Anatomical analysis of the left upper lobe of lung on three-dimensional images with focusing the branching pattern of the subsegmental veins.

BACKGROUND: A clear understanding of the anatomical characteristics of the pulmonary veins (PVs) is essential for the successful performance of segmentectomy and important to avoid intraoperative pulmonary vessels injury. However, there is no report showing the relations between the branching patterns of PVs and pulmonary arteries (PAs). Moreover, internationally accepted symbols for describing PVs remain unavailable. For anatomically assessing the branches and courses of the subsegmental veins in the left upper lobe (LUL), the diverse branching patterns of blood vessels and bronchi should be investigated. METHODS: The branching patterns and intersegmental courses of PVs were assessed by performing three-dimensional image analysis of the bronchi, and PAs and PVs in the LUL in 103 patients who were scheduled to receive segmentectomy in LUL from January 2008 through August 2012. RESULTS: Branching types of the bronchi and pulmonary vessels failed to be independent each other. Although the combinations of anterior extension type of bronchus with the inter-lobar type (IL-type) of arterial branching pattern were often observed, but those with the mediastinal type (M-type) were rarely observed. The combinations of apical vein dominant type with the IL-type of arteries, and intermediate and central vein types with the M-type were often observed. Since LUL was adjoined by various subsegments, and the intersegmental pulmonary veins showed diverse patterns. CONCLUSIONS: This study found the relationship among PA, PV, and bronchus patterns, in the subsegment where the branching patterns were fixed in 103 cases. This study discovered PVs that was difficult to be named by the conventional naming systems because of the diversity of the locations in the subsegment.

Venous Branching Pattern in a Patient with Hemorrhagic Infarction in the Lingula after the Upper Division Resection of the Left Lung.

BACKGROUND: Because left upper division resection is similar to right upper lobectomy, this procedure is frequently employed. Few studies have used the anatomic courses of veins evaluated on preoperative computed tomography (CT) imaging to determine what types of patients are at the highest risk for hemorrhagic pulmonary infarction. CASE: We describe our experience with a patient in whom hemorrhagic pulmonary infarction occurred at 6 days after transecting two superior branches (V1 and V3) of the three branches of the left superior pulmonary vein. We preoperatively confirmed that small-caliber lingular veins were perfused by V3. However, the patient had a poor pulmonary function, and the tumor was located distal to V3. Left upper division resection was therefore performed. CONCLUSION: The division of V3 could be the cause of hemorrhagic infarction in the lingular segment after upper division segmentectomy.

Bronchial artery embolization: first-line option for managing massive hemoptysis.

Background Today, treatment for hemoptysis is not limited to surgery, and among the various options, bronchial artery embolization is regarded as an effective approach. Methods In this retrospective study, 179 of 389 patients with massive hemoptysis were treated with bronchial artery embolization, without taking into account the underlying pathological lesions responsible (bronchiectasis in 41, aspergilloma in 29, lung cancer in 25, old tuberculosis in 23, pyothorax in 19, others in 23). Results Bronchial artery embolization failed in 12 cases. In the 167 successful cases, surgery was required in 16 and bronchial occlusion was performed in 4; 3 patients died due to recurrent massive hemoptysis. After bronchial artery embolization, thoracic surgery for reasons other than hemostasis was carried out in 15 patients. Bronchial artery embolization was performed in 31 patients with hemoptysis who had a history of chest surgery. Four patients underwent bronchial occlusion, and immediate hemostasis was achieved in all of them. Conclusions For treatment of hemoptysis, bronchial artery embolization is a safe and minimally invasive technique that can be performed repeatedly, and provides not only short-term but also prolonged effectiveness; thus it can be used as a first-line treatment irrespective of the underlying pathological lesion. Bronchial occlusion may be useful for emergency hemostasis, but it warrants careful follow-up with consideration of additional elective treatment such as bronchial artery embolization.

Early Detection of the Acute Exacerbation of Interstitial Pneumonia after the Surgical Resection of Lung Cancer by Planned Chest Computed Tomography.

