Abstract： Objective To investigate the clinicopathological characteristics, improve the accuracy of clinical diagnosis， and reduce postoperative complications of thoracic hemangioma. Methods Clinical records of 9 patients with thoracic hemangioma who underwent surgical resection in West China Hospital of Sichuan University from January 2006 to August 2012 were retrospectively analyzed. There were 2 males and 7 females with their average age of 47.9±19.3 （18-71）years. Six patients underwent thoracotomy， 1 patient underwent complete video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery （VATS）， 1 patient underwent video-assisted mini-thoracotomy， and 1 patient underwent staged operations which were performed by neurological surgeons and thoracic surgeons separately. Imaging characteristics, intraoperative gross tumor features, and pathological characteristics of resected hemangioma specimens were analyzed. Clinical outcomes of different surgical strategies for the treatment of hemangioma were compared. Results Nine patients with thoracic hemangioma were included in this study. Imaging studies showed the tumor as a round-shaped mass in 66.7% （6/9） of these patients and a lobulated mass in the remaining 33.3% （3/9） patients. Magnetic resonance imaging （MRI） assessment was helpful for preoperative diagnosis of hemangioma， with T2 weighted imaging tumor enhancement as the main MRI feature. Thoracic operation time was 106.3±60.1 （60-192） min， and intraoperative blood loss was 91.1±43.7 （30-150） ml. All the patients were followed up for 3-6 years except 1 patient who was followed up for 1 month. None of the patients had hemangioma-related death， recurrence or metastasis during follow-up. Conclusions Thoracic hemangiomas are usually benign entities and often locate in the mediastinum. Surgical strategies should be determined by the size and location of the tumor as well as the surgeon’s technique level. VATS has the advantages of being minimal invasive, causing less intraoperative blood loss and shorter length of hospital stay for the treatment of hemangioma. Resection of a dumbbell-type hemangioma may need cooperation between neurological and thoracic surgeons.
Objective To testify the efficacy of revised trauma score （RTS） in evaluating the severity of trunk injury，analyze its inadequacy and make modifications to improve its specificity and accuracy in evaluating trunk injury. Methods Medical records of 278 patients undergoing emergency surgery for the treatment of trunk injury in West China Hospital of Sichuan University between January 2006 and June 2012 were retrospectively analyzed. There were 231 males and 47 females in the age of 1-75 （33.7±14.1） years. RTS was calculated for each patient. Hemoglobin （Hb） concentrations in these patients acquired at the emergency room were included to reflect the severity of blood loss. The correlations between RTS and patient response to treatment as well as RTS and prognosis were analyzed. Patient response to treatment and prognosis were compared between the normal RTS group and the abnormal RTS group. Univariate analysis was performed followed by multivariate analysis for the variables which may impact prognosis. Modified RTS was established by regression analysis. Results RTS was significantly correlated with patient response to treatment as well as prognosis. RTS was significantly correlated with the time duration between the onset of injury and the beginning of operation （r =0.249，P＜0.001）， thoracic and abdominal blood loss volume （r = -0.255，P＜0.001），fluid resuscitation volume （r = -0.244，P＜0.001） as well as length of ICU stay （r = -0.202，P=0.001）. Mortalities in patients with different RTS were statistically different （P=0.004）. In the patient group with normal RTS the mortality was 5.1%，which indicates the inadequacy of RTS in evaluating trunk injury. Univariate analysis revealed that both emergency room Hb and RTS were correlated with patients’ prognosis. After putting these two factors into the regression analysis，a new formula to calculate modified RTS is established：Logit （P death）=6.450-0.769×RTS-0.029×Emergency room Hb. Conclusion Modified RTS is more specific in evaluating trunk injury and maintains the advantages of simplicity and rapidness.
