Anatomical variations of the thoracic sympathetic ganglions and their effects on sympathicotomy for primary palmar hyperhidrosis.

PURPOSE: The results and side effects of sympathicotomy for primary palmar hyperhidrosis (PPH) can vary due to anatomical variations of the sympathetic ganglions. The aim of our study was to clarify anatomical variations of the sympathetic ganglions by near-infrared (NIR) thoracoscopy and determine their effects on sympathicotomy for PPH. METHODS: The cases of 695 consecutive patients with PPH treated with either R3 or R4 sympathicotomy either by normal thoracoscopy or by NIR fluorescent thoracoscopy between March 2015 and June 2021 were retrospectively reviewed and followed up. RESULTS: The variation rate of third and fourth ganglions was 14.7% and 13.3% on the right side and 8.3% and 11.1% on the left side. Real T3 sympathicotomy (RTS3) was more effective than real T4 sympathicotomy (RTS4) in the short-term and long-term follow-up (p < 0.001 and p < 0.001, respectively). RTS3 was more satisfactory than RTS4 in the long-term follow-up (p = 0.03), but no significant difference was found in the short-term follow-up (p = 0.24). The incidence and severity of compensatory hyperhidrosis (CH) in the areas of the chest and back in the RTS4 group were significantly lower than those in the RTS3 group according to both the short-term results (12.92% vs. 26.19%, p < 0.001; 17.97% vs. 33.33%, p = 0.002, respectively) and the long-term results (19.66% vs. 28.57%, p = 0.017; 21.35% vs. 34.52%, p < 0.001, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: RTS3 may be more effective than RTS4 for PPH. However, RTS4 appears to be associated with a lower incidence and severity of CH in the areas of the chest and back than RTS3. NIR intraoperative imaging of thoracic sympathetic ganglions may improve the quality of sympathicotomy surgeries.

Case report: Targeted sequencing facilitates the diagnosis and management of rare multifocal pure ground-glass opacities with intrapulmonary metastasis.

Introduction: Treatments for multiple ground-glass opacities (GGOs) for which the detection rate is increasing are still controversial. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) may provide additional key evidence for differential diagnosis or optimal therapeutic schedules. Case presentation: We first reported a rare case in which more than 100 bilateral pulmonary GGOs (91.7% of the GGOs were pure GGOs) were diagnosed as both multiple primary lung cancer and intrapulmonary metastasis. We performed NGS with an 808-gene panel to assess both somatic and germline alterations in tissues and plasma. The patient (male) underwent three successive surgeries and received osimertinib adjuvant therapy due to signs of metastasis and multiple EGFR-mutated tumors. The patient had multiple pure GGOs, and eight tumors of four pathological subtypes were evaluated for the clonal relationship. Metastasis, including pure GGOs and atypical adenomatous hyperplasia, was found between two pairs of tumors. Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) monitoring of disease status may impact clinical decision-making. Conclusions: Surgery combined with targeted therapies remains a reasonable alternative strategy for treating patients with multifocal GGOs, and NGS is valuable for facilitating diagnostic workup and adjuvant therapy with targeted drugs through tissue and disease monitoring via ctDNA.

Research Trends and Emerging Hotspots of Lung Cancer Surgery during 2012-2021: A 10-Year Bibliometric and Network Analysis.

Background. Lung cancer remains the leading cause of death because of cancer globally in the past years. To inspire researchers with new targets and path-breaking directions for lung cancer research, this study is aimed at exploring the research trends and emerging hotspots in the lung cancer surgery literature in the recent decade.Methods. This cross-sectional study combined bibliometric and network analysis techniques to undertake a quantitative analysis of lung cancer surgery literature. Dimensions database was searched using keywords in a 10-year period (2012-2021). Publications were characterized by publication year, research countries, field citation ratio, cooperation status, research area, and emerging hotspots.Results. Overall, global scholarly outputs of lung cancer surgery had almost doubled during the recent decade, with China, Japan, and the United States leading the way, while Denmark and Belgium predominated in terms of scientific influence. Network analysis showed that international cooperation accounted for a relatively small portion in lung cancer surgery research, and the United States, China, and Europe were the prominent centers of international cooperation network. In the recent decade, research of lung cancer surgery majored in prevention, biomedical imaging, rehabilitation, and genetics, and the emerging research hotspots transformed into immunotherapy. Research on immunotherapy showed a considerable increase in scientific influence in the latest year.Conclusions. The study findings are expected to provide researchers and policymakers with interesting insights into the changing trends of lung cancer surgery research and further generate evidence to support decision-making in improving prognosis for patients with lung cancer.

