The Annals of thoracic surgery
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Recently, surgeons have embraced axillary artery cannulation for type A aortic dissection repair out of concern for malperfusion phenomena with traditional femoral artery cannulation. My colleagues and I sought to determine whether these concerns are justified. ⋯ Straight femoral cannulation for all phases of type A dissection repair is appropriate and yields excellent clinical results. The anticipated malperfusion events are actually rare (2 of 79 with femoral artery cannulation, or 2.5%).
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Comparative Study
Use of quantitative lung scintigraphy to predict postoperative pulmonary function in lung cancer patients undergoing lobectomy.
In patients with non-small cell lung cancer, the only realistic chance of cure is surgical resection. However, in some of these patients there is such poor respiratory reserve that surgery can result in an unacceptable quality of life. In order to identify these patients, various pulmonary function tests and scintigraphic techniques have been used. The current American College of Physicians and British Thoracic Society guidelines do not recommend the use of quantitative ventilation-perfusion scintigraphy to predict postoperative function in lung cancer patients undergoing lobectomy. These guidelines may have been influenced by previous scintigraphic studies performed over a decade ago. Since then there have been advances in both surgical techniques and scintigraphic techniques, and the surgical population has become older and more female represented. ⋯ In keeping with current American Chest Physician and British Thoracic Society guidelines, our results suggest that quantitative ventilation-perfusion scintigraphy is not necessary in the preoperative assessment of lung cancer patients undergoing lobectomy. The simple segmenting technique can be used to predict postoperative lung function in lobectomy patients.