Abstract： Objective To investigate prognosis factors of primary small cell carcinoma of the esophagus （PSCCE）, and to optimize the treatment strategy of PSCCE. Method We retrospectively analyzed clinical data of 15 patients （13 males and 2 females with an age of 57.7±2.3 years） with middle thoracic PSCCE in West China Hospital from June 2005 to February 2010. We searched ISI and MEDLINE from April 2001 to February 2010 to extract clinical data of 139 PSCCE patients with 94 males and 45 females with an age of 63.3±10.7 years. We analyzed prognosis factors of the 139 patients including gender, age, tumor location, pathological type, lesions stage and treatment strategy by Kaplan-Meier. Difference in survival curves between limited disease patients and extended disease patients was tested by log-rank test. Results Among the 15 patients, 14 patients had limited disease, and 1 patient had extended disease. Their data were not included in survival analysis because the follow-up was incomplete. Among the 139 patients, 88 patients had limited disease with their 2-year survival rate of 31.8% （28/88）. Fifty-one patients had extended disease with their 2-year survival rate of 7.8% （4/51）. The 2-year survival rate between limited-disease patients and extended-disease patients was statistically different（P＜0.05）. Radiation therapy in combination with chemotherapy had significant influence on the survival rate of patients with either local lesions or advanced lesions（P＜ 0.05）, while other factors such as gender, age and tumor location had no significant influence on their survival rate（P＞0.05）. Conclusion Chemotherapy is the fundamental treatment of PSCCE, which plays an important role in reducing PSCCE preoperative staging and restraining PSCCE postoperative recurrence and metastasis. Surgery and radiation therapy are effective for patients with local lesions. Local treatment in combination with chemotherapy is effective for patients with limited disease. Radiation therapy in combination with chemotherapy is the standard therapy for patients with extended lesions,
It was a short time from the initial investigation of tumor islands to the concept of tumor spread through air spaces (STAS) being adopted as a pattern of invasion in lung adenocarcinoma. Generally, STAS was defined as "spread of lung cancer cells into air spaces in the lung parenchyma beyond the edge of the main tumor". More and more studies had demonstrated that STAS could increase recurrence rate and cause worse prognosis in lung adenocarcinoma. However, criteria of this definition were various in previous studies, and there is no unified criterion of STAS up to now. In addition, perioperative manipulations including specimen processing and surgery procedure could squeeze tumor cells into alveolar spaces which could affect the assessment of STAS. Obviously, we need a precise definition to reduce and quantify the impacts of confounding factors. We summarize recent developments and put forward some advice for further studies in this article.
Lung transplantation is the only treatment for patients with end-stage lung diseases. And this field is also a research hotspot in the international field at presen. Relevant researches not only promote the progress and development of lung transplantation, but also improve the life quality of patients after transplantation. With the development of lung transplantation technology, the guidelines for identifying candidates are constantly being revised, and the source of donor lungs has always been an urgent problem for all transplantation centers. The standardized management during transplantation period involves anesthesia induction, intraoperative fluid management, airway management, management of important operative steps and postoperative pain management. Extracorporeal life support (ECLS) includes cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). With the progress and development of ECLS technology, the advantages of ECMO as a bridge for lung transplantation, intraoperative and postoperative circulatory support are becoming more and more prominent, enabling recipient patients to successfully pass the period of lung transplantation. Although lung transplantation in basic science and clinical researches has got a lot of progress, to improve the survival rate after transplantation, we must overcome many challenges including how to successfully perform lung transplantation, expand lung donor library, induce tolerance, and prevent complications after transplantation, primary graft dysfunction (PGD), cell and antibody mediated rejection and infection.
Objective?To summarize our experience of surgical treatment of Boerhaave’s Syndrome. Methods We retrospectively analyzed clinical records of 14 patients with Boerhaave’s syndrome in West China Hospital between January 1998 and December 2011. There were 11 male patients and 3 female patients with a mean age of 55.2±14.4 years and mean time interval between onset and admission of 49.6±21.2 h. Primary repair was performed in 11 patients.Esophagectomy and reconstruction of digestive track was performed in 1 patient and intra-luminal stent implantation was applied in 1 patient. Intercostal catheter insertion was performed in 1 patient.?Results?Thirteen patients underwent surgical therapy, and their survival rate was 84.6% (11/13). Among the eleven patients who underwent primary repair, 8 patients (72.7%)were cured and 3 patients experienced postoperative leakage resulting 2 deaths. The other one patient was cured with in-hospital time of 22.3±7.0 d. Two patients underwent digestive track reconstruction and intra-luminal stent implantation respectively and all survived with in-hospital time 39.0±5.7 d. Another patient underwent bedside chest drainage and died 10 d after admission.?Conclusion?Aggressive surgical management is an effective way to treat Boerhaave’s syndrome, and primary repair can lead to ideal prognosis in delayed patients whose time interval between onset and admission is beyond 24 h. Digestive track reconstruction and intra-luminal stent implantation are alternative methods on condition that primary repair can not be accomplished.