BACKGROUND: To improve postoperative outcomes associated with interstitial pneumonia (IP) in patients with lung cancer, the management of the postoperative a cute exacerbation of IP (PAEIP) was investigated. METHODS: Patients with primary lung cancer were considered to be at risk for PAEIP (possible PAEIP) based on a preoperative evaluation. The early phase of this study was from January 2001 to December 2008, and the late phase was from January 2009 to December 2014. In the early phase, chest computed tomography (CT) was performed for patients for whom PAEIP was suspected based on their symptoms, whereas in the late phase, chest CT was routinely performed within a few days postoperatively. The numbers of possible PAEIP cases, actual PAEIP cases, and deaths within 90 days due to PAEIP were compared between both phases. RESULTS: In the early and late phases, surgery was performed in 712 and 617 patients, 31 and 72 possible PAEIP cases were observed, nine and 12 actual PAEIP cases occurred, and the mean interval from the detection of PAEIP to starting treatment was 7.3±2.3 and 5.0±1.8 days, respectively. Five patients died in the early phase, and one patient died in the late phase. Significantly fewer PAEIP-related deaths were observed in the late phase (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Identifying patients at risk for PAEIP by routine postoperative CT examinations led to the early diagnosis and treatment of PAEIP, resulting in the reduction of PAEIP-related mortality.

Effect of collagen vascular disease-associated interstitial lung disease on the outcomes of lung cancer surgery.

PURPOSE: This study compared the effect of collagen vascular disease-associated interstitial lung disease (CVD-ILD) with that of idiopathic interstitial pneumonias (IIPs) on the outcomes of lung cancer surgery. METHODS: This study retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients who underwent surgery for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and compared the data of 16 patients with CVD-ILD with those of 70 patients with IIPs. The patterns of interstitial lung disease (ILD) on chest computed tomography were classified into usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP) and non-specific interstitial pneumonia (NSIP) patterns. RESULTS: The numbers of UIP and NSIP patterns were 10 (62.5%) and 6 (37.5%) patients in CVD-ILD group, and 62 (88.6%) and 8 (11.4%) patients in IIPs group, respectively. A postoperative acute exacerbation (AE) appeared in 1 patient (6.3%) in the CVD-ILD group and 6 patients (8.6%) in the IIPs group. No significant differences in the incidence of postoperative AE and mortalities were observed between the two groups. The five-year overall survival rates of the CVD-ILD and IIPs groups were 37.5 and 49.2%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Surgery for NSCLC in CVD-ILD patients appear to cause no increase in postoperative AE and mortality in comparison to that seen in IIPs patients. Similar to IIPs, CVD-ILD might therefore affect the prognosis of resected NSCLC.

Surgery for non-small cell lung cancer in patients with a history of cardiovascular surgery.

PURPOSE: To clarify if previous cardiovascular surgery (CVS) affects the postoperative outcome of surgery for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). METHODS: We reviewed, retrospectively, the medical records of 36 patients with a history of CVS, who underwent lung cancer surgery at a single institution (study group; SG) and compared their characteristics and postoperative outcomes with those of patients without a history of CVS history (control group; CG), and also with those of patients with coexisting cardiovascular diseases in the CG (specified control group; SCG). Finally, we used a thoracic revised cardiac risk index (ThRCRI) to evaluate the risk of perioperative cardiovascular events. RESULTS: There was a significant difference in the ThRCRI classifications between the SG and the SCG (p < 0.0001). There were no significant differences in the incidence of intraoperative and postoperative complications between the SG and CG, or between the SG and SCG. The 5-year survival rates of the SG, CG, and SCG were 69.3, 73.9, and 65.4 % in all stages, and 83.5, 82.2, and 70.4 % in stage I, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Previous CVS did not increase the number of perioperative cardiovascular events in this study and had no significant influence on the prognosis of patients undergoing resection of NSCLC.

[SIMULATION AND NAVIGATION OF PULMONARY SEGMENTECTOMY WITH HOMEMADE SOFTWARE].

Pulmonary segmentectomy-level variations in the three-dimensional (3D) architecture of the bronchi and pulmonary vessels are much wider than those at the lobectomy level. Presurgical simulation with sharing of necessary information is believed to reduce the surgical time and number of detachment procedures required. For such simulations, the author's group developed homemade software that: 1) reconstructs the shapes of the bronchi, vessels, lung, and tumors as simplified 3D images such as sequentially connected cylinders with branches and membranes from digital-imaging data on a personal computer screen; 2) allows surgeons to input data on the initial and terminal points, diameters of cylinders, etc. continuously by moving computed tomography (CT) images up and down; and 3) permits these data to be read by modeler shareware on the Internet. Although conventional 3D images from CT data are reconstructed by a volume-rendering method, those of the software developed by the author's group are made using a surface-rendering method. This article explains the present status of and future trends in the actual processes of simulated surgery including segmentectomy and navigation, applications of newly developed operative procedures, and results of data analysis of more than 500 cases.