Identification of lung cancer breath biomarkers based on perioperative breathomics testing: A prospective observational study.

Background: Breathomics testing has been considered a promising method for detection and screening for lung cancer. This study aimed to identify breath biomarkers of lung cancer through perioperative dynamic breathomics testing. Methods: The discovery study was prospectively conducted between Sept 1, 2020 and Dec 31, 2020 in Peking University People's Hospital in China. High-pressure photon ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometry was used for breathomics testing before surgery and 4 weeks after surgery. 28 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were selected as candidates based on a literature review. VOCs that changed significantly postoperatively in patients with lung cancer were selected as potential breath biomarkers. An external validation was conducted to evaluate the performance of these VOCs for lung cancer diagnosis. Multivariable logistic regression was used to establish diagnostic models based on selected VOCs. Findings: In the discovery study of 84 patients with lung cancer, perioperative breathomics demonstrated 16 VOCs as lung cancer breath biomarkers. They were classified as aldehydes, hydrocarbons, ketones, carboxylic acids, and furan. In the external validation study including 157 patients with lung cancer and 368 healthy individuals, patients with lung cancer showed elevated spectrum peak intensity of the 16 VOCs after adjusting for age, sex, smoking, and comorbidities. The diagnostic model including 16 VOCs achieved an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.952, sensitivity of 89.2%, specificity of 89.1%, and accuracy of 89.1% in lung cancer diagnosis. The diagnostic model including the top eight VOCs achieved an AUC of 0.931, sensitivity of 86.0%, specificity of 87.2%, and accuracy of 86.9%. Interpretation: Perioperative dynamic breathomics is an effective approach for identifying lung cancer breath biomarkers. 16 lung cancer-related breath VOCs (aldehydes, hydrocarbons, ketones, carboxylic acids, and furan) were identified and validated. Further studies are warranted to investigate the underlying mechanisms of identified VOCs. Funding: National Natural Science Foundation of China (82173386) and Peking University People's Hospital Scientific Research Development Founds (RDH2021-07).

A cross-sectional study of psychological burden in Chinese patients with pulmonary nodules: Prevalence and impact on the management of nodules.

BACKGROUND: Uncertainty after the detection of pulmonary nodules (PNs) can cause psychological burden. We designed this study to quantitatively evaluate the prevalence, severity and possible impact of this burden on the preference of patients for management of nodules. METHODS: The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) was used to evaluate psychological burden in patients. An independent t-test and a Mann-Whitney U test were used to determine the significance of differences between groups in continuous variables. A chi-square test was used to determine the significance of difference between groups in categorical variables. RESULTS: A total of 334 inpatients diagnosed with PNs were included in the study. A total of 17.96% of the participates screened positive for anxiety and 14.67% for depression. Female patients had significantly higher positive rates of both anxiety and depression screenings than male patients (21.57% vs. 12.31%, p = 0.032 and 18.05% vs. 9.30%, p = 0.028, respectively). Among patients screened positive for anxiety, the proportion of those who chose more aggressive management was significantly higher (34/60 vs. 113/274, p = 0.029). The rate of benign or precursor disease resected was significantly higher in patients with more aggressive management (46.94% vs. 9.63%, p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Anxiety and depression are common in Chinese patients with PNs. Patients with positive HADS anxiety screening results are more likely to adopt more aggressive management that leads to a higher rate of benign or precursor disease resected/biopsied. This study alerts clinicians to the need to assess and possibly treat emotional responses.

Distinct tumor bacterial microbiome in lung adenocarcinomas manifested as radiological subsolid nodules.

OBJECTIVES: Increasing evidence indicates that microbiota dysbiosis in the human body may play vital roles in carcinogenesis. However, the relationship between microbiome and lung cancer remains unclear. In this study, we aimed to characterize the microbiome in early stage of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD), which presented as subsolid nodules (SSN) or solid nodules (SN). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed 16S rRNA sequencing of 35 pairs (10 SSN and 25 SN) of LUAD tumor tissues and paired adjacent normal tissues. Machine learning was used to identify microbial signatures and construct predictive models. RESULTS: SSN has higher microbiome richness and diversity compared with SN (richness p = 0.017, Shannon index p = 0.17), and the microbiome composition of SSN is distinct from that of SN (Bray-Curtis p = 0.013, unweighted unifrac p = 0.001). Phylum Chloroflexi (p = 0.009), Gemmatimonadetes (p = 0.018) and genus including Cloacibacterium (p = 0.003), Subdoligranulum (p = 0.002), and Mycobacterium (p = 0.034) were significantly increased in SSN. Tumor and normal tissues had similar richness and diversity, as well as overall microbiome composition. Probiotics with anti-cancer potential, like Lactobacillus, showed elevated levels in normal tissues (p = 0.018). A random forest model with 20 genera-based biomarkers achieved high accuracy for LUAD prediction (area under curve, AUC = 0.879). Meanwhile, a five genera-based signature can accurately discriminate SSN between SN (AUC = 0.950). Cross-validation of these two models also showed high predictive performance (LUAD AUC = 0.813, SSN AUC = 0.933). CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates, for the first time, the tumor bacterial microbiome composition of LUAD manifested as SSN is distinct from that presented as SN, which adds new knowledge to SSN in the perspective of microbiome. Furthermore, microbiome signatures showed good performance to predict LUAD or SSN.

Assessment of an Exhaled Breath Test Using High-Pressure Photon Ionization Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry to Detect Lung Cancer.

Importance: Exhaled breath is an attractive option for cancer detection. A sensitive and reliable breath test has the potential to greatly facilitate diagnoses and therapeutic monitoring of lung cancer. Objective: To investigate whether the breath test is able to detect lung cancer using the highly sensitive high-pressure photon ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (HPPI-TOFMS). Design, Setting, and Participants: This diagnostic study was conducted with a prospective-specimen collection, retrospective-blinded evaluation design. Exhaled breath samples were collected before surgery and detected by HPPI-TOFMS. The detection model was constructed by support vector machine (SVM) algorithm. Patients with pathologically confirmed lung cancer were recruited from Peking University People's Hospital, and healthy adults without pulmonary noncalcified nodules were recruited from Aerospace 731 Hospital. Data analysis was performed from August to October 2020. Exposures: Breath testing and SVM algorithm. Main Outcomes and Measures: The detection performance of the breath test was measured by sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve (AUC). Results: Exhaled breath samples were from 139 patients with lung cancer and 289 healthy adults, and all breath samples were collected and tested. Of all participants, 228 (53.27%) were women and the mean (SD) age was 57.0 (11.4) years. After clinical outcomes were ascertained, all participants were randomly assigned into the discovery data set (381 participants) and the blinded validation data set (47 participants). The discovery data set was further broken into a training set (286 participants) and a test set (95 participants) to construct and test the detection model. The detection model reached a mean (SD) of 92.97% (4.64%) for sensitivity, 96.68% (2.21%) for specificity, and 95.51% (1.93%) for accuracy in the test set after 500 iterations. In the blinded validation data set (47 participants), the model revealed a sensitivity of 100%, a specificity of 92.86%, an accuracy of 95.74%, and an AUC of 0.9586. Conclusions and Relevance: This diagnostic study's results suggest that a breath test with HPPI-TOFMS is feasible and accurate for lung cancer detection, which may be useful for future lung cancer screenings.

Assessment of Breathomics Testing Using High-Pressure Photon Ionization Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry to Detect Esophageal Cancer.

Importance: A triage test is needed to increase the detection rate for esophageal cancer. Objective: To investigate whether breathomics can detect esophageal cancer among patients without a previous diagnosis of cancer using high-pressure photon ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (HPPI-TOFMS). Design, Setting, and Participants: This diagnostic study included participants who planned to receive an upper endoscopy or surgery of the esophagus at a single center in China. Exhaled breath was collected with a self-designed collector and air bags before participants underwent these procedures. Sample collection and analyses were performed by trained researchers following a standardized protocol. Participants were randomly divided into a discovery data set and a validation data set. Data were collected from December 2020 to March 2021. Exposures: Breath samples were analyzed by HPPI-TOFMS, and the support vector machine algorithm was used to construct a detection model. Main Outcomes and Measures: The accuracy of breathomics was measured by the sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve. Results: Exhaled breath samples were obtained from 675 patients (216 [32%] with esophageal cancer; 459 [68%] with noncancer diseases). Of all patients, 206 (31%) were women, and the mean (SD) age was 64.0 (11.9) years. In the validation data set, esophageal cancer was detected with an accuracy of 93.33%, sensitivity of 97.83%, specificity of 83.72%, positive predictive value of 94.74%, negative predictive value of 92.78%, and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.89. Notably, for 16 patients with high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia, 12 (75%) were predicted to have esophageal cancer. Conclusions and Relevance: In this diagnostic study, testing breathomics using HPPI-TOFMS was feasible for esophageal cancer detection and totally noninvasive, which could help to improve the diagnosis of esophageal cancer.

