BACKGROUND The diagnostic and staging approach for the mediastinal lymphadenopathies, with or whithout pulmonary lesions endoscopically visible, is based on transbronchial needle aspiration (TBNA) during fiberoptic bronchoscopy and on mediastinoscopy. One important factor impacting on TBNA sensitivity is the rapid on site cytological examination (ROSE). AIM The aim of this study was to evalua...

BACKGROUND Minimally invasive transhiatal esophagectomy for esophageal cancer includes mediastinoscopic and laparoscopic transhiatal esophagectomy. It is inadequate in both two techniques. It is impossible to dissect the lower esophagus with single mediastinoscopy or the upper and middle esophagus with single laparoscopy. We use mediastinoscopy combined with laparoscopy to dissect the whole eso...

OBJECTIVE The European Society of Thoracic Surgeons (ESTS) has proposed preoperative lymph-node staging guidelines (LNSGs) for non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) based on the introduction of new staging modalities into clinical practice. The validity of these guidelines was assessed. METHODS Among the patients (n=185) with histologically confirmed NSCLC diagnosed between 2007 and 2009, who we...

prognosis after surgical resection can be expected in comparison with patients with preoperative confirmed N2 disease [8]. An additional advantage of the PET scan in comparison with mediastinoscopy is that the PET scan can indicate suspected lymph nodes in stations not amenable to mediastinoscopy (eg, paraesophageal or supraclavicular). Staging of the mediastinum using positron emission tomogra...

OBJECTIVE To assess if the bilateral mediastinal lymphadenectomy results in lymphatic congestion in the lungs producing clinically significant impairment of respiratory function. METHODS In the prospective, randomized, double-blind clinical study, non-small cell lung carcinoma patients underwent preoperatively mediastinoscopy or the transcervical extended mediastinal lymphadenectomy (TEMLA). ...

Biopsy of lymph nodes at mediastinoscopy has been the method of diagnosis of tuberculosis in 14 patients; Mycobacterium tuberculosis was cultured from the nodes in nine cases, and in five there was histological evidence of the disease but cultural confirmation was lacking. All patients had radiographic abnormality of the superior mediastinum, and a frequent finding at mediastinoscopy was medias...

OBJECTIVES To describe the diagnostic value of selective extended cervical mediastinoscopy (ECM) in combination with video-assisted mediastinoscopic lymphadenectomy (VAMLA) in mediastinal staging of potentially resectable left-sided lung carcinoma. METHODS Institutional report on 110 ECM procedures indicated for enlarged lymph nodes within the aorto-pulmonary (AP) zone on computed tomography....

The clinical staging of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is of paramount importance. It determines prognosis and therapy, and inaccurate stagingmay result in inappropriate treatment. In particular, clinical staging that misses mediastinal metastases may result in the patient undergoing a futile thoracotomy. Conversely, accurately detecting mediastinal metastases preoperatively would allow con...