A novel and simple method for identifying the lung intersegmental plane using thermography.

Identifying the intersegmental plane is very important for successful lung segmentectomy. Although several methods are available, they require specialized skills and pose a potential risk of losing sight of the correct intersegmental planes. Therefore, easier and more reliable methods are required. In this study, we hypothesized that surface temperatures of resecting segments or lobes decrease because of blood flow suppression after the ligation of target arteries and veins, and intersegmental planes can be visualized using a thermography. To test this hypothesis, we performed six lung resections (two lobectomies and four segmentectomies) on three pigs and, using a handheld thermography, we monitored the lung surface temperatures to identify intersegmental planes. We demonstrated that thermal imaging sharply demarcated intersegmental planes soon after the ligation of vessels in all procedures. Compared with other methods, thermography requires no special technical skills, drug injection and lung inflation. Therefore, we believe that the thermographic method described in this study will be a powerful option to identify intersegmental planes during anatomical lung segmentectomy.

Do the lung segments exist continuously from the early stage of the embryonic period as units?

OBJECTIVES: Although various types of segmentectomy are frequently performed for resecting lung tumours at present, there is no clear answer to the question what kind of segmentectomy would be more efficient for performing lymphadenectomy. Learning the embryological mechanism of the segment formation could be one of the methods for selecting the surgical procedure. To investigate the developmental mechanism of the lung, this study focused on 'sharing structure', a unique 3D structure consisting of the bronchi and pulmonary arteries. In the structure, two arteries from different directions, after straddling the bronchus in the central part, share one bronchial tree at the peripheral part. METHODS: Using computed tomography data obtained before segmentectomy, this study observed the 'sharing structure' in 193 left and right upper lobe cases. This study investigated the relationship between the segmental arterial types and the straddled bronchi, which were straddled by the pulmonary arteries found in the centre of the sharing structure. RESULTS: In the right upper lobes, the straddled bronchi were anterior segmental bronchi. In the left upper lobes, however, the straddled bronchi of the lingular interlobar pulmonary artery type contained no anterior segmental bronchi. But, the straddled bronchi of lingular mediastinal pulmonary artery type contained anterior segmental bronchi in all cases. CONCLUSIONS: Although pulmonary arteries in almost all sharing structures in the right upper lobes straddled anterior bronchi, those in mediastinal type and interlobar type in the left upper lobe were found to straddle the anterior and apicoposterior bronchi, respectively. These findings indicated that the interlobar type was speculated to be rotating mediastinal type backward in the embryonic period. This study strongly suggested a new concept that 'the lung segments never continuously exist from the early stage of the embryonic period as units, but they are only simple units artificially named by their prevailing bronchial branching patterns'. Therefore, during segmentectomy including lymphadenectomy for pulmonary tumours, the retrieval of the branching patters of pulmonary arteries could allow the segmentectomy to become more efficient with considering the formations of lung lobes.

Fabricated bronchial artery embolization for hemoptysis using a coil.

BACKGROUND: Bronchial artery embolization is considered a conservative form of therapy for hemoptysis. This study aimed to examine the short- and long-term effects of bronchial artery embolization, as well as the performance of the coils used in our hospital. METHODS: We reviewed the background, symptoms, findings, and prognosis of 27 cases of bronchial artery embolization for hemoptysis between April 2003 and October 2011. For embolization materials, short coils combined with a long interlocking detachable coil were mainly used from March 2008. RESULTS: Aspergillosis and chronic empyema comprised the majority of cases. In terms of short-term results, there were 25 successful cases of bronchial artery embolization and 2 unsuccessful cases. Regarding the long-term outcome of the successful cases, during an average observation period of 17 months, one patient required repeat bronchial artery embolization, and one was admitted to another hospital with recurrent hemoptysis. CONCLUSIONS: Bronchial artery embolization for hemoptysis was preformed in a safe and minimally invasive manner with positive results over both the short- and long-term, thus underscoring its utility as a form of treatment. Furthermore, by combining the use of long and short coils, we were able to reduce the number of coils necessary for the procedure, and thus reduce the time and cost involved.

[Outcomes of Surgical Treatment by Modified Transmanubrial Approach].

