainage. Major complications occurred in 3.7% of cases, with transaxillary apical pleurectomy engendering significantly fewer complications than full pleurectomy through a posterolateral thoracotomy. The signi...

Introduction. Schwannomas of the head and neck develop from the sheaths of cranial, peripheral or autonomic nerves. Between 25% and 45% of schwannomas occur in this region. Schwannomas of the sympathetic chain are very rare, and the literature describes just over 40 cases, localised mostly in the neck or retroperitoneal areas. Case report. We present the case of a 38 year-old woman with a large...

Aortobronchial (AB) fistula is a rare disease, which is presented with massive hemoptysis; lethal if not treated. It should be suspected in any patient who presents with massive hemoptysis and had previous thoracic aortic surgery, but even it may be seen in patients without any history of operation on the thoracic aorta. Although, today in many centers endovascular therapy is done for these pat...

INTRODUCTION Mediastinal localization of hydatidosis is very rare even in endemic areas. The diagnosis is based on typical clinical and radiological criteria. CASE PRESENTATION We report a case of a mediastinal location of hydatidosis in a 60-year-old Arab man admitted for chest pain. The chest radiograph showed a rounded and homogeneous opacity. Computed tomography showed a right mediastinal...