BACKGROUND: Tumors of the sternum are rare and can develop from primary bone pathology or through metastatic spread. Sternal resection with immediate reconstruction anterior chest wall defect was recommended for both secondary sternal tumors as curative treatment. AIM: The purpose our study to examine perioperative outcomes, recurrence rate, OS in patients undergoing partial, subtotal, total st...

Methods Since the beginning of 2012 four cases who have been presented with sternal tumors and one with post cardiac surgery infection were selected for chest wall reconstruction with bone allograft. One patient had missed diagnosis as a case of breast tumor with final diagnosis of synovial cell sarcoma. The other one had upper sternum bulging. Truecut biopsy was suggestive of myxoid tumor. Thi...

Acute mediastinitis is one of the most aggressive chest diseases. The mortality rate ranges between 14% and 42%. We present a retrospective analysis of a series of 26 cases (20 men and 6 women) treated between January 1994 and March 2002 and review the literature. Mediastinitis originated in the esophagus in 17 patients (8 postoperative, 4 due to iatrogenic perforation, 4 due to noniatrogenic p...

BACKGROUND Deep sternal wound infection after cardiac surgery carries high morbidity and mortality. Our strategy for deep sternal wound infection is aggressive strenal debridement followed by vacuum-assisted closure (VAC) therapy and omental-muscle flap reconstrucion. We describe this strategy and examine the outcome and long-term quality of life (QOL) it achieves. METHODS We retrospectively ...

BACKGROUND Complex central chest wall resection defects present a challenging management problem for both thoracic and reconstructive surgeons. Although most chest wall defects can be repaired using local and regional flaps, more complicated cases require increasingly sophisticated techniques such as microsurgical free tissue transfer. This study reviews a single plastic surgeon's experience ov...

OBJECTIVES We analysed our experience in primary malignant chest-wall tumours (PMCWTs) with an emphasis on a new reconstruction technique and on survival. METHODS From 1998 to 2008, 41 patients (23 (56%) male, mean age 48 years) with PMCWT were operated in our unit: chondrosarcoma n=25; osteosarcoma n=8; Ewing's sarcoma n=2; other n=6. We performed nine sternectomies and 32 lateral chest-wall...