Fluid biopsy for circulating tumor cell identification in patients with early-and late-stage non-small cell lung cancer: a glimpse into lung cancer biology.

Circulating tumor cell (CTC) counts are an established prognostic marker in metastatic prostate, breast and colorectal cancer, and recent data suggest a similar role in late stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, due to sensitivity constraints in current enrichment-based CTC detection technologies, there are few published data about CTC prevalence rates and morphologic heterogeneity in early-stage NSCLC, or the correlation of CTCs with disease progression and their usability for clinical staging. We investigated CTC counts, morphology and aggregation in early stage, locally advanced and metastatic NSCLC patients by using a fluid-phase biopsy approach that identifies CTCs without relying on surface-receptor-based enrichment and presents them in sufficiently high definition (HD) to satisfy diagnostic pathology image quality requirements. HD-CTCs were analyzed in blood samples from 78 chemotherapy-naïve NSCLC patients. 73% of the total population had a positive HD-CTC count (>0 CTC in 1 mL of blood) with a median of 4.4 HD-CTCs mL⁻¹ (range 0-515.6) and a mean of 44.7 (±95.2) HD-CTCs mL⁻¹. No significant difference in the medians of HD-CTC counts was detected between stage IV (n = 31, range 0-178.2), stage III (n = 34, range 0-515.6) and stages I/II (n = 13, range 0-442.3). Furthermore, HD-CTCs exhibited a uniformity in terms of molecular and physical characteristics such as fluorescent cytokeratin intensity, nuclear size, frequency of apoptosis and aggregate formation across the spectrum of staging. Our results demonstrate that despite stringent morphologic inclusion criteria for the definition of HD-CTCs, the HD-CTC assay shows high sensitivity in the detection and characterization of both early- and late-stage lung cancer CTCs. Extensive studies are warranted to investigate the prognostic value of CTC profiling in early-stage lung cancer. This finding has implications for the design of extensive studies examining screening, therapy and surveillance in lung cancer patients.

Outpatient video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) for ectopic mediastinal parathyroid adenoma: a case report and review of the literature.

Up to 20% of abnormal parathyroid glands causing primary or secondary hyperparathyroidism are located ectopically. Of these, approximately 1%-2% reside in the mediastinum and may not always be resectable through a traditional cervical approach. Recently, video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) has arisen as a minimally invasive method for resecting mediastinal parathyroid glands and avoiding the complications and higher morbidity of a sternotomy. In this paper, we present a case of a patient with asymptomatic hyperparathyroidism and an ectopic parathyroid on sestamibi imaging in the mediastinum. Initially, the patient underwent a bilateral cervical exploration, left upper parathyroidectomy, and partial thymectomy; however, postoperatively, he continued to have persistently elevated serum calcium and parathyroid hormone levels. Ultimately, management consisted of parathyroidectomy through a VATS approach, along with intraoperative parathyroid assay monitoring and frozen-section pathologic analysis. The patient was successfully discharged to home several hours after surgery. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of mediastinal ectopic parathyroid adenoma treated with outpatient VATS.

Severe ostial saphenous vein graft disease leading to acute coronary syndromes following proximal aorto-saphenous anastomoses with the symmetry bypass connector device: is it a suture device or a "stent"?

The Symmetry Bypass Connector (St. Jude Medical, St. Paul, Minnesota) is a nitinol, star-shaped device that was designed to facilitate placement of sutureless aorto-saphenous anastomoses during off-pump coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG). Although the device is approved for clinical use in Europe and the U.S., its short- and long-term safety and efficacy are not established. We report on 5 of 121 patients undergoing CABG who presented with an acute coronary syndrome two to five months following placement of this device. In each patient, all saphenous vein grafts (SVGs) placed (n = 11) with the device were totally occluded (n = 6) or compromised by ostial stenoses (n = 5). Treatment consisted of repeat CABG in one patient and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in four patients with cutting balloon atherotomy and stenting. Following PCI, two of four patients presented again within two months with near-occlusive ostial restenosis in all stents placed. Intracoronary ultrasound showed severe neointimal hyperplasia, but only at the proximal interface of the device and stent. One patient was treated with brachytherapy in two SVGs but had a recurrence four months later and was treated with drug-eluting stents in both restenotic segments. Recalcitrant neointimal hyperplasia is postulated to be involved in the pathogenesis of anastomotic device stenosis, possibly similar to in-stent restenosis. Prospective randomized clinical trials are needed to assess the clinical safety and efficacy of this device. Pending such studies, consideration should be given in limiting its use to cases of unacceptably high risk of stroke during aortic cross-clamping. Dual antiplatelet agents, evaluation for ischemia, and close follow-up are warranted in patients that have already received the device.

