Neoadjuvant chemotherapy: a new criterion for selection of candidate patients for surgery of low tumour burden metastases from malignant melanoma?

BACKGROUND: Surgery of limited metastatic lesions from malignant melanoma can achieve long-term remission and better survival than chemotherapy. Existing criteria for selection of candidate patients for this surgery do not seem sufficient to avoid useless excisions. OBJECTIVES: To test use of neoadjuvant chemotherapy as a new criterion in this setting. METHODS: All patients who underwent thoracic surgery for one or two lung metastases from melanoma during 1999-2007 were included in the study. Demographic and medical data were collected and analysed. Several possible prognostic factors were evaluated based on the overall survival curves. RESULTS: Thirteen patients were included in this retrospective study. All but two patients had no evidence of disease after surgery. Ten patients received neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Six responded (absence of progression) and four had progressive disease. Response to chemotherapy and no evidence of disease after surgery were predictive of long-term survival. CONCLUSIONS: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy can be considered as a new criterion for better selection of candidate patients for lung metastasis surgical resection. This would also avoid useless surgical procedures in rapidly progressive disease and give information on the chemosensibility of the metastatic disease. This study needs further confirmation, particularly with chemotherapy regimens that have demonstrated better objective responses.

[When should respiratory physicians consider lung transplantation for their patients? Inscription criteria for the national waiting list]. / Quand le pneumologue doit-il envisager la greffe pulmonaire pour un de ses patients?

INTRODUCTION: Placing a patient on the national lung transplant waiting list remains a difficult matter, and is more a question of timing than selection of the candidate according to disease-specific criteria. BACKGROUND: The listing criteria for cystic fibrosis are FEV1 less than 30% of the predicted value, hypoxaemia with a PaO2 less than 55 mm Hg and hypercapnia with a PaCO2 over 50 mm Hg. The rate of decline of FEV1, increasing antibiotic requirements and life threatening complications can all accelerate the listing procedure. For primary pulmonary hypertension the criteria are persistent dyspnoea, NYHA grade III or IVA, despite epoprostenol treatment and a 6 minute walk test of less than 250 metres. Sarcoidosis, lymphangioleiomyomatosis, histiocytosis X and connective tissue diseases are rare indications for which the listing criteria are similar to those for the more usual respiratory diseases. VIEWPOINTS: Further therapeutic advances, increased numbers of available organs and changes in the allocation rules will necessitate periodical updates of these selection and listing criteria. CONCLUSION: The optimal time for placing lung transplantation patients who have been referred early in the course of their disease on the waiting list will be determined by clinical experience and individual patient follow-up.

Liposarcoma of the pleural cavity. An exceptional tumour.

Primitive liposarcomas of the pleura are exceptional tumours. We report a new case of primitive liposarcoma of the pleura revealed by chest pains in a 50 year old man. Computed tomography showed a large fat density mass in the left pleural cavity. Surgical resection was performed, completed with adjuvant radiotherapy. Few reports are available in the literary world. We present our case, review previously reported cases and discuss treatment.

[Massive haemoptysis: management and treatment. What is the role of surgery?]. / L'hémoptysie massive: prise en charge et traitement. Quelle est la place de la chirurgie?

OBJECTIVE: To define the role of interventional radiology and surgery respectively, in the treatment of massive haemoptysis. GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS: For the management of massive haemoptysis in non-terminal pathologies an intensive care facility and a multi-disciplinary team are necessary. It is of paramount importance to identify rapidly the pulmonary or bronchial source of the bleeding. CT scanning and bronchoscopy are essential to localise the bleeding and determine its cause. Initial management. An attempt to control the initial bleeding to allow localisation of its origin and determine the treatment. TREATMENT: Bronchial or systemic embolisation and surgery are the only effective medium and long-term treatments. Embolisation achieves excellent results in bleeding from bronchial or parietal systemic arteries prior to surgery and may be the only technique possible in the presence of major co-morbidity. Surgery is necessary in the case of failure, in certain specific conditions, and in the case pulmonary artery haemorrhage from a proximal lesion. Various surgical techniques are available depending on the type of lesion encountered and the facilities for post-operative care. Emergency surgery carries a high risk and deferred surgery gives better results. CONCLUSION: The management of massive haemoptysis should be multi-disciplinary. Intensive care, respiratory and radiological diagnosis, Surgical management and interventional radiology should be combined to improve the prognosis of this grave condition. Pulmonary arterial haemorrhage from a necrotic tumour constitutes a surgical emergency and should be operated on without delay.

