Thoracoscopy talc poudrage : a 15-year experience.

OBJECTIVES: To review our experience with thoracoscopy and talc poudrage during the previous 15 years with regards to efficacy, side effects, morbidity, and mortality. METHODS: Six hundred fourteen consecutive patients (58.6% female; mean age, 54.5 years) underwent thoracoscopy with talc poudrage from August 1983 to May 1999. Of these, 457 patients had malignant pleural effusions, 108 patients had benign pleural effusions, and 49 patients had spontaneous pneumothorax. RESULTS: Sixty-four patients were excluded from evaluation for efficacy: 30 patients (4.9%) because the lung did not expand at the time of the procedure and 34 patients (5.5%) because they died within 30 days of the thoracoscopy. All exclusions were in the malignant group. The overall success rate of the 393 patients with malignant pleural effusions was 93.4%, while the overall success for the 108 patients with benign effusions was 97%, although 7 patients (7%) with benign effusions required a second thoracoscopy. The success rate with pneumothorax was 100%. Major morbidity included empyema in 4%, reexpansion pulmonary edema in 2.2%, and respiratory failure 1.3%. CONCLUSION: Thoracoscopy with talc poudrage is effective in producing a pleurodesis in malignant and benign pleural effusion and in spontaneous pneumothorax. However, it should be noted that the insufflation of talc has a systemic distribution associated with a low rate of morbidity and perhaps does induce ARDS, which is sometimes fatal in a small percentage of patients. Because of these side effects, the search for a better agent should be continued.

Hepatic hydrothorax.

Hepatic hydrothorax (HH) is an uncommon manifestation of cirrhosis with ascites. Pleural effusions form when ascitic fluid moves through diaphragmatic defects that have been opened by increased peritoneal pressure. The diagnosis is established clinically by finding a serous transudate and is confirmed by radionuclide imaging demonstrating communication between the peritoneal and pleural spaces. In end-stage liver disease, the management of hepatic hydrothorax is problematic and often does not respond to medical therapy. Therapeutic options for a refractory hepatic hydrothorax include therapeutic thoracentesis, talc slurry through a chest tube, peritoneovenous and pleurovenous shunting, thoracoscopic talc poudrage, transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS), thoracosopic diaphragmatic defect repair followed by talc poudrage, and lastly, liver transplant. TIPS can be used as a bridge for transplantation but is often complicated by encephalopathy. Video assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) with patching the defect and talc poudrage may provide symptomatic relief; however, the morbidity and mortality in these extremely ill patients is high. The only definitive treatment for refractory hepatic hydrothorax associated with end-stage cirrhosis is liver transplantation.

Thoracoscopy and talc poudrage in the management of hepatic hydrothorax.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To determine indications, limitations, morbidity and mortality of surgical thoracoscopy for management of hepatic hydrothorax, a rare, but often recurrent, complication in cirrhotic patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: From May 1985 through May 1999, 10 men and 8 women, with a mean age of 57.6 years (range, 26 to 76 years), underwent 21 therapeutic thoracoscopies to achieve pleurodesis by application of talc. RESULTS: The procedure was effective in 10 of 21 procedures. There were four recurrences (19. 1%) that were retreated, with only one being successful. In this specific group, we detected high morbidity (57.1%) and mortality (38.9%) during the follow-up period of 3 months. Diaphragmatic defects were localized and closed five times (23.8%). Hospital stay was approximately 15 days (range, 5 to 41 days). CONCLUSION: The procedure appears to be indicated for these fragile patients, especially when medical therapy fails. Immediate efficacy was 47.6%, increasing to 60% with videothoracoscopy and suture of the diaphragmatic defect. However, morbidity and mortality were high.

Diagnosis and treatment of mediastinal tumors by thoracoscopy.

OBJECTIVES: Thoracoscopic management of mediastinal tumors is still subject to analysis. Seventy-three patients underwent thoracoscopy for treatment of mediastinal masses and were analyzed retrospectively in order to evaluate the effectiveness and complications of the procedure. METHODS: Between 1983 and 1999, 21 conventional thoracoscopies and 52 video-assisted thoracic surgeries were performed (33 for diagnostic purposes and 40 for therapy). Patient ages ranged from 2 to 81 years (mean, 43.8 years) with a slight predominance of girls and women over men and boys (41 vs 32, respectively). All patients underwent general anesthesia using simple intubation (22 patients) or double-lumen intubation (51 patients). RESULTS: The histologic type of tumors was obtained in all patients. For therapeutic purposes, a change of procedure to thoracotomy was necessary in nine patients. The reasons for this change were tumor size, tumor invasion of nearby structures, difficulties in continuing the dissection, the performance of an upper lobectomy, and suturing the iatrogenic lesion of the diaphragm. Four patients died during the first 30 postoperative days as a consequence of their primary pathology. CONCLUSION: Thoracoscopy was confirmed as an effective diagnostic and therapeutic alternative for the treatment of mediastinal disorders.