Case report: inflammatory pseudotumor in the lung parenchyma caused by a medical suture originating from a cardiac surgery 35 years ago.

BACKGROUND: The incidence of the iatrogenic foreign body retained after surgery is extremely low. Iatrogenic foreign body retained is surrounded by normal tissue, which responds to foreign matter to form inflammatory pseudotumors. Surgical sponge or swap is the most common type of foreign body. There were no reports of medical sutures remaining as foreign bodies in the lung parenchyma to form inflammatory pseudotumors. CASE PRESENTATION: A CT scan of a 50-year-old female showed an irregular soft tissue mass in the left upper lobe with rough edge and spiculation. After 20 months, the size increased from 2.8 × 1.9 cm to 3.2 × 2.2 cm. The patient underwent a ventricular septal repair surgery for congenital Fallot tetralogy 35 years ago and a left breast surgery for breast cancer. She had a family history of lung cancer. Evaluation of this mass highly suggested a lung malignant lesion. The patient underwent video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) lobectomy and her pathology revealed an intrapulmonary inflammatory pseudotumor caused by a medical prolene suture. Based on her medical history and other reports of iatrogenic foreign bodies, we believe that this suture retained from the heart surgery 35 years ago entered the pulmonary artery, moved to the distal branch, and eventually formed an inflammatory pseudotumor in the lung parenchyma. Here we reported and analyze this rare case. CONCLUSION: We reported a rare case of inflammatory pseudotumor in the lung parenchyma caused by a medical suture, and determined it was a prolene suture retained in the body during a cardiac surgery 35 years ago. Diagnosis of this rare disease required sufficient imaging experience. Besides, appropriate surgical exploration can help with the diagnosis and treatment.

Nodal Involvement Pattern in Clinical Stage IA Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer According to Tumor Location.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate lymph node involvement pattern in clinical stage IA non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Clinical stage ⅠA NSCLC patients who underwent lobectomy and lymph node resection were included in this retrospective study. Mediastinal lymph node involvement was distinguished by different lobes and tumor size. RESULTS: From 2000 to 2015, a total of 759 patients were identified: 282 (37.2%) with tumors in the right upper lobe (RUL), 183 (24.1%) in the left upper lobe (LUL), 124 (16.3%) in the right lower lobe (RLL), 103 (13.6%) in the left lower lobe (LLL), and 67 (8.8%) in the right middle lobe (RML). Patients with tumor size ≤1 cm accounted for 19.6%, >1 and ≤2 cm for 47.8%, >2 and ≤3 cm for 32.5%. Patients with pN1 accounted for 8.2%, and pN2 for 12.5%. Among patients with pN2, the inferior mediastinum was involved in 9.7% of RULs and 17.4% of LULs; the superior mediastinum was involved in 52.2% of RLLs and 36.4% of LLLs. Mediastinal lymph node metastasis was found in 13.2% of patients with size >1 and ≤2 cm, and 19.0% of >2 and ≤3 cm. Patients with tumors ≤1 cm had no N2 lymph node involved. CONCLUSION: Selective lymph node dissection based on tumor location is not recommended in clinical stage ⅠA NSCLC, and systemic lymph node dissection should be performed for NSCLC with size >1 cm.

Familial spontaneous pneumothorax: importance of screening for Birt-Hogg-Dubé syndrome.