Detection of circulating cells expressing chromogranin A gene transcripts in patients with lung neuroendocrine carcinoma.

High grade lung neuroendocrine carcinomas, like small and large cell neuroendocrine carcinomas, pose therapeutic problems. Most initially respond to chemotherapeutic agents, but early relapses are frequent and are resistant to the presently available treatments. Our study reports for the first time the development and evaluation of a test for detecting the presence of circulating tumour cells by measuring chromogranin A gene transcripts with reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Southern blotting. The test is specific and sensitive (detection of 10 cancer cells/ml blood), and only minimally invasive. Positivity is statistically correlated to high grade neuroendocrine carcinomas and to a poor prognosis with a 3-fold higher lethal risk. The test now needs to be assessed for its usefulness as a tool in the initial staging procedures and follow-up by comparison with the recent immunoradiometric assay (RIA) for detection of chromogranin A in the serum.

Expression of NGF receptors in normal and pathological human thymus.

The expression of NGF receptors was investigated in normal human thymus and in thymic hyperplasias, thymomas and thymic carcinomas. By RT-PCR, we detected TrkAI transcripts encoding for the high-affinity NGF receptor. Western blot analysis showed the presence of both TrkA and p75NGFR proteins. In normal thymuses, epithelial subcapsular and medullar cells were TrkA immunoreactive. Interdigitated medullar cells were stained for both TrkA and p75NGFR. While epithelial cells of normal thymuses or benign thymomas exhibited a TrkA positive-p75NGFR negative phenotype, a switch to a TrkA negative-p75NGFR positive phenotype was observed in malignant epithelial cell tumours and was associated with cell proliferation-associated MIB1 expression. Our results argue for a local role of NGF and its receptors on thymic stromal cells both in normal and neoplastic conditions.

Intermediate-term results after en bloc double-lung transplantation with bronchial arterial revascularization. Bordeaux Lung and Heart-Lung Transplant Group.

OBJECTIVE: Between May 1990 and January 1994, 18 patients underwent en bloc double-lung transplantation with tracheal anastomosis and bronchial arterial revascularization. Because at that time it was already suggested that chronic ischemia could be a contributing factor in occurrence of obliterative bronchiolitis, the purpose of this study was to evaluate, with a follow-up ranging from 22 to 69 months, the midterm effects of bronchial arterial revascularization on development of obliterative bronchiolitis. RESULTS: Results were assessed according to tracheal healing, functional results, rejection, infection, and incidence of obliterative bronchiolitis. There were no intraoperative deaths or reexplorations for bleeding related to bronchial arterial revascularization, but there were three hospital deaths and five late deaths, two of them related to obliterative bronchiolitis. According to the criteria previously defined, tracheal healing was assessed as grade I, IIa, or IIb in 17 patients and grade IIIa in only one patient. Early angiography (postoperative days 20 to 40) demonstrated a patent graft in 11 of the 14 patients in whom follow-up information was obtained. Ten patients are currently alive with a 43-month mean follow-up. Among the 15 patients surviving more than 1 year, functional results have been excellent except in five in whom obliterative bronchiolitis has developed and who had an early or late graft thrombosis. Furthermore, those patients had a significantly higher incidence of late acute rejection (p < 0.02), cytomegalovirus disease (p < 0.006), and bronchitis episodes (p < 0.0008) than patients free from obliterative bronchiolitis. CONCLUSION: We conclude that besides its immediate beneficial effect on tracheal healing, long-lasting revascularization was, at least in this small series, associated with an absence of obliterative bronchiolitis, thus suggesting but not yet proving the possible role of chronic ischemia in this multifactorial disease.