Systemic distribution of talc after intrapleural administration in rats.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: Many reports have shown the efficacy of talc to induce an effective pleurodesis. However, there is little information about the side effects related to this sclerosing agent. The objective of this experimental study is to recognize the systemic distribution of talc after its instillation into the pleural space of rats. DESIGN: Forty animals were assigned to receive talc through a catheter placed in a left minimal thoracotomy. They were randomly divided in two groups: group 1 received 20 mg of talc and group 2 received 10 mg in the same total volume of 1 mL of saline solution. Half of the animals in each group were killed 24 h and the other half 48 h after the procedure. BAL was collected and histologic sections of both lungs, chest wall, liver, kidneys, spleen, heart, and brain were examined. Crystals were tracked using polarized light and we have used a "birefringent particles index of deposition" in an attempt to quantify the amount or talc encountered in different organs. RESULTS: Talc crystals were found in every organ of all animals studied (100%). There was no statistical difference either on the dose of talc used or in the time of death. The amount of talc was statistically different in the organs, which made us divagate about a route of absorption. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that there is a progressive deposition of talc particles in the organs examined after its administration into the pleural space of normal rats. This report suggests that there is a rapid absorption of talc through the pleural surface and that the systemic distribution thereafter is not dose related. Further studies are necessary to assess the amount of crystals and the clinical correlation to these findings.

Repair of congenital sternal cleft in infants and adolescents.

BACKGROUND: Clinical and surgical aspects of sternal cleft repair are presented. Primary repair in the neonatal period is the best management for this rare condition, but none of the patients in this report were referred to us during that period. Autologous repair is suitable for older patients because it avoids problems related to the implant of prosthetic materials. METHODS: This article reviews 8 cases of sternal cleft not associated with ectopia cordis in patients presenting between October 1979 and November 1997. Surgical repair consisted of three sliding chondrotomies, three posterior sternal wall repairs, one combination with the Ravitch technique for pectus excavatum repair, and one posterior sternal wall repair associated with total repair of Cantrell's pentalogy. RESULTS: All patients who submitted to surgical correction had good aesthetic and structural results. The postoperative period was uneventful except that a subcutaneous fluid collection developed in 1 patient. The mean hospital stay was 5.8 days. The patients were followed up from 4 months to 18 years. CONCLUSIONS: Whether dealing with older children or young adults, the technique of reconstructing a new sternum with a posterior periosteal flap from sternal bars and chondral grafts is a simple, quick, inexpensive, and effective option.

Human pulmonary dirofilariasis: analysis of 24 cases from São Paulo, Brazil.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To present the clinical, radiologic, and pathologic aspects of 24 cases of human pulmonary dirofilariasis (HPD) from São Paulo, Brazil. DESIGN: Retrospective study of 24 patients with a confirmed diagnosis of HPD over a 14-year period (from February 1982 to June 1996). SETTING: Thoracic Surgery and Pulmonary Division, University of São Paulo and Hospital Albert Einstein, São Paulo, Brazil. RESULTS: Seventeen patients were male (70.1%) and seven were female (29.9%). Their mean age was 51.4 years. Fifty-four percent of the patients were asymptomatic and 75% had a well-circumscribed noncalcified peripheral subpleural pulmonary nodule on the chest radiograph and thoracic CT scan, located preferentially in the lower lobes. The diagnosis was made after thoracotomy and wedge resections in 16 patients, by videothoracoscopy in six, after a pleural biopsy in one, and after necropsy in one. The pathologic examination of all the nodules revealed a central zone of necrosis, surrounded by a narrow granulomatous zone and peripherally by fibrous tissue. Pulmonary vessels exhibit varying degrees of endarteritis. In all cases, a dead worm, usually necrotic and fragmented, was found. CONCLUSIONS: A subpleural, noncalcified pulmonary nodule in the appropriate clinical and epidemiologic setting should alert the clinician, radiologist, or pathologist to the possibility of Dirofilaria. HPD should be considered in the differential diagnosis of pulmonary nodules.

Thoracoscopy in children and adolescents.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: Present the feature characteristics of the use and findings of thoracoscopy in children and adolescents. DESIGN: From February 1983 to February 1996, 77 thoracoscopic procedures were done on patients ranging in ages from 5 months to 18 years (mean, 9.8 years). Two-thirds (66.2%) were male. They were divided into three groups (1, 2, and 3) based on age (up to 2, from 2 to 8, and older than 8 years), predominance of certain diseases in these ages, and the size of the instruments utilized. They were operated on using general anesthesia with Carlens' mediastinoscope routinely used in 64 (83%) and videothoracoscopy in 13 (17%). The chief indication for therapeutic thoracoscopy was treatment of empyema, while for diagnostic thoracoscopy it was pleural biopsy and diagnosis of pleural effusions. RESULTS: In group 1, thoracoscopy was solely for the treatment of pleural disorders. In group 2, it was for the treatment of pleuropulmonary diseases. Group 3 behaved almost like adults, with broad diagnostic and therapeutic indications for thoracoscopic procedure. CONCLUSIONS: Thoracoscopy, which is a useful diagnostic and therapeutic procedure, has secured an important place in pediatric surgical practice.

Congenital bronchobiliary fistula: first case in an adult.

The first adult case of a congenital communication between the biliary tract and the right main bronchus is reported. Treatment by surgical excision and pneumonectomy was successful.