European journal of cardio-thoracic surgery : official journal of the European Association for Cardio-thoracic Surgery
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Eur J Cardiothorac Surg · Sep 2011
Does positron emission tomography scanning improve survival in patients undergoing potentially curative lung resections for non-small-cell lung cancer?
To determine if positron emission tomography (PET) scanning has resulted in an improvement in the short- and long-term survival of patients undergoing potentially curative resections for non-small-cell lung cancer. No publications exist to demonstrate an increased survival of patients with lung cancer due to the use of PET scanning. If PET scanning reduces unnecessary resections, the results from surgery should be improved with its introduction. ⋯ We concur with current guidelines for the use of PET scanning for stage III non-small-cell lung cancer. Our results need to be corroborated with other groups as potentially stage-Ia-, Ib-, and stage-II patients may not benefit from PET scanning.
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Eur J Cardiothorac Surg · Sep 2011
Minimally invasive repair after inefficient open surgery for pectus excavatum.
Pectus excavatum is the most common chest wall deformity, and both open surgery and minimally invasive repair have been proposed for primary correction. The aim of this study was to show the feasibility of minimally invasive repair of recurrent pectus excavatum in patients with inefficient previous open surgery. ⋯ Minimally invasive repair is a safe and easy operation for the correction of pectus excavatum. Previous open surgical repair is not a contraindication for the redo minimally invasive surgery, and it can be performed with acceptable morbidity and length of hospital stay.
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Eur J Cardiothorac Surg · Sep 2011
Clinical impact of visceral pleural, lymphovascular and perineural invasion in completely resected non-small cell lung cancer.
This study is conducted to show the relationship between visceral pleural, lymphovascular, and perineural invasion, and other clinicopathologic characteristics and their significance as prognostic factors. ⋯ The presence of visceral pleural or lymphovascular invasion can show higher risk of mortality whereas perineural invasion has no effect on prognosis.