Tuberculosis in transplanted lungs.

Over a 4-year period in four of 61 patients (6.5%) who survived lung transplantation, pulmonary tuberculosis developed at a mean of 7.5 months (range 3 to 13 months) after operation. Clinical and radiologic features were atypical. Definitive bacteriologic diagnosis, which was established on bronchial, sputum, and pleural fluid samples, may be delayed by the concomitant presence of other infective organisms and the necessity for repeated sampling. All patients were treated successfully with antituberculous chemotherapy, but one patient also required lobectomy. At a mean follow-up of 2.25 years (range, 1 to 3 years), three patients are free of active disease, and one patient had a recurrence at 2 years. Tuberculosis in transplanted lungs is an uncommon but serious infection that may elude diagnosis but respond well to treatment.

Surgical treatment of nontumoral stenoses of the upper airway.

BACKGROUND: After 1970, the widespread use of nasotracheal intubation, avoiding tracheostomy and its pitfalls, resulted in more frequent laryngeal or laryngotracheal stenoses, which required more complex and sometimes multistaged procedures. METHODS: A series of 217 nontumoral stenoses of the upper airway were treated following the same therapeutic principles in the period 1978 to 1992. Two hundred one of them were iatrogenic postintubation strictures (92%); the others were posttraumatic (7), idiopathic (5), and various (4). RESULTS: One hundred twenty (55%) were tracheal stenoses and treated by resection and primary end-to-end anastomosis with 117 excellent or good results and three deaths. Length of the stenosis, old age, neuropsychological sequelae, and overall poor respiratory status of the patients made up the remaining difficulties in the treatment. Ninety-seven (45%) were laryngotracheal stenoses with much more complex surgical indications: 57 patients underwent tracheal and subglottic resection and anastomosis with 56 successes and one death, 7 had laryngotracheal resection and anastomosis with total cricoidectomy and consequently laryngeal stenting for 3 to 6 months (six successes, one death), 3 had supraglottic resection and anastomosis (three successes), 12 patients with glottic opening difficulties and short laryngeal stenosis underwent a laryngeal enlargement over a T tube without resection (11 successes, one death), and 18 were subjected to a complex combination of resection and modeling with 16 successes, 2 failures, and 1 death. Final results were successful in 208 cases (96%) with seven deaths and two failures. Mild phonetic sequelae were observed after laryngeal modeling. A minimal follow-up of 1 year has shown long-term stability of most repairs. CONCLUSIONS: Despite acceptable results, the therapeutic approach remains difficult for laryngotracheal stenoses involving the glottic and the supraglottic level as well as for those that have not responded to previous attempts at repair. In a few cases, despite a meticulous preoperative assessment, the surgical strategy can only be adopted intraoperatively. The key to surgical success is undoubtedly a careful preoperative treatment of infection and inflammation as well as a meticulous muco-mucosal approximation of healthy margins at the anastomosis.

Long-term functional results after bilateral lung transplantation. Bordeaux Lung and Heart-Lung Transplant Group.

Between February 1988 and January 1992, 61 patients have undergone bilateral lung transplantations (42 heart-lung and 19 double-lung) in Bordeaux. The underlying diseases were primary or secondary hypertension (20), emphysema (22), or other diseases including cystic fibrosis, pulmonary fibrosis, silicosis, and sarcoidosis (19). Actuarial survival for double-lung and heart-lung transplant recipients was 66% and 72% at 1 year and 57% and 53% at 3 years, respectively. Forty-two patients were still alive 6 months after operation, and we studied their pulmonary function at the short and long term. All parameters except arterial carbon dioxide tension had improved dramatically at 6 months (p < 0.0001). Vital capacity, forced expiratory volume in 1 second, and forced expiratory flow rate between 25% and 75% of vital capacity were at 79% +/- 3%, 92% +/- 5%, and 105% +/- 8% of the predicted values, respectively. Arterial oxygen tension was 88 +/- 3 mm Hg. Nine months after operation, a slight decrease in forced expiratory volume in 1 second and forced expiratory flow rate between 25% and 75% of vital capacity appeared but values remained more than 75% predicted. This was related to the occurrence of obliterative bronchiolitis in 6 patients (14%). At 9 months, flow rates and oxygen tension of these 6 patients were highly different from those of patients free of obliterative bronchiolitis (p < 0.0002 for flow rates and p < 0.01 for oxygen tension). Only 1 patient required retransplantation. The others are living an almost normal life. Our results are discussed in view of the published reports on single-lung transplantation. Short-term results of bilateral lung transplantation are thus excellent and maintained on a long-term basis. Therefore, in our opinion, bilateral lung transplantation is the therapy of choice for pulmonary hypertension and emphysema.

