Analysis of Quality of Life after Pleurodesis in Patients with Malignant Pleural Effusion.

BACKGROUND: Malignant pleural effusion is one of the most important complications of metastatic cancer, and recurrent pleural effusions do not only have an impact on survival but also cause a huge repercussion on a patient's quality of life. OBJECTIVES: The main objective was to describe quality of life status before and after pleurodesis in patients with malignant pleural effusion. Secondary, we aimed to find predictors of quality of life improvement in such a population. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of a database collected prospectively. We included patients who underwent pleurodesis from June 2004 to July 2014. Quality of life was evaluated through the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire and applied before and 30 days after pleurodesis. We used a paired t test and the Wilcoxon rank-sum to compare pre-/post-pleurodesis results, Kaplan-Meier curves for survival analysis, and multiple linear regressions to find predictors of quality of life improvement. RESULTS: 183 patients were included (145 were women). Mean age was 58.3 ± 12.3 years, the most numerous primary tumor was breast cancer. Median survival time was 9 months. Dyspnea was the most prevalent symptom. Baseline results showed that patients had low quality of life scores. After pleurodesis, there was a significant improvement in respiratory symptoms, physical domain, and general health. Linear regression showed an improvement in physical domain with the sclerosing agent nitrate (p = 0.005). Male gender (p = 0.002) and a higher lymphocyte count (p = 0.01) were inversely associated with improvement in physical domain. CONCLUSIONS: Pleurodesis improved symptoms and quality of life in patients with malignant pleural effusion. Gender, lymphocyte count, and sclerosing agent might interfere with quality of life improvement.

Global status of the robotic thoracic surgery.

Robotics has taken its place in thoracic surgery since the end of the 20th century. Since then, it has been developed worldwide with many different applications, such as the treatment of mediastinal tumors and lung cancer. Although, the contradictory results comparing this new technology to other minimally invasive techniques may raise some skepticism, the high quality of the instrument and images provided by the robot brings a whole new perspective for the thoracic surgeon, since the robotic platform can ally the ease of movement obtained with open technique with the advantages of the minimally invasive surgery. When it comes to the implementation of a robotic program the costs of RATS are an important issue. However, it is necessary to take into account not only the cost of the robotic platform itself but also the maintenance expenses, disposable tools, and training programs. Nevertheless, the cost of the robotic surgery is expected to decrease in the coming years and like the instrumentation, virtual reality will see improvements. Many different countries around the world have contributed with original articles for the development of the robotic thoracic surgery and in this paper, we aim at describing the global status of the robotic thoracic surgery.

Robotic lobectomy: how to teach thoracic residents.

Robotic thoracic surgery emerged at the beginning of the 21st century and keep presenting the continuous development of its robotic systems, tools, and associated techniques. Strong clinical results including safety and oncological outcomes have fostered the dissemination of the robotic platform all over the world. However, there are still some safety concerns, especially regarding more elaborated procedures as lung resections, during the learning curve. In consequence, training programs for surgeons and surgery residents have been proposed to put into operation a strong and complete curriculum for robotic surgery and increase safety during the learning process. Also, the implementation of the training program makes the process complete and efficient. Lung lobectomies are complex procedures especially because of pulmonary arteries and pulmonary veins dissection, which demands quite accurate skills. Consequently, it is believed that specific training of thoracic surgery residents in robotic lobectomy is capital. The ideal curriculum must include technical content and broad psychomotor training using virtual reality models and also physical and animal models. Valid evaluation methods can be used from the first skill training to daily clinical practice. At the beginning as a console surgeon, the resident must initiate gradually with small procedures and progress to more complex surgeries before performing the whole lobectomy.

Adverse events after pleurodesis in patients with malignant pleural effusion.

BACKGROUND: Malignant pleural effusion (MPE) is an important sign of advanced disease in metastatic cancer. Pleurodesis is one option to treat recurrent MPE. The Inflammatory response after pleurodesis may lead to important adverse events (AE) in a set of very ill patients. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of patients submitted to pleurodesis (2009-2013). Clinical and laboratory data were collected. We compare the values in the day of pleurodesis, 2nd, 5th and 10th days after. RESULTS: One hundred fourteen patients were undergone to pleurodesis with silver nitrate (46%), iodine (52%) and talc (2%). Female was the most frequent (86%) and the breast cancer was the most common primary site. The most frequent adverse event was low hemoglobin account (37), followed by pain (31). 68% of patients presented AEs and 28% had at least one AE with grade 3 or higher. The most altered was CRP that peaked in the 5th day after pleurodesis. Changes in CRP curve were less severe with the use of iodine when compared with the other two agents. CONCLUSIONS: Pleurodesis leads to important systemic inflammatory response detected by different serum markers. The occurrence of adverse events in this set of patients was great number of events with being marked as grade 3 or higher.

Treatment of malignant pleural effusion.

Malignant pleural effusion (MPE) is a very disabling condition that often affects patients with advanced neoplasm. Conservative approach, repeated thoracentesis, pleurodesis and use of indwelling pleural catheters (IPC) are the main methods to deal with this condition. The ideal treatment must focus on symptom relief and has to take into account patient underlying diseases, performance status and necessity of adequate tissue sample for diagnosis. In a video we show techniques to perform video assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) pleural biopsy and talc poudrage pleurodesis.

SPECT-CT-Guided Thoracoscopic Biopsy of Sentinel Lymph Nodes in the Internal Mammary Chain in Patients With Breast Cancer: A Pilot Study.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to determine the impact of the use of single-photon emission computed tomography fused with computed tomography (SPECT-CT) on thoracoscopic biopsy of sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) in the internal mammary chain in patients with breast cancer by evaluating resultant changes in staging and their clinical implications. METHODS: Between September 2010 and January 2014, we performed lymphoscintigraphy-assisted thoracoscopic biopsy of the internal mammary chain SLN in 20 patients with breast cancer. Single-photon emission computed tomography fused with computed tomography was also used in 13 of these patients. The sentinel nodes were surgically identified with the aid of a gamma probe. RESULTS: Sentinel lymph nodes were identified surgically in 19 of 20 patients. In the 13 patients in whom SPECT-CT was used, it readily identified SLNs, especially when they were located over an intercostal space. Change of staging occurred in three patients (15%), two of whom accordingly received adjuvant radiotherapy to the internal thoracic chain. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with lymphoscintigraphy alone, the use of SPECT-CT improves localization of the SLN in the internal mammary chain, allowing more accurate planning of each individual's treatment.