Results in mediastinal lymph node staging of surgical lung cancer: Data from the prospective cohort of the Spanish Video-Assisted Thoracic Surgery Group.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to assess the diagnostic performance of combined computerised tomography (CT) and positron emission tomography (PET) in mediastinal staging of surgical lung cancer based on data obtained from the prospective cohort of the Spanish Group for Video-Assisted Thoracic Surgery (GEVATS). METHODS: A total of 2782 patients underwent surgery for primary lung carcinoma. We analysed diagnostic success in mediastinal lymph node staging (cN2) using CT and PET. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed of the factors involved in this success. The risk of unexpected pN2 disease was analysed for cases in which an invasive testing is recommended: cN1, the tumour centrally located or the tumour diameter >3 cm. RESULTS: The overall success of CT together with PET was 82.9% with a positive predictive value of 0.21 and negative predictive value of 0.93. If the tumour was larger than 3 cm and for each unit increase in mediastinal SUVmax, the probability of success was lower with OR 0.59 (0.44-0.79) and 0.71 (0.66-0.75), respectively. In the video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) approach, the probability of success was higher with OR 2.04 (1.52-2.73). The risk of unexpected pN2 increased with the risk factors cN1, the tumour centrally located or the tumour diameter >3 cm: from 4.5% (0 factors) to 18.8% (3 factors) but did not differ significantly as a function of whether invasive testing was performed. CONCLUSIONS: CT and PET together have a high negative predictive value. The overall success of the staging is lower in the case of tumours >3 cm and high mediastinal SUVmax, and it is higher when VATS is performed. The risk of unexpected pN2 is higher if the disease is cN1, the tumour centrally located or the tumour diameter >3 cm but does not vary significantly as a function of whether patients have undergone invasive testing.

Role of conservative medical management of tracheobronchial injuries.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study is to describe and assess the effectiveness of conservative treatment as the chosen treatment for tracheobronchial injury (TBI) management. This is a retrospective and descriptive study, which took place at a single center. METHODS: From January 1993 to July 2004, 33 TBIs were treated in our hospital. Eighteen (54.5%) were iatrogenic injuries and 15 (45.5%) were traumatic noniatrogenic injuries. Eighteen (55%) of the TBI patients were women and 15 (45.5%) were men, with a mean age of 46.7 +/- 23.4 years (range, 14-88 years). Eighteen (54.5%) of the injuries were caused by orotracheal intubation or tracheostomy, 13 (39.4%) by blunt trauma, and 2 (6.1%) by penetrating tracheal injuries. The average diagnostic delay was 18.29 +/- 19.8 hours. The mean injury size was 2.6 +/- 1.3 cm (range, 1-7 cm). Fourteen (42.4%) injuries were located in the cervical trachea, 8 (24.2%) in the thoracic trachea, 10 (30.3%) in the bronchi, and 1 (3%) involved both trachea and the main bronchi. Conservative treatment was applied in 20 (60.6%) of the 33 cases. Surgery should be performed in cases of esophageal-associated injuries, progressive subcutaneous or mediastinal emphysema, severe dyspnea requiring intubation, difficulty with mechanical ventilation, pneumothorax with an air leak through the chest drains, or mediastinitis. RESULTS: Conservative medical or surgical treatments achieved good outcomes in 28 (84.8%) cases. Five patients (15.2%) died while in the hospital; 4 of these were medically treated and 1 was surgically treated. Mortality was related to older patients and patients that had been diagnosed during mechanical ventilation. Major symptoms (progressive subcutaneous emphysema, dyspnea, sepsis) were detected more often in cartilaginous injuries (p < 0.05). Conservative treatment was considered more effective in membranous injuries (p < 0.05), and these sorts of injuries were not related to a high mortality rate (p > 0.05). Mortality was not related to conservative treatment, sex, diagnostic delay, injury mechanism, location, or length of the TBI (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Conservative treatment for TBI is effective regardless of the mechanism of production, length, or site of the injury. Conservative treatment should be carefully assessed in patients who meet strict selection criteria. Membranous injuries can be treated more often with a conservative approach, however, cartilaginous injuries should be treated surgically if major symptoms are detected.