The Annals of thoracic surgery
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This study was undertaken to compare clinicopathologic features and survival between patients with unexpected N1 (clinical N0-pathologic N1) and expected N1 disease (clinical N1-pathologic N1) after operation for non-small cell lung cancer. ⋯ Patients with unexpected N1 disease showed better survival than did those with expected N1 disease, which seemed to be related to the pathologically minimal extent of the primary tumor and nodal involvement.
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Catheter-based ablation for atrial fibrillation (AF) performed percutaneously is shown to be limited in patients with nonparoxysmal AF (non-PAF). The full Cox-Maze surgical procedure demonstrated good success with non-PAF, but concerns were raised regarding increased morbidity eliminating the effect of the success rate. This study assessed the safety and efficacy of a stand-alone on-pump Cox-Maze procedure for non-PAF. ⋯ The long-term success rate after the Cox-Maze III procedure in a challenging group of non-PAF patients is acceptable. Our experience suggests the development of educational strategies to overcome the initial learning curve and patient selection criteria for AF surgical ablation.
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We present a case of an abnormal origin of right subclavian artery and right vertebral artery distal to the origin of left subclavian artery in a 2-year-old patient who presented with cyanotic congenital heart disease with single ventricle physiology. The anomalous origin of a right vertebral artery from the proximal descending thoracic aorta is very rare. We have described the cine-angiographic identification of its origin and course, its embryologic development, and its clinical relevance.
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Intraoperative localization of ground-glass opacities is difficult because they are not easy to palpate and may be invisible at radioscopy. Therefore, various techniques have been developed to improve intraoperative localization of these lesions, allowing an adequate surgical resection. The aim of this study is to report two cases of preoperative localization of ground-glass opacities through computed tomography-guided placement of a metallic clip inside the lesion and to discuss this new technique in comparison with those previously described.