[Primary hyperhidrosis. Current status of surgical treatment]. / Hiperhidrosis primaria. Situación actual de la cirugía del simpático.

Primary hyperhidrosis-PH is an excessive sweating without known etiology. The PH is more frequent in women and in palms, soles and axillae. Medical treatment is not effective. The objective of the surgery is to remove or to disconnect sympathetic ganglia T2 (craniofacial PH or facial blushing), T3 (palmar PH) and T3-T4 (axillary PH). The surgical techniques are mainly resection/transection, ablation with electrocoagulation, sympathetic block by clipping and radiofrequency. Anhidrosis is achieved in 95% of the patients. The overall rate of complications is less than 5% and these are minor complications. The most important unwanted effect is reflex sweating, presented in 48% of the patients. Reflex sweating is more frequent in back, thorax and abdomen and it appears independently of the surgical technique. Ninety percent of the patients are very satisfied after surgery. Nowadays, thoracic sympathetic surgery is the gold standard for primary hyperhidrosis.

[Endovascular management of a left subclavian artery lesion following thoracoplasty for bronchopleural fistula and empyema secondary to aspergillus fumigatus]. / Manejo endovascular de lesión de arteria subclavia izquierda tras toracoplastia por fístula broncopleural y empiema secundario a Aspergillus fumigatus.

Massive and/or recurrent hemoptysis is a clear indication for surgical treatment of pleuropulmonary aspergilloma, despite the incidence of postoperative morbidity and mortality. Thoracoplasty has been widely used for 20 years and is still indicated in these cases, following lobectomy, even though the procedure is not free of complications. We report the case of a patient who required thoracoplasty to treat a pleuropulmonary aspergilloma invading the chest wall. Subsequent placement of an aortic stent-graft was required due to tearing of the left subclavian artery.

Spontaneous pneumomediastinum: 41 cases.

OBJECTIVE: Spontaneous pneumomediastinum is characterized by the presence of interstitial air in the mediastinum without any apparent precipitating factor. The purpose of this study is to review and discuss our experience with this condition. METHODS: A descriptive, retrospective study of 41 cases--34 men (83%) and 7 women (17%)--treated at our hospital for spontaneous pneumomediastinum from January 1990 through June 2006. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 21 years (range, 14-35 years). Notably, 22% of patients had a prior history of asthma. No precipitating factor was identified in 51% of cases while onset was associated with physical effort in 12%. Chest pain (85%) and dyspnea (49%) were the most common symptoms. Subcutaneous emphysema, which presented in 71% of patients, was the most common sign. Pneumomediastinum was diagnosed by plain chest radiography in all cases. In certain cases, a computed tomography scan of the chest, contrast-enhanced swallow, or bronchoscopy was performed. All patients were admitted to the hospital with good progress and no instances of morbidity or mortality. Treatment included analgesia, rest, and/or initial oxygen therapy. The mean length of hospital stay was 5 days (range, 1-9 days) with only one case of early recurrence, which was resolved satisfactorily. CONCLUSIONS: Spontaneous pneumomediastinum is a benign process primarily affecting young men. Despite its low incidence, spontaneous pneumomediastinum should be considered in the differential diagnosis of acute chest pain because it requires a high index of suspicion. Patients with spontaneous pneumomediastinum respond well to medical treatment, with no recurrence in the great majority of cases.

Localized (solitary) fibrous tumors of the pleura: an analysis of 15 patients.

BACKGROUND: Localized fibrous tumors of the pleura (LFTPs) are rare neoplasms, which are considered to originate from submesothelial connective tissue. The aim of this article is to present 15 new cases because of their different clinical behaviors and to discuss the treatment of choice of such neoplasms. METHODS: The records of 15 consecutive patients with LFTP operated at our Institution between 1995 and 2006 were retrospectively reviewed. Diagnostic procedures, clinical courses, and outcomes of these patients were studied. Total excision through a thoracotomy was performed in all patients. Neoplasms were considered to be malignant if one or more of the following histologic features were present: increasing mitotic activity; high cellularity with crowding and overlapping of nuclei; necrosis; and pleomorphism. RESULTS: No operative mortality was reported. The mean follow-up time was 76 months. Malignant transformation was seen in 1 patient 26 months after resection of a benign tumor. Six cases were pathologically considered to be malignant: 2 patients developed local recurrence. One of these underwent redo-surgery and required pneumonectomy; in the other one surgery is not indicated because at the time of diagnosis the patient was 85 years. Currently, all patients are alive and 13 disease-free. CONCLUSIONS: For histologically benign tumors, because of the risk of recurrence and malignant transformation, complete surgical resection is indicated and long-term follow-up is recommended in all patients. For malignant cases, complete surgical resection may be insufficient for the cure: further study should be performed to identify reliable prognostic factors to indicate and evaluate the effectiveness of systemic treatment.

