Journal of thoracic disease
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Recently, benchmark values for low-comorbidity patients at high-volume centers were set to define "best achievable results" for transthoracic minimally invasive esophagectomy (MIE). We aimed to validate suggested benchmark values by comparing them to outcomes at a medium-volume center in Finland. ⋯ Benchmark values assessing postoperative morbidity after MIE do not represent the defined "best achievable" results after completed learning curves.
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Extracorporeal life support (ECLS)/extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a powerful tool in the surgeon's armamentarium. The rapid evolution of ECLS over the last four decades has improved survival in patients with cardiopulmonary failure. ⋯ There remains much room for innovation and research related to circuit construction, ideal flow, myocardial recovery, and additional applications of ECLS. We present a review on the topic of veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO).
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Review
Ex vivo lung perfusion: a potential platform for molecular diagnosis and ex vivo organ repair.
Lung transplantation is a proven treatment for selected patients with end-stage lung disease. However, the number of patients on the transplant waiting list far exceeds the number of available donor lungs, resulting in waiting list morbidity and mortality. The problem is further exacerbated by the low utilisation rate of available donor lungs, for fear of selecting a damaged lung and the resultant primary graft dysfunction. ⋯ This allows clinicians a second opportunity to decide whether to proceed to transplantation, instead of declining an organ that appears questionable by standard clinical criteria. However there has been much research activity looking at EVLP as a platform for (I) molecular diagnosis, thereby further improving the diagnostic accuracy regarding quality of the donor lung; (II) organ repair, thereby allowing injured donor lungs to become clinically useable. This manuscript summarises some of the preclinical and clinical research from the Toronto group focusing on these promising aspects of EVLP which may further increase the number of useable donor lungs in lung transplantation.
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With increased availability of techniques to address pleural effusions including medical thoracoscopy (MT) and tunneled pleural catheter (TPC), we anticipate there has been an evolution in the practice pattern. We sought to evaluate the current practice patterns in the management of exudative pleural effusion in the interventional pulmonary (IP) community. ⋯ Thoracoscopy is accepted as the diagnostic procedure of choice for undiagnosed exudative effusion. TPCs play a dominant role in management even when thoracoscopy is performed.
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The clinical benefits of a concomitant mitral valve (MV) surgery in patients with moderate ischemic mitral regurgitation (iMR) undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) remain controversial. ⋯ The addition of a concomitant MV surgery increased the risk of early mortality and complications in patients with moderate iMR undergoing CABG. In long-term clinical and echocardiographic outcomes, a concomitant MV surgery seemed to confer no significant clinical benefits.