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to evaluate the useful and safety of surgical treatment by modified transmanubrial approach(MTA). METHODS: Between January 2000 and May 2014, 10 patients underwent surgical treatment by MTA. Among these patients, we retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 6 patients who had vascular invasion of tumor. We evaluated postoperative outcomes of MTA. RESULTS: All patients were men, with a median age of 56 years. Pathological diagnoses were as follows:thymic carcinoma in 2, thyroid cancer in 2, primary lung cancer in 1, mediastinal lymph node metastasis of thyroid cancer in 1 patient. The median operative time was 468 minutes. The median bleeding was 1,723.5 ml. Four patients underwent angioplasty, including direct suture in 1, graft replacement artificial blood vessel in 3 patients. Right auricle-innominate vein bypass was performed in 3 patients. The median hospitalization term was 29 days. R0 resection was archived in all cases. CONCLUSION: The surgical treatment by MTA is useful and safety for anterior apical tumor and mediastinal tumor invading adjacent vessels. Because of a small number of sample size, further investigation well be needed.

Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery after renal transplantation: A single-institution experience.

INTRODUCTION: The number of renal transplantations performed for patients with chronic kidney disease has increased in Japan, but little is known about the outcomes in those who subsequently undergo video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS). We therefore investigated the outcomes of consecutive patients requiring VATS after renal transplantation at our institute. METHODS: We retrospectively collected the clinical data for patients undergoing VATS after renal transplantation between January 2003 and September 2014. Specifically, we compared the serum creatinine level and estimated glomerular filtration rate preoperatively and postoperatively, and investigated the postoperative complications. RESULTS: In total, 12 patients underwent VATS after renal transplantation during the study period. All patients received two or three immunosuppressive agents. Operative methods used included VATS wedge resection (n = 4), segmentectomy (n = 4), lobectomy (n = 2), mediastinal tumor resection (n = 1), and chest wall tumor resection (n = 1). No patients required perioperative hemodialysis. There were no intraoperative complications, but one patient developed postoperative hemorrhagic cystitis and another developed pneumonia. One patient developed pneumocystis pneumonia 2 months after left lower lobectomy and required hemodialysis. No further hemodialysis was required by any patient. Of note, no statistically significant differences were observed between the preoperative and postoperative serum creatinine level (P = 0.666) and estimated glomerular filtration rate (P = 0.388). There were no in-hospital deaths. Univariate analysis revealed no significant risk factors for postoperative complications. CONCLUSION: This report showed favorable results for VATS after renal transplantation. However, clinicians must remain vigilant for complications because transplant recipients remain permanently immunocompromised.

Video-assisted thoracoscpic muscle transposition for acute empyema.

Muscle flap transposition is one of the surgical treatment options for empyema with alveolarpleural fistula (APF) or bronchopleural fistula (BPF). This surgical procedure is invasive because it is typically performed by standard thoracotomy. We performed video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) debridement, decortication, and obliteration of an empyema cavity using a pedicled latissimus dorsi muscle (LDM) flap harvested through minimal skin incisions for a case of acute empyema with APF. This VATS procedure is effective and less invasive and can be a new option for the thoracoscopic surgical treatment of acute empyema with APF.

Video-assisted thoracoscopic enucleation after congenital cardiac surgery.

A 26-year-old man underwent arterial switch surgery for transposition of the great arteries in infancy. During a routine evaluation, a nodule was detected in the left lower lobe on chest computed tomography. The tumor had enlarged at follow-up and he underwent surgical resection. Because of past cardiac surgery, the pericardium was defective; therefore, the heart was exposed to the pleural cavity and severe adhesions surrounding the left lung. We had to encircle the left main pulmonary artery to perform enucleation safely. The tumor was diagnosed as a pulmonary sclerosing hemangioma using permanent pathology results.

[Hemoptysis caused by bleeding into a bleb].

A man in his 40s was admitted to our hospital for hemoptysis. A chest computed tomography showed a mediastinal mass adjacent to the left side wall of the ascending aorta with infiltrative shadows of the left upper lobe. In spite of medical treatment, hemoptysis continued, and the surgery was performed. The thoracoscopic findings showed hematoma in the bullous cavity. Partial resection of the left upper lobe was performed. Histopathological findings in the resected specimen revealed a bleb that was filled with blood.

Binocular stereo-navigation for three-dimensional thoracoscopic lung resection.

