Ann Cardiothorac Surg 2012;1(4):533 www.annalscts.com This video demonstration represents our first attempt at video-assisted thoracoscopic extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP) for a 51-year-old patient with right-sided malignant pleural mesothelioma following neoadjuvant chemotherapy (Video 1). While originating as an initial inspection for a possible radical decortication, it was apparent that th...

Clinical History: The patient was a 32-year-old man who had been diagnosed as having a tuberculous lesion in his left upper lobe in 1949 and underwent collapse surgery using several plastic balls of larger size at the University Hospital on December 27, 1949. He had not noticed subjective symptoms until July 20, 1956, when he felt a sudden pain and pressure inside his left chest wall after elev...

BACKGROUND This study assessed perioperative outcome and long-term survival in a large series of patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma who underwent extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP) to identify prognostic factors allowing better patient selection. METHODS We retrospectively collected data from nine referral centers for thoracic surgery in Italy. Perioperative outcome and survival data ...

We reviewed 64 anterolateral decompressions performed on 63 patients with tuberculosis of the dorsal spine (D1 to L1). The mean age of the patients was 35 years (9 to 73) with no gender preponderance. All patients had severe paraplegia (two cases grade III, 61 cases grade IV). The mean number of vertebral bodies affected was 2.6; the mean pre-treatment kyphosis was 24.8 degrees (7 to 84). An av...