Objective To explore the strategy of intrathoracic anastomosis in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma when the proximal esophagus is dilated to different degrees and explore its mechanism. Methods We retrospectively reviewed the clinical data of patients who underwent esophagectomy between 2014 and 2017 in West China Hospital. The patients were divided into two groups including a significant dilatation group with inner mucosal phase diameter (IMPD)≥17.9 mm and a non-significant dilatation group with IMPD<17.9 mm. And the patients were divided into two groups (a layered manual anastomosis group and a stapled anastomosis group) according to anastomosis method and propensity score matching was applied to adjust for potential confounders. Results We finally included 654 patients. There were 206 patients with 158 males and 48 females at average age of 62.21±7.72 years in the layerd manual analstomosis group and 448 patietns with 377 males and 71 females at average age of 62.57±8.42 years in the stapled anastomosis group. We also used Masson trichrome staining to assess the collagen fiber content in the esophagus. Compared with layered manual anastomosis, the incidence of anastomotic leakage was higher in the significant dilatation group than that in the stapled anastomosis group (original cohort: 3.8% vs. 10.7%, P=0.093; propensity score-matched cohort: 1.4% vs. 15.3%, P=0.004). And there was no significant difference in anastomotic leakage b etween layered manual anastomosis and stapled anastomosis in the non-significant dilatation group (original cohort: 4.7% vs. 4.2%, P=0.830; propensity score-matched cohort: 4.8% vs. 4.0%, P=0.206). Moreover, the average collagen fiber area ratio was significantly lower in the significant dilation group than that in the non-significant dilatation group (P=0.045). Conclusion There is a significant reduction in collagen fibers in the proximal esophageal wall tissue of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma patients with a IMPD≥17.9 mm. Intrathoracic layered manual anastomosis effectively reduces postoperative anastomotic leakage in these patients.
Lymph node metastasis in non-small cell lung cancer is an independent risk factor for poor prognosis. Resection of lymph nodes can improve the prognosis of patients. Although surgical techniques are progressing, there is still much controversy about the way of lymph node resection for non-small cell lung cancer. The research progress of hot topics such as the choice of lymph node resection methods for non-small cell lung cancer is discussed and summarized.
Surgery is an important method in the treatment of esophageal cancer. With the application of robotic surgery system, more and more surgeons have observed its huge advantages over the conventional minimally invasive surgical system in the esophageal surgery. To ensure the safety and fluency of the robotic surgery, it needs not only an experienced attending surgeon but also a well-trained assistant. This study summaries the skills of the surgical assistant in the robotic esophagectomy.
Objective To summarize our treatment experience for patients with chest injuries in “4•20” Lushan earthquake. Methods Medical records of 17 patients with chest injuries after 2013 Lushan earthquake who were admittedto the Department of Thoracic Surgery，West China Hospital were analyzed retrospectively. The diagnosis of chest injuries was mainly confirmed by medical history，physical examination，X-ray and CT scan of the chest. Clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes were analyzed. Among the 17 patients，there were 14 men and 3 women with their age of 57.3±16.1 years. Results There were 12 patients （70.6%）with crash injury of heavy objects，4 patients （23.5%） with fall injury and 1 patient with road traffic injury. Chest injuries were skin and soft tissue contusion in 17 patients （100%），rib fracturein 15 patients （88.2%） including 1 patient with abnormal respiratory movements，pulmonary contusion in 15 patients （88.2%），hemopneumothorax in 11 patients （64.7%），sternal fracture in 1 patient （5.9%） and bilateral pneumothorax with widespread subcutaneous emphysema in 1 patient （5.9%）. Thirteen patients （76.5%） had concomitant brain，abdominal，orthopedic or nerve injuries. One patient underwent left thoracotomy，clot removal and internal fixation of rib fractures for left coagulated hemothorax and left lower lobe atelectasis. All the 17 patients received timely and effective treatment and there was noin-hospital mortality. Conclusions Mechanisms of earthquake injuries are often complex，and patients often have multipleinjuries. The main types of chest injury are rib fractures and pulmonary contusion. Tube thoracostomy is a simple andeffective treatment strategy for them. Satisfactory pain management and bronchoscopy procedure can effectively help patientswith removal of respiratory secretions and maintenance of airway patency.