Expanding wire stents in benign tracheobronchial disease: indications and complications.

Prosthetic tracheobronchial stents provide palliative treatment for narrowed airways where surgical resection is inadvisable. Over a 1-year period, 28 Gianturco expanding wire stents were used in 15 patients for nonneoplastic indications: pure fibrous airway stenosis (6), fibroinflammatory stenosis (4), and tracheobronchial malacia (5). Insertion was technically straightforward. A satisfactory airway lumen with immediate improvement in ventilatory function was obtained in all patients. After insertion all patients had an irritation-type cough that either subsided spontaneously (10 patients) or was successfully suppressed with inhaled corticosteroid therapy (5 patients). The most common complication (12 patients) was granuloma formation leading to stent removal in 3 patients with fibroinflammatory stenosis. Other complications were dysphagia (1), suction catheter entrapment (1), and fatal massive hemoptysis (1). At a mean follow-up of 13 months (range, 3 to 19 months) all remaining stents are functioning well with no displacement or infection. Overall results were satisfactory in pure fibrous stenoses and tracheobronchial malacia but poor in the presence of inflammation. Tracheobronchial wire stents can be successfully used in selected patients.

Esophagectomy for cancer in the patient aged 70 years and older.

BACKGROUND: Advanced age increases the risk of any major surgical intervention, particularly esophageal resection. High morbidity and increased mortality have been reported in operations for esophageal cancer in the elderly. METHODS: To determine outcome, risk factors, and the advisability of esophageal resection in the elderly, a single-institution retrospective review was performed of esophagectomy for cancer over a 14-year period. From January 1, 1980, to December 31, 1993, 540 patients underwent esophageal resection for esophageal cancer. These patients were divided into two groups: group 1, n = 89, patients 70 years of age or older; and group 2, n = 451, patients younger than 70 years of age. The two groups were compared according to preoperative risk factors, morbidity rate, mortality rate, mean stay in the hospital after operation, and long-term survival. RESULTS: Adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction was the most common tumor in group 1 and was usually managed with a single incisional approach. There were no significant differences between the groups concerning morbidity (24.7% in group 1), mortality (7.8% in group 1), mean stay in the hospital (23.3 days in group 1), or long-term survival (59%, 23%, and 13% at 1, 3, and 5 years, respectively, in group 1). CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that esophagectomy can be performed in selected elderly patients without increasing morbidity or mortality and with long-term survival.

Conservative treatment for postintubation tracheobronchial rupture.

BACKGROUND: Postintubation tracheobronchial rupture is usually responsible for unstable intraoperative or postoperative conditions, and its management is discussed. We insist on conservative treatment as a viable alternative after late diagnosis of postintubation tracheobronchial rupture. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study including 14 consecutive patients treated between April 1981 and July 1998. RESULTS: Twelve tracheobronchial ruptures occurred after intubation for general surgery and two after thoracic surgery. In all cases, the tear consisted of a linear laceration of the posterior membranous wall of the tracheobronchial tree ranging from 2 to 6 cm. One death occurred in a very weak patient unfit to undergo a redo operation for surgical repair. Seven patients were treated conservatively and cured without sequelae. Six patients underwent surgical repair, of whom 2 were diagnosed and repaired intraoperatively. CONCLUSIONS: Aggressive surgical repair is not always mandatory after delayed diagnosis of iatrogenic tracheobronchial rupture. Conservative treatment must often be considered, except after lung resection.

