Diagnostic and therapeutic difficulties in mediastinal fibromatosis. Case report

Włókniakowatość (fibromatosis) śródpiersia to bardzo rzadki mezenchymalny guz wywodzący się z tkanki włóknistej. W pracy przedstawiono przypadek 26-letniego mężczyzny z guzem śródpiersia wywołującym niewydolność oddechową oraz dysfagię. Objawy te spowodowane były uciskiem przełyku oraz naciekaniem i zamknięciem oskrzela głównego lewego przez masę guzowatą śródpiersia. Etiologia guza została ostatecznie ustalona na podstawie badania histopatologicznego wycinków pobranych podczas torakotomii próbnej dopiero po 3 latach i przeprowadzeniu wielu badań diagnostycznych. Autorzy opisują trudności w diagnostyce guzów śródpiersia, szczególnie tych rzadko występujących.Mediastinal fibromatosis is a very rare mesenchymal tumor originated from fibrous tissue. A case of 26-year old men with mediastinal tumor causes respiratory insufficiency and dysphagia is described. This sympthoms occured due to esophageal impression and infiltration with occlusion of main left bronchus by mediastinal tumor. Ethiology of the tumor was established based on histopathology assesment of the tissue samples taken during explorative thoracotomy after 3 years and many other diagnostic procedures undertaken. The authors describe difficulties in diagnosis of mediastinal tumors, especially those rare observed

Assessment of postoperative pain management and comparison of effectiveness of pain relief treatment involving paravertebral block and thoracic epidural analgesia in patients undergoing posterolateral thoracotomy

Abstract Background TEA (thoracic epidural analgesia) is considered a basic method of analgesia used in thoracic surgeries. PVB (paravertebral block) is an alternative method. The thesis compares effectiveness of both methods in postoperative analgesia with particular focus on assessment of the postoperative pain management quality. Methods The study involved 2 groups of patients, each consisting of 30 patients undergoing posterolateral thoracotomy. The study group involved patients anesthetized applying PVB method, while the control group involved patients anesthetized with TEA. Hemodynamic and respiratory parameters as well as severity of pain assessed using NRS (numeric rating scale) during the first 3 days after the surgery, number of days of hospitalization, and the need to use additional pain relievers were taken into account in both groups. Evaluation of postoperative pain management quality was performed applying Clinical Quality Indicators in Postoperative Pain Management. Results No statistical significance was demonstrated between the groups in respect of hemodynamic and respiratory parameters values, the need to use additional pain relievers and the number of days of hospitalization. There was no statistically significant difference between the groups in respect of general assessment of pain management quality, except for the assessment of the lowest level of pain within the last 24 h of measurement. This result in TEA group was statistically significantly lower than the one in PVB group (p = 0.019). Conclusions In the assessment of postoperative pain management quality both analyzed methods are statistically significantly different only in the category of “lowest level of pain within the last 24 hours of measurement”, to the benefit of TEA group. No statistically significant difference has been observed between the two study groups with respect to the remaining parameters. Trial registration KB-0012/71/15. Date of registration 22 June 2015

Benign metastasizing leiomyoma of the lung : diagnostic process and treatment based on three case reports and a review of the literature

Uterine leiomyomas may occasionally spread to the lungs forming nodular lesions detectable on chest X-ray. This condition known as benign metastasizing leiomyoma (BML) usually occurs in females with a history of hysterectomy or myomectomy. We present three cases of BML demonstrating the diagnostic process and treatment approaches. Two patients presented with the more common multiple-nodule variant while the other had a single mass, but all were symptom-free. The age of presented patients at diagnosis of BML ranged from 46–53. The first patient was diagnosed with BML at the age of 50, and 12 years prior to the diagnosis, underwent a supracervical hysterectomy. The second patient had a myomectomy at 36, and BML was diagnosed 17 years later at the age of 53. The third patient had a hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy at the age of 46, with lung lesions present before the hysterectomy. Immunohistochemical studies of postoperative materials showed positive staining of spindle cells with antibodies against desmin and smooth muscle actin, as well as estrogen and progesterone receptors. The final histopathological diagnoses were pulmonary BML. All patients are stable and symptom-free: two at two years follow-up and one at six months follow-u

Extremely Rare Pulmonary Metastases of Skin Basal Cell Carcinoma: Report of Two Cases with Clinicopathological Features

Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most frequent human skin cancer, but metastasizing BCC (MBCC) is extremely rare, developing in approximately 0.0028% to 0.55% of BCC patients. Herein, we report two cases of pulmonary MBCC. The first one developed in a 72-year-old male who underwent surgical resection due to multiple recurrences and adjuvant radiotherapy. Immunohistochemistry showed that neoplastic cells expressed Ber-EP4, CK5/6, p63, EMA (focally), BCL-2, and CD10, but were negative for CK7, CK20, S100, estrogen and progesterone receptors, and TTF-1. The second case is a 64-year-old female treated with vismodegib. Clinicopathological features and differential diagnoses are described