Endoscopic ultrasound/fine-needle aspiration diagnosis of a malignant subcarinal lymph node in a patient with lung cancer and a negative positron emission tomography scan.

Transesophageal, endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided fine-needle aspiration (FNA) and positron emission tomography (PET) scanning are new modalities for staging non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the roles of which are still being defined. A 78-year-old man with a right lower lobe (RLL) mass and mediastinal adenopathy seen on CT scan had a PET scan that revealed only a RLL hypermetabolic area. EUS/FNA cytology of a subcarinal lymph node (LN) revealed the presence of NSCLC. This is a case of a false-negative PET scan for nodal involvement in NSCLC that was diagnosed with EUS/FNA. Patients with NSCLC and suspicious lymphadenopathy may benefit from EUS/FNA of enlarged posterior mediastinal LNs, even with negative findings of PET scanning.

Case report and review of the literature total endovascular repair of acute ascending aortic rupture: a case report and review of the literature.

Thoracic aortic endografting has been successfully implemented to treat aneurysmal disease of the distal aortic arch and descending thoracic aorta. Although there are reports of ascending aortic endovascular interventions, the total endovascular repair of a ruptured ascending aorta secondary to a Type A dissection has not been described. We report the case of a 77-year-old patient who presented with a ruptured ascending aortic aneurysm secondary to degeneration of a Stanford type A aortic dissection. His surgical history was significant for orthotropic heart transplant 19 years prior. The dissection, aneurysm, and rupture occurred in the native aorta distal to the ascending aortic suture line. At presentation, he was hemodynamically unstable with a right hemothorax. We placed 3 Medtronic Talent Thoracic Stent Graft devices (Medtronic Inc, Minneapolis, MN) across the suture line in the ascending aorta, excluding the rupture. The patient survived and has been followed to 25 months.

Impact of EUS-guided FNA of enlarged mediastinal lymph nodes on subsequent thoracic surgery rates.

BACKGROUND: A histopathologic diagnosis of metastasis in enlarged mediastinal lymph nodes usually results in non-surgical management. Cytologic specimens obtained by EUS-guided FNA can be used to detect malignancy in posterior mediastinal lymph nodes. The purpose of this study was to determine the rate of thoracic surgery after EUS-guided FNA of enlarged mediastinal lymph nodes. METHODS: A prospective observational study of patients with enlarged posterior mediastinal lymphadenopathy who were referred for EUS-guided FNA. All patients were candidates for mediastinoscopy. Patients were followed for 12 months to determine the subsequent rate of mediastinoscopy or thoracotomy and the diagnostic accuracy of EUS-guided FNA. RESULTS: Evaluation of cytologic specimens obtained by EUS-guided FNA revealed malignancy in 23 of 59 (39%) patients. The overall rate of surgery was 22% (13/59): 95% CI[0.12, 0.35]. The surgery rate for patients with a positive cytologic result was 4% (1/23) compared with 33% (12/36) for those with a negative result (p=0.009). Of patients with CT findings of a peripheral lung mass plus mediastinal lymphadenopathy, 22 of 26 (42%) underwent surgery after EUS-guided FNA, compared with two of 33 (6%) of those with mediastinal lymphadenopathy alone (p=0.0009). For cytologic evaluation of specimens obtained by EUS-guided FNA, the overall sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy for the diagnosis of malignant lymphadenopathy were 96%, 100%, and 98%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Few patients who undergo EUS-guided FNA of enlarged posterior mediastinal lymph nodes require subsequent thoracic surgery.