Management guidelines for stage III non-small cell lung cancer.

Management of stage III non- small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is very challenging due to being a group of widely heterogeneous diseases that require multidisciplinary approaches with timely and coordinated care. The standards of care had significant changes over the last couple of years because of the introduction of consolidation therapy with checkpoint inhibitor following concurrent chemo-radiotherapy and the evolving new role of tyrosine kinase inhibitors in the adjuvant setting. The manuscript presents evidence-based recommendations for the workup, staging, treatment and follow up of the various subtypes of stage III NSCLC. The guidelines were developed by experts in various fields of thoracic oncology and guidelines development. The guidelines consider the sequence of interventions and the role of each discipline in the management of the disease taking into account the recent development and included required resources to help physicians provide better care.

Ventilator Management of Bronchopleural Fistula Secondary to Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Necrotizing Pneumonia in a Pregnant Patient with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.

Managing mechanical ventilation in patient with bronchopleural fistula with coexisting acute respiratory distress syndrome is a challenging situation for the intensivist. We are reporting a case of a pregnant patient with systemic lupus erythematosus on immunosuppressive medications who developed methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus necrotizing pneumonia complicated by bronchopleural fistula and acute respiratory distress syndrome.

Intrapleural fibrinolytic therapy (IPFT) in loculated pleural effusions--analysis of predictors for failure of therapy and bleeding: a cohort study.

OBJECTIVES: To assess risk factors associated with failure and bleeding in intrapleural fibrinolytic therapy (IPFT) for pleural effusions. DESIGN: Retrospective case series. SETTING: Two tertiary-care centres in North America. PARTICIPANTS: We identified 237 cases that received IPFT for the treatment of pleural effusions. Data for 227 patients were compiled including demographics, investigations, radiological findings pretherapy and post-therapy and outcomes. INTERVENTION: Fibrinolytic therapy in the form of tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) or streptokinase. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOMES: Success of therapy is defined as the presence of both clinical and radiological improvement leading to resolution. Failure was defined as persistence (ie, ineffective treatment) or complications requiring intervention from IPFT. Incidence of bleeding post-IPFT, identifying factors related to failure of therapy and bleeding. RESULTS: IPFT was used in 237 patients with pleural effusions; 163 with empyema/complicated parapneumonic effusions, 32 malignant effusions and 23 with haemothorax. Overall, resolution was achieved in 80% of our cases. Failure occurred in 46 (20%) cases. Multivariate analysis revealed that failure was associated with the presence of pleural thickening (>2 mm) on CT scan (p=0.0031, OR 3, 95% CI 1.46 to 6.57). Bleeding was not associated with any specific variable in our study (antiplatelet medications, p=0.08). CONCLUSIONS: Pleural thickening on a CT scan was found to be associated with failure of IPFT.

A novel technique for the reconstruction of resected sternoclavicular joints: A case report with a review of the literature.

Sternal metastasis in thyroid cancer is an uncommon occurrence with only a handful of cases of chest wall resections being done. Sternal reconstruction for both primary and secondary tumors has been performed using various techniques and materials such as the mesh, methyl acrylate resin, and steel plates; however, this is a case of papillary thyroid cancer involving the sternum in a 50-year-old woman who had resection of the sternum with reconstruction using titanium bars and clips (STRATOS system) fixed to the clavicles with an underlying Proceed mesh. STRATOS system showed good recovery postoperatively. The functional results were excellent with the patient being able to perform all daily activities unassisted after 1 month and almost complete range of motion with acceptable limitations in power of the shoulder muscles after 2 months. We have reviewed all the English language publications of the subject by doing Medline search for the last 25 years and we present here the surgical management of this pathology with our novel approach by using the titanium steel bars to stabilize both medial aspects of the resected clavicles as a promising therapy for manubrial reconstruction and clavicular fixation.

Laparoscopy in the treatment of a giant true epiphrenic diverticulum with migration of the gastrointestinal anastomosis staples.

Our case is a 62-year-old diabetic man with a long-standing history of regurgitation, halitosis, recurrent chest infection, and most recently upper gastro-intestinal bleeding. He was diagnosed 10 years earlier with an epiphrenic esophageal diverticulum, and also has a family history of this condition. Barium study revealed a 10 x 10 cm epiphrenic diverticula with a 4 cm neck, the lower margin of the opening lying 6 cm from the gastro-esophageal junction. Endoscopy confirmed the x-ray findings, and motility studies were within normal limits. The patient underwent laparoscopic excision of the diverticulum via the trans-abdominal approach. Histopathological examination revealed this diverticulum to be of the true type.

Laparoscopic enucleation of a duodenal lipoma, with review of the literature.

We present a case of duodenal lipoma in a 53-year-old lady causing symptoms of vomiting and abdominal discomfort, treated by laparoscopic enucleation. Lipomas of the duodenum are rare tumors with less than 230 cases reported in the literature, most of these are from autopsy records rather than clinical experience. Most recent reports are of endoscopic excision of these tumors while operative procedures, although less frequent, have been described for specific indications. We present a case of a duodenal lipoma excised laparoscopically with a review of the literature.