Bronchial revascularization in double-lung transplantation: a series of 8 patients. Bordeaux Lung and Heart-Lung Transplant Group.

Donor airway ischemia is the main cause for defective tracheal or bronchial healing after double-lung transplantation. Anatomical studies and bronchial arteriograms have shown that the right intercostal bronchial artery is constant (95% of instances) and provides an important blood supply to the distal trachea, the carina, and the right bronchial tree as well as to the left side through a subcarinal and periadventitial anastomostic network. To maintain this important bilateral bronchial circulation, it is of capital importance not to mobilize the arteries individually and to avoid large dissections around the carina. Both bronchi can thus be revascularized by indirect aortic reimplantation using a bypass graft to a single aortic patch that includes the origin of the right intercostal bronchial artery. Furthermore, the origin of other vessels (a common trunk and left arteries) can be found within a short distance of the right intercostal bronchial artery and possibly be contained within the same aortic patch. From a series of 56 lung transplantations, 8 patients underwent restoration of the bronchial vascularization using a recipient saphenous vein graft between the donor bronchial arteries and the anterior aspect of the recipient's ascending aorta. A lower tracheal anastomosis was performed. Bronchial arterial blood supply was evaluated both by endoscopy and by arteriography at about the 15th postoperative day. The bronchial circulation was visualized at this time in five of seven arteriographies, and this was associated with excellent tracheal healing in all 8 patients.

The surgical treatment of inflammatory and fibrous laryngotracheal stenosis.

Seventy-two patients with laryngeal or laryngo-tracheal stenotic lesions resulting from tracheal intubation or laryngo-tracheal injuries are reported. Prior to 1978, the method of surgical treatment consisted mainly of laryngoplasty supported by laryngeal stenting. Twenty-six patients were treated by this method with 2 mortalities. Twenty-one long term results were good and 3 were fair. After 1978, laryngo-tracheal resection was performed in 46 patients. Twenty-seven had a Pearson-type operation, 13 underwent total or subtotal cricoid plate resection and modelling, and the remaining 6 had modelling alone. Perfect results after resection depend on the treatment of infection and inflammation of the airway before surgery. Our preferred method is resection and end-to-end anastomosis whenever possible. In addition to the anatomical site of the lesion, the glottic opening has to be considered in planning the surgical operation since impairment necessitates enlargement of the glottis as part of the procedure.

The growth of circumferential scars of the major airways from infancy to adulthood.

The factors affecting the development and prognosis of scarred airways in children are presented from a long-term follow-up study of 14 cases of tracheobronchial lesions following either injury or operation. Four children managed by endoluminal treatment developed severe stenosis and required treatment, later as adults, by laser resection in 2 cases and by laryngotracheal plastic enlargement and resection with anastomosis in 1 case each. The follow-up of 7 children managed by plastic procedures showed inconsistent results: they were good or excellent in 3 cases but with a decrease in the laryngotracheal diameter of 36%, 28% and 7% respectively. The laryngotracheal calibre decreased in 2 patients to 45% due to partial fibrous stenosis. Resection and anastomosis was required in the remaining 2 patients after 11 and 12 years for severe re-stenosis. The 3 patients who underwent immediate surgical resection all had an excellent clinical and morphological result, with a decrease in the laryngotracheal diameter of only 7%, 13% and 19% after a follow-up of 18, 20 and 15 years, respectively. These results show that the growth capacity of scars in children's airways is closely related to residual sclerosis following the initial treatment. It is thus suggested that primary resection and anastomosis should be performed in as many cases as possible. In the performance of plastic procedures, special attention should be paid to complete resection of the fibrotic tissues. Finally, a very long postoperative follow-up is always required in children in order to assess the development of the airway.

Post traumatic disruption of the laryngo-tracheal junction.