OBJECTIVES: The goal of this study was to investigate the prevalence of Birt-Hogg-Dubé (BHD) syndrome in patients with familial spontaneous pneumothorax (FSP) and the clinical characteristics of pneumothorax related to BHD syndrome compared with those of primary spontaneous pneumothorax. METHODS: A total of 37 families diagnosed with FSP from 2007 to 2017 were enrolled in this study. The FLCN gene, which is responsible for BHD syndrome, was sequenced using the Sanger method in 25 probands. For the patients with confirmed BHD syndrome-related pneumothorax, clinical characteristics including the median onset age of pneumothorax, the male-to-female ratio, the mean height and body mass index (BMI) and the recurrence rate after different treatment modalities were obtained and compared with those of patients with primary spontaneous pneumothorax. RESULTS: Of the 25 probands with FSP, 16 [64.0%, 95% confidence interval (CI) 43.8-84.2%] harboured FLCN germline mutations. In the patients with BHD syndrome-related pneumothorax, the median onset age of pneumothorax was 34 years; the male-to-female ratio was 1.3:1; and the mean height and BMI were 167.0 ± 8.6 cm and 23.6 ± 3.4 kg/m2, respectively. These characteristics were significantly different from those in patients with primary spontaneous pneumothorax from the same centre. The recurrence rate of BHD syndrome-related pneumothorax after conservative therapy was 53.1% (95% CI 38.6-67.5%) compared with 9.1% (95% CI 0-19.4%) after surgical treatment. CONCLUSIONS: BHD syndrome is one of the most common causes of FSP. Patients with FSP should be recommended for mutation screening for the FLCN gene to facilitate early diagnosis and proper intervention.

Lung cancer from a focal bulla into thin-walled adenocarcinoma with ground glass opacity - an observation for more than 10 years: A case report.

BACKGROUND: Thin-walled lung cancer manifests as a cystic lesion, mostly adenocarcinoma. It is often misdiagnosed as a benign lesion in clinical practice, thus delaying the diagnosis and surgical treatment. Its natural course is rarely recorded and observed; thus, the pathogenesis and diagnosis need to be clarified and improved. CASE SUMMARY: A 66-year-old man developed a mass in the upper lobe of the right lung and a small, thin-walled cavity in the lower lobe of the right lung in 2007. The right upper lobe mass was confirmed to be adenocarcinoma after surgery. The cavity diameter increased from 11 mm to 31 mm over 10 years, and a ground glass opacity lesion appeared around the bulla on computed tomography. A second operation confirmed that the lesion was lepidic predominant adenocarcinoma. Here we report a rare case of lung cancer developing from a focal bulla to a thin-walled adenocarcinoma for more than 10 years and confirm that the check-valve mechanism explains the pathogenesis. CONCLUSION: Solitary thin-walled lung adenocarcinoma is a rare tumor in terms of its clinical manifestations, pathogenesis, and disease progression. The check-valve mechanism can explain the cause of thin-walled lung cancer. Close follow-up and accurate imaging are necessary.

Video-assisted thoracoscopic thymectomy is feasible for large thymomas: a propensity-matched comparison.

OBJECTIVES: Video-assisted thoracoscopic thymectomy is becoming the preferable approach for early-stage thymoma. However, large thymomas are still recognized as a relative contraindication due to the possible risk of incomplete resection or capsular disruption. Thus, the aim of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of video-assisted thoracoscopic thymectomy for large thymomas. METHODS: Patients diagnosed with Masaoka stage I-IV thymoma between April 2001 and December 2018 were retrospectively reviewed. All patients were divided into 2 groups: thymoma <5.0 cm (group A) and thymoma ≥5.0 cm (group B). Propensity score matching analysis was performed to compare postoperative results. Recurrence-free survival and overall survival were compared for oncological evaluation. RESULTS: A total of 346 patients were included in this study. In the propensity score matching analysis, 126 patients were included both in group A and group B. There was no significant difference between these 2 groups in terms of the R0 resection rate (95.2% vs 94.4%, P = 1.000), conversion rate (1.6% vs 3.2%, P = 0.684), operation time (119.4 ± 48.4 vs 139.1 ± 46.6 min, P = 0.955), blood loss (93.2 ± 231.7 vs 100.5 ± 149.3 ml, P = 0.649), duration of chest drainage (2.7 ± 1.6 vs 2.8 ± 2.0 days, P = 0.184), length of hospitalization (5.0 ± 3.9 vs 5.2 ± 2.9 days, P = 0.628) or postoperative complications (5.9% vs 8.5%, P = 0.068). There was no significant difference between these 2 groups in terms of the overall survival (P = 0.271) and recurrence-free survival (P = 0.288). CONCLUSIONS: Video-assisted thoracoscopic thymectomy is a safe and effective approach for large thymomas (≥5 cm) with comparable surgical and oncological results.