Hiperhidrosis primaria. Situación actual de la cirugía del simpático / Primary hyperhidrosis. Current status of surgical treatment

La hiperhidrosis primaria (HP) es un exceso de sudoración sin causa aparente. La HP es más frecuente en mujeres y en palmas, plantas y axilas. Los tratamientos médicos no son efectivos. La cirugía consiste en eliminar/desconectar los ganglios simpáticos T2 (HP craneofacial y rubor facial), T3 (HP palmar) y T3–T4 (HP axilar). Las técnicas quirúrgicas son la resección/transección, la ablación mediante electrocoagulación, la neuropresión con clip y la radiofrecuencia, fundamentalmente. La anhidrosis se consigue en el 95% de los pacientes. Menos del 5% presenta complicaciones y estas son menores. El efecto secundario más temido es la sudoración refleja, que se presenta en un 48% de los pacientes. La sudoración refleja es más frecuente en espalda, tórax y abdomen y aparece independientemente de la técnica utilizada. Un 90% de los pacientes están muy satisfechos tras la cirugía. Actualmente, la cirugía del simpático torácico es el gold estándar para la HP (AU)

Primary hyperhidrosis-PH is an excessive sweating without known etiology. The PH is more frequent in women and in palms, soles and axillae. Medical treatment is not effective. The objective of the surgery is to remove or to disconnect sympathetic ganglia T2 (craniofacial PH or facial blushing), T3 (palmar PH) and T3–T4 (axillary PH). The surgical techniques are mainly resection/transection, ablation with electrocoagulation, sympathetic block by clipping and radiofrequency. Anhidrosis is achieved in 95% of the patients. The overall rate of complications is less than 5% and these are minor complications. The most important unwanted effect is reflex sweating, presented in 48% of the patients. Reflex sweating is more frequent in back, thorax and abdomen and it appears independently of the surgical technique. Ninety percent of the patients are very satisfied after surgery. Nowadays, thoracic sympathetic surgery is the gold standard for primary hyperhidrosis (AU)

Manejo endovascular de lesión de arteria subclavia izquierda tras toracoplastia por fístula broncopleural y empiema secundario a Aspergillus fumigatus / Endovascular management of a left subclavian artery lesion following thoracoplasty for bronchopleural fistula and empyema secondary to Aspergillus fumigatus

La hemoptisis masiva y/o repetitiva es una indicación clara de tratamiento quirúrgico del aspergiloma pleuropulmonar, a pesar de la morbimortalidad posquirúrgica existente. La toracoplastia, muy utilizada hace 2 décadas, todavía tiene su indicación aquí, tras lobectomía, aunque no está exenta de complicaciones. Presentamos un caso de aspergiloma pleuropulmonar con invasión de pared torácica que requirió toracoplastia y posteriormente técnicas endovasculares aórticas por desgarro de la arteria subclavia izquierda

Massive and/or recurrent hemoptysis is a clear indication for surgical treatment of pleuropulmonary aspergilloma, despite the incidence of postoperative morbidity and mortality. Thoracoplasty has been widely used for 20 years and is still indicated in these cases, following lobectomy, even though the procedure is not free of complications. We report the case of a patient who required thoracoplasty to treat a pleuropulmonary aspergilloma invading the chest wall. Subsequent placement of an aortic stent-graft was required due to tearing of the left subclavian artery

La luxación esternoclavicular en accidente deportivo: a proposito de un caso / Posterior sternoclavicular dislocation in sport: one case

La luxación posterior esternoclavicular es una entidad poco frecuente en el ámbito deportivo, y que puede ocasionar lesiones importantes a nivel de los grandes vasos y de las estructuras del mediastino superior. Su diagnóstico es difícil debido a su baja frecuencia de incidencia así como la poca ayuda que nos da la radiografía antero-posterior. Por esta razón es de gran ayuda tanto la meticulosa exploración física como el uso de la tomografía axial computerizada. En el presente trabajo presentamos una luxación posterior esternoclavicular producida tras accidente deportivo de judo, y al mismo tiempo revisamos la bibliografía existente sobre estas lesiones (AU)