Of 43 tracheo-bronchial ruptures, 19 patients presented with disruption of the laryngo-tracheal junction which would appear to be a very specific anatomical lesion. The disruptions were secondary to blunt cervical trauma in 11 cases and strangulation in 8 cases. The disruption was complete in 14 cases and incomplete in 5. The lesion is very complex and involved the retraction of the lower part of the trachea into the mediastinum (14 cases), fracture of the cricoid ring (9 cases), bilateral recurrent nerve tears (14 cases), unilateral (4 cases) and retraction of the laryngeal mucosa with exposure of the cricoid cartilage in all cases. According to the complexity of the lesion, the treatment was: laryngo-tracheal resection and end-to-end anastomosis with treatment of the vocal cord palsy in 13 patients; simple end-to-end anastomosis in 4 patients who had an unilateral vocal cord palsy; 2 patients with a partial disruption were treated medically with endoscopic stenting and laser photocoagulation. All had restoration of airway patency and recovery of voice. The results contrast with the failures and reoperations reported in the literature and underline the necessity of complete evaluation and treatment of these complex lesions.

Experience of partial oesophagectomy in surgical treatment of lower and middle thoracic oesophageal cancer. From a follow-up of 366 cases.

Since carcinoma of the oesophagus is considered to be frequently multicentric, total oesophagectomy appears the only radical therapeutical approach. A follow-up of 366 patients who underwent partial oesophagectomy shows that this procedure can be curative as well as palliative and is sometimes the only procedure possible with a reasonable mortality. These patients had an oesophageal carcinoma located between the cardia and the level of the aortic arch (60.5% squamous, 37% adenocarcinoma). Of these, 22% were over 70 years of age. The surgical route was a left thoracotomy in 280 cases (with anastomosis below or above the aortic arch) or a laparotomy and right thoracotomy in 86 cases. The oesophagus was transected as high as possible and replaced by an isoperistaltic tube fashioned from the greater curvature of the stomach. Mediastinal tissues and the lesser curvature with their lymph nodes were removed. The overall operative mortality was 7% (4% in patients less than 70 and 15% over 70). Very few anastomotic fistulae were observed (6 cases) but they were always severe (6 deaths). The middle and long term results show acceptable functional sequelae and a good survival quality. The survival is 57% at 1 year, 30% at 3 years and 23% at 5 years (27% when the excision appeared curative). There was no significant difference in survival for patients whose cancer was in the mid-oesophagus compared to the lower oesophagus. There was no difference in survival in the cell type squamous or adenocarcinoma. Death was mainly due to metastatic lesions and mediastinal lymphatic recurrence.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Esophageal perforation: life threatening complication of endotracheal intubation.

OBJECTIVE: To raise awareness of this complication of tracheal intubation, to emphasize the gravity due to delayed diagnosis, and to advocate a surgical treatment. METHODS: Between April 1980 and January 2000, 97 patients were treated for esophageal perforation in our department. We reviewed the cases of perforation occurring after attempted tracheal intubation. Each case is presented. Discussion is focused on diagnosis and treatment. RESULTS: Esophageal perforation occurred after attempted endotracheal intubation in five cases among 58 iatrogenic perforations. There were four women and one man (mean age 72 years). In all cases, it was for a planned operation. Intubation was performed by a single lumen tube in three cases and a double lumen tube in two cases. Presenting symptoms were acute in one case and insidious in four cases. Free interval before diagnosis and treatment was long in all but one case, with an average of 179 h (range 5--432). Two patients suffered from septic shock when they were transferred. All patients were operated on. Two patients died. CONCLUSION: Post intubation esophageal perforation is one of the most life threatening esophageal perforation. Delayed diagnosis is the first cause of gravity. Prevention of this complication begins with recognition of a potentially difficult intubation. Good outcome follows from rapid diagnosis and early surgical treatment.

Lobar exclusion after transpericardial herniation in a heart-lung transplantation.

Lobar herniation is a rare complication of heart-lung transplantation (HLT). We describe a case of right lower lobe herniation through the pericardial window into the left pleural space diagnosed 54 days after operation. Extensive adhesions precluded a lobectomy through a right thoracotomy approach, therefore the lobe was simply excluded and left in situ. The subsequent postoperative course, a CT-scan 2 years later and the 7 years survival time demonstrated that the lobe became fibrosed without any major sequelae.