Mediastinal Cryobiopsy for Pathological Diagnosis of Fibrosing Mediastinitis-Associated Pulmonary Hypertension.

INTRODUCTION: Fibrosing mediastinitis is a benign but fatal disorder characterized by the proliferation of fibrous tissue in the mediastinum, causing encasement of mediastinal organs and extrinsic compression of adjacent bronchovascular structures. FM-associated pulmonary hypertension (FM-PH) is a serious complication of FM, resulting from the external compression of lung vessels. Pathologic assessment is important for etiologic diagnosis and effective treatment of this disease. CASE PRESENTATION: A 59-year-old male patient presented at our hospital and was diagnosed with FM-PH. He declined surgical biopsy that is the reference standard for pathologic assessment, in consideration of the potential risks. Therefore, an endobronchial ultrasound examination was performed, which identified the subcarinal lesion. Under ultrasound guidance, four needle aspirations were carried out, followed by one cryobiopsy. Histopathological examination of transbronchial needle aspiration specimens was inconclusive, while samples from cryobiopsy suggested a diagnosis of idiopathic FM. Further immunophenotyping demonstrated the infiltration of lymphocytes, macrophages, and FOXP3-positive cells in FM-PH. CONCLUSION: Mediastinal cryobiopsy might be a novel and safe option for FM-PH patients who are unwilling or unsuitable for surgical procedure.

Safety and efficacy of INTRABEAM intraoperative radiotherapy for invasive thymoma.

Intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT) has been used to treat different residual solid tumors after tumor removal and has shown many advantages over other treatment methods. However, the use of IORT for invasive thymoma has not been reported. Therefore, in this study, we tried to determine the safety and efficacy of INTRABEAM IORT for the treatment of invasive thymoma.Among the patients admitted to our hospital from September to December 2016 who were diagnosed with invasive thymoma, 14 were selected as study subjects. With medical histories taken beforehand, 8 of these patients were diagnosed with Masaoka stage IIA and 6 with Masaoka stage IIB; furthermore, 5 of the patients were diagnosed with myasthenia gravis (MG). INTRABEAM radiation (8-10 Gy, low energy) was delivered to the postoperative tumor bed of each patient during surgery. The intra- and postoperative complications were observed and evaluated, and the improvement in symptoms was assessed. An additional 23 patients with stage II thymoma undergoing radical surgery from April to August 2016 were chosen as the control group.One month after the operation, only 1 patient in the IORT group had cough, increased levels of leucocytes and neutrophils, and pulmonary inflammation on chest computed tomography. Reactive inflammation and pleural effusion in the 2 groups were similar (P > .05). There was no significant difference between the 2 groups in the improvement of myasthenia gravis (P > .05). Postoperative chest computed tomography and routine blood examination at 3 and 12 months showed that all the patients recovered, with normal hemogram levels and no pulmonary fibrosis around the radiation field. In addition, ultrasonic cardiography and electrocardiography demonstrated no significant difference before or after surgery within the IORT group. At the end of the follow-up, all the patients were alive, no relapse or remote metastasis was observed in the IORT group, and 2 inpatients in the control group had experienced relapse at 24 and 26 months. There was a significant difference in disease-free survival between the 2 groups (P = .00).It is safe to administer low-energy INTRABEAM IORT at a dose of approximately 10 Gy in patients with stage II invasive thymoma. INTRABEAM IORT does not significantly increase operation- or radiation-related complications and has no significant effect on vital organs such as the lungs and heart. Its long-term efficacy is worth expecting.

A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials in targeted treatments of chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension.

BACKGROUND: Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) results in a progressively worsening course associated with substantial morbidity and mortality. The purpose of this comprehensive study was to determine the clinical efficacy of targeted therapeutic interventions for this disease. METHODS: We searched Medline, Embase, Cochrane databases and Pubmed for relevant clinical studies. Randomized controlled trials comparing the effects of targeted treatments to control in CTEPH population were included. Pooled estimates were calculated using a random effect model. Heterogeneity was determined using the I2 statistic. RESULTS: This analysis included 6 studies with a total of 565 patients. We found that targeted treatments approved for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) were associated with a larger improvement in exercise capacity, haemodynamic parameters, functional status and clinical symptom. There were no statistically significant differences associated with targeted treatments compared with control in all-cause mortality and safety outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials revealing a positive role of PAH-targeted therapies in CTEPH. Future larger randomized trials with a focus on long-term clinical outcomes are urgently needed.

Clinical outcomes of WBRT plus EGFR-TKIs versus WBRT or TKIs alone for the treatment of cerebral metastatic NSCLC patients: a meta-analysis.

Whether WBRT plus EGFR-TKIs has a greater survival benefit than EGFR-TKIs alone or WBRT alone remains controversial in NSCLC patients with multiple brain metastases. To rectify this, we conducted a systematic meta-analysis based on 9 retrospective studies and 1 randomized controlled study published between 2012 and 2016, comprising 1041 patients. Five studies were included in the comparison of WBRT plus EGFR-TKIs and EGFR-TKIs alone. The combined HR for OS of patients with EGFR mutation was 1.25 [95% CI 0.98-2.15; P = 0.08] and for intracranial PFS was 1.30 [95% CI 1.03-1.65; P = 0.03], which revealed that EGFR-TKIs alone produced a superior intracranial PFS than WBRT plus EGFR-TKIs. Five studies were included in the comparison of WBRT plus EGFR-TKIs and WBRT alone. The combined HR for OS, intracranial PFS and extracranial PFS were 0.52 [95% CI 0.37-0.75; P = 0.0004], 0.36 [95% CI 0.24-0.53; P < 0.001] and 0.52 [95% CI 0.38-0.71; P < 0.001], respectively, which revealed a significant benefit of WBRT plus EGFR-TKIs compared with WBRT alone. The results indicated that EGFR-TKIs alone should be the first option for the treatment of NSCLC patients with multiple BM, especially with EGFR mutation, since it provides similar OS and extracranial PFS but superior intracranial PFS compared with WBRT plus EGFR-TKIs.