J Cardiothorac Surg
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J Cardiothorac Surg · Sep 2011
Intraoperative device closure of atrial septal defects in the older population.
This study sought to prove the safety and feasibility of intraoperative device closure of atrial septal defect (ASD) with transthoracic minimal invasion in the older patients. ⋯ Minimally invasive transthoracic device closure of the atrial septal defect at advanced age with a domestically made device without cardiopulmonary bypass is safe and feasible under transthoracic echocardiographic guidance. It was cost-savings, yielding better cosmetic results and leaving fewer traumas than surgical closure. Early and mid-term results are encouraging. However, it is necessary to evaluate the long-term results.
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J Cardiothorac Surg · Sep 2011
Case ReportsMultiple right-sided pulmonary nodules: metastatic cancer or resectable early stage tumor?
The aim of this paper is to focus attention on complex cases of lung disease that may benefit from being managed outside formal guidelines. A 52 year-old man who had previously undergone a laryngectomy for squamous cell carcinoma, presented with a 1.2 cm nodule in the right upper pulmonary lobe. Three months later a new CT scan found that the nodule had slightly increased in size and also detected two new smaller nodules in the middle lobe. ⋯ An upper lobectomy and systematic nodal dissection were therefore performed. Histology established a diagnosis of upper pulmonary adenocarcinoma and sarcoidosis. Our report suggests that in complicated oncologic cases in which non-invasive diagnostic tools yield incongruous results surgery should be considered without delay.