BACKGROUND: This study investigated the efficacy of binocular stereo-navigation during three-dimensional (3-D) thoracoscopic sublobar resection (TSLR). METHODS: From July 2001, the authors' department began to use a virtual 3-D pulmonary model on a personal computer (PC) for preoperative simulation before thoracoscopic lung resection and for intraoperative navigation during operation. From 120 of 1-mm thin-sliced high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT)-scan images of tumor and hilum, homemade software CTTRY allowed sugeons to mark pulmonary arteries, veins, bronchi, and tumor on the HRCT images manually. The location and thickness of pulmonary vessels and bronchi were rendered as diverse size cylinders. With the resulting numerical data, a 3-D image was reconstructed by Metasequoia shareware. Subsequently, the data of reconstructed 3-D images were converted to Autodesk data, which appeared on a stereoscopic-vision display. Surgeons wearing 3-D polarized glasses performed 3-D TSLR. RESULTS: The patients consisted of 5 men and 5 women, ranging in age from 65 to 84 years. The clinical diagnoses were a primary lung cancer in 6 cases and a solitary metastatic lung tumor in 4 cases. Eight single segmentectomies, one bi-segmentectomy, and one bi-subsegmentectomy were performed. Hilar lymphadenectomy with mediastinal lymph node sampling has been performed in 6 primary lung cancers, but four patients with metastatic lung tumors were performed without lymphadenectomy. The operation time and estimated blood loss ranged from 125 to 333 min and from 5 to 187 g, respectively. There were no intraoperative complications and no conversion to open thoracotomy and lobectomy. Postoperative courses of eight patients were uneventful, and another two patients had a prolonged lung air leak. The drainage duration and hospital stay ranged from 2 to 13 days and from 8 to 19 days, respectively. The tumor histology of primary lung cancer showed 5 adenocarcinoma and 1 squamous cell carcinoma. All primary lung cancers were at stage IA. The organs having metastatic pulmonary tumors were kidney, bladder, breast, and rectum. No patients had macroscopically positive surgical margins. CONCLUSIONS: Binocular stereo-navigation was able to identify the bronchovascular structures accurately and suitable to perform TSLR with a sufficient margin for small pulmonary tumors.

Hypoglycemia Observed on Continuous Glucose Monitoring Associated With IGF-2-Producing Solitary Fibrous Tumor.

CONTEXT: Tumors producing IGF-2 (IGF-2oma) are a major cause of spontaneous hypoglycemia. The treatment mainstay is surgical resection. Many case reports note resolution of hypoglycemia after IGF-2oma resection; however, outcomes are variable according to tumor type. We report a case of resolving hypoglycemia, observed on continuous glucose monitoring, after resection of an IGF-2-producing solitary fibrous tumor of pleura and review the current literature. CASE REPORT: A 69-year-old woman presented with impaired consciousness because of hypoglycemia. An IGF-2oma was diagnosed as the cause for hypoglycemia because of decreased serum insulin and IGF-1, the presence of a pleural tumor, and a high-molecular-weight form of serum IGF-2 detected by Western immunoblot. Surgical resection was performed; pathological examination demonstrated a solitary fibrous tumor with low-grade malignancy. Continuous glucose monitoring showed reversal of hypoglycemia after tumor resection. Approximately 2 years after resection, the patient has no signs of tumor recurrence or hypoglycemia. CONCLUSIONS: An IGF-2-producing solitary fibrous tumor of pleura in this case caused hypoglycemia. From a search of the literature of 2004-2014, 32 cases of IGF-2oma with hypoglycemia that underwent radical surgery were identified; in 19 (59%) patients, hypoglycemia was reversed, and there was no subsequent recurrence. The remaining 13 (41%) patients experienced tumor recurrence or metastasis an average of 43 months after initial tumor resection. The tumor of the present case was a low-grade malignancy. Regular follow-up with biomarker monitoring of glucose metabolism and assessment of hypoglycemic symptomatology, in conjunction with imaging tests, is important for detecting possible tumor recurrence and metastasis.

Long-term survival after thoracoscopic enucleation of a gastrointestinal stromal tumor arising from the esophagus.

The goal of surgical treatment for gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) is the complete resection of the tumor. A 62-year-old male had a clearly distinguishable mass having a smooth surface at the right side of the lower esophagus by computed tomography. Thoracoscopic resection of the tumor was performed. Immunohistochemical analysis showed that the tumor was positive for c-KIT and CD34 without mitosis, and diagnosed to be a low-risk GIST. At 6 years after surgery, the patient survived without recurrence. This study described the long-term surviving patient without the recurrence of tumor after the thoracoscopic resection of an esophageal GIST.