[Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on thoracic surgery training in Spain]. / Impacto de la pandemia por COVID-19 en la formación de los cirujanos torácicos en España.

In the more than 2 years since its emergence, the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has prompted important changes in healthcare systems and their organization. The aim of this study is to determine the implications in specialized thoracic surgery training as well as the repercussions on thoracic surgery residents. With this objective, the Spanish Society of Thoracic Surgery has conducted a survey among all its trainees and those who had finished their residency during the last 3 years. It consisted of 24 multiple-answer closed questions about the impact of the pandemic on their services, their training, and their personal experience. The response rate was 42% (52 out of a target population of 120). The effect of the pandemic on thoracic surgery services was high or extreme according to 78.8% of the participants. Academic activities were completely cancelled in 42.3% of the cases, and 57.7% of the respondents were required to treat hospitalized COVID patients (25% part-time, and 32.7% full-time). More than 80% of the survey participants believed that changes during the pandemic negatively affected their training, and 36.5% would prefer to extend their training period. In sum, we observe how the pandemic has had deep negative effects on specialized training in thoracic surgery in Spain.

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic in thoracic surgery training in Spain.

In the more than 2 years since its emergence, the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has prompted important changes in healthcare systems and their organization. The aim of this study is to determine the implications in specialized thoracic surgery training as well as the repercussions on thoracic surgery residents. With this objective, the Spanish Society of Thoracic Surgery has conducted a survey among all its trainees and those who had finished their residency during the last 3 years. It consisted of 24 multiple-answer closed questions about the impact of the pandemic on their services, their training, and their personal experience. The response rate was 42% (52 out of a target population of 120). The effect of the pandemic on thoracic surgery services was high or extreme according to 78.8% of the participants. Academic activities were completely cancelled in 42.3% of the cases, and 57.7% of the respondents were required to treat hospitalized COVID patients (25% part-time, and 32.7% full-time). More than 80% of the survey participants believed that changes during the pandemic negatively affected their training, and 36.5% would prefer to extend their training period. In sum, we observe how the pandemic has had deep negative effects on specialized training in thoracic surgery in Spain.

Lung retransplant. Experience of a referral centre. / Retrasplante pulmonar. Experiencia de un centro de referencia.

BACKGROUND: Lung retransplantation (LR) is a valid choice with a significant risk of perioperative morbidity and mortality in selected patients with graft dysfunction after lung transplantation. Our goal is to analyse our experience in LR in terms of survival and lung function. METHODS: Retrospective study of patients undergoing LR (1990-2019). VARIABLES: recipients and procedure, early mortality, survival and lung function in patients with CLAD. Quantitative variables (mean±SD); qualitative (%). Student's t test or χ2 was used. Survival was estimated using Kaplan-Meier, compared with Log Rank. A p < 0.05 was established as significant. RESULTS: Of 784 transplanted patients, 25 patients (mean age 38.41-16.3 years, 12 men and 13 women) were LR; (CLAD (n = 19), pulmonary infarction (n = 2), airway complications (n = 2), graft dysfunction (n = 1), hyperacute rejection (n = 1), mean time to retransplantation: 5.41 ± 3.87 years in CLAD and 21.2 ± 21.4 days in non-CLAD. The 90-day mortality was 52% and 36.8% in the second period (p = 0.007), being higher in patients who required preoperative ECMO (80 vs. 20%, p = 0.04). The 1- and 5-year survival was 53.9% and 37.7%, respectively (p = 0.016). Survival of the CLAD group was greater (p = 0.08). Pre LR ECMO decreased survival (p = 0.032). After LR, FEV1 improved an average of 0.98 ± 0.13L (25.6 ± 18.8%) (p = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: LR is a high mortality procedure that requires careful selection of patients with better results in patients with CLAD. The lung function of patients with CLAD improved significantly.

Prognostic Factors in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Less Than 3 Centimeters: Actuarial Analysis, Accumulative Incidence and Risk Groups.

INTRODUCTION: In TNM classification, factors determining the tumor (T) component in non-small cell lung cancer have scarcely changed over time and are still based solely on anatomical features. Our objective was to study the influence of these and other morphopathological factors on survival. METHODS: A total of 263 patients undergoing lung resection due to stage I non-small cell lung cancer ≤3cm in diameter were studied. A survival analysis and competing-risk estimate study was made on the basis of clinical, surgical and pathological variables using actuarial analysis and accumulative incidence methods, respectively. A risk model was then generated from the results. RESULTS: Survival at 5 and 10 years was 79.8 and 74.3%, respectively. The best prognostic factors were presence of symptoms, smoking habit and FEV1>60%, number of resected nodes>7, squamous histology, absence of vascular invasion, absence of visceral pleural invasion and presence of invasion more proximal than the lobar bronchus. All these were statistically significant according to the actuarial method. The factor "age<50 years" was close to the margin of statistical significance. Pleural invasion and vascular invasion were entered in the multivariate analysis. The competing-risk analysis showed a probability of death due to cancer of 14.3 and 35.1% at 5 and 10 years, respectively. Significant variables in the univariate and multivariate analyses were similar, with the exception of FEV1>60%. CONCLUSIONS: Pleural invasion and vascular invasion determine survival or risk of death due to non-small cell lung cancer ≤3cm and can be used for generating a predictive risk model.