Port Placement Strategies for Robotic Pulmonary Lobectomy: A Narrative Review

Background: Despite the use of robotics becoming increasingly popular among thoracic surgeons worldwide, there remains debate over the best robotic approach for lung resections. In this paper, we delineated the main port placement strategies and discussed their advantages and disadvantages. Methods: A PubMed literature review was performed using key phrases such as "robotic lobectomy technique", "RATS lobectomy", and "port placement robotic lobectomy". After the final review, 22 articles were included as references, of which 10 described common robotic port mapping techniques. Results: Several port strategies for robot-assisted pulmonary lobectomies have been proposed and described in the literature, each showing its own limitations and advantages. Conclusions: New robotic surgeons may choose their port strategy according to personal preference and previous surgical experience, especially regarding open or VATS resections. Robust data comparing different port placements in robotic surgery are lacking. Further research should be directed toward comparisons of clinical outcomes with different robotic approaches

The Redax\uae Coaxial Drain in pulmonary lobectomy: a study of efficacy

Pleural drainage is required after pulmonary lobectomy to evacuate air-leak and fluid. We compared the performance of the new Redax\uae Coaxial Drain (CD) (Redax, Mirandola, Italy) with a standard chest tube (CT) in terms of fluid and air-leak evacuation

Urea derivatives from carbon dioxide and amines by guanidine catalysis: Easy access to imidazolidin-2-ones under solvent-free conditions

A novel methodology to easily access imidazolidin-2-ones from propargylamines, primary amine and CO2 with TBD (1,5,7-triazabicyclo[4.4.0]dec-5-ene) or MTBD (7-methyl-1,5,7-triazabicyclo[4.4.0]dec-5-ene) as catalysts under solvent-free conditions is here reported. Bicyclic guanidines, able to catalyze the formation of oxazolidinones from secondary propargylamines and CO2, are now presented for the first time as effective organocatalysts for the chemical fixation of CO2 into linear and cyclic ureas. Plausible reaction pathways are proposed on the basis of experimental findings

Poly(3-alkoxyphenylthiophenes) For VOCs Detection

In this work, poly(3-(4-octyloxyphenyl)thiophene has been synthetized by an oxidative coupling polymerization reaction and employed in a chemiresistor structure to probe its potential as VOCs sensor. The devices has been exposed to toluene, acetone and ethanol vapours. The chemiresistor has exhibited fast response time (< 1 min), good stability over more than two weeks under ambient conditions and good sensitivity to VOCs, demonstrating to be a viable option for detection of VOCs

Prognostic factors after surgical treatment of lung cancer invading the diaphragm

Background. Diaphragmatic invasion from lung cancer (T3-diaphragm) is a rare occurrence reported to portend a poor prognosis. Methods. Fifteen patients with T3-diaphragm (14 males, 1 female; median age, 64 years) were surgically treated over a twenty-year period by en bloc resection (14 patients). One patient was only explored. Pathologic stage IIB (T3N0) was found in 11 patients. A partial infiltration of the diaphragm was observed in 3 patients, whereas full-depth invasion was found in 12. Diaphragmatic reconstruction was done primarily in 9 patients, and, by prosthetic material in 5. Results. Two patients are still alive without evidence of disease at 88, and, 114 months from surgery. Overall median survival was 23 months (range, 3 to 168). The actuarial 5-year survival was 20%, when all patients were considered, and, 27%, for T3N0 patients. Univariate analysis showed that prosthetic replacement of the muscle (p = 0.018) was significantly related to survival. Conclusions. T3-diaphragm is best treated with en bloc resections with wide tumor-free margins and prosthetic replacement of the diaphragm. (C) 1999 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons