Çocukluk çağında nadir görülen bir akciğer kitlesi olgu sunumu: Plöropulmoner blastoma

Plöropulmoner blastoma çocukluk çağında oldukça nadir görülen malign tümörlerden biridir. Tüm primer akciğer malignitelerindeki insidansı %0.25- 0.5 arasındadır. Sıklıkla 6 yaş altında görülür ve özellikle akciğer parankimi, mediasten ve plevradan kaynaklanır. Genellikle tek taraflı soliter akciğer kitlesi şeklinde görülür. Bu olgu sunumunda ateş, solunum sıkıntısı, hışıltı, karın ağrısı, kilo kaybı gibi nonspesifik bulgularla başvuran, tek taraflı akciğer kitlesi saptanan ve plöropulmoner blastoma tanısı konulan 3.5 yaşındaki bir erkek olgu sunulmuştur. Sonuç olarak çocukluk çağında tek taraflı solit akciğer kitlesi tespit edilen olgularda nadir görülen plöropulmoner blastoma tanısı da akılda tutulmalıdır.Pleuropulmonary blastoma is a malignant lung tumor affecting children. Pleuropulmonary blastoma is a rare entity having an incidence between 0.25-0.5% of all primary lung malignancies that occurs exclusively in children younger than 6 years. The tumor usually originates from pulmonary parenchyma, mediastin and pleura and especially presents as a solitary pulmonary mass in unilateral lung. In this case report, we present a 3.5-year-old boy who was admitted with fever, dyspnea, wheezing, abdominal pain, weight loss and was diagnosed as pleuropulmonary blastoma. As pleuropulmonary blastoma is rarely seen in childhood, relevant literature on pleuropulmonary blastoma is reviewed

Report on first international workshop on robotic surgery in thoracic oncology

A workshop of experts from France, Germany, Italy, and the United States took place at Humanitas Research Hospital Milan, Italy, on February 10 and 11, 2016, to examine techniques for and applications of robotic surgery to thoracic oncology. The main topics of presentation and discussion were robotic surgery for lung resection; robot-assisted thymectomy; minimally invasive surgery for esophageal cancer; new developments in computer-assisted surgery and medical applications of robots; the challenge of costs; and future clinical research in robotic thoracic surgery. The following article summarizes the main contributions to the workshop. The Workshop consensus was that since video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) is becoming the mainstream approach to resectable lung cancer in North America and Europe, robotic surgery for thoracic oncology is likely to be embraced by an increasing numbers of thoracic surgeons, since it has technical advantages over VATS, including intuitive movements, tremor filtration, more degrees of manipulative freedom, motion scaling, and high-definition stereoscopic vision. These advantages may make robotic surgery more accessible than VATS to trainees and experienced surgeons and also lead to expanded indications. However, the high costs of robotic surgery and absence of tactile feedback remain obstacles to widespread dissemination. A prospective multicentric randomized trial (NCT02804893) to compare robotic and VATS approaches to stages I and II lung cancer will start shortly

European guidelines on structure and qualification of general thoracic surgery

OBJECTIVE To update the recommendations for the structural characteristics of general thoracic surgery (GTS) in Europe in order to provide a document that can be used as a guide for harmonizing the general thoracic surgical practice in Europe. METHODS A task force was created to set the structural, procedural and qualification characteristics of a European GTS unit. These criteria were endorsed by the Executive Committee of the European Society of Thoracic Surgeons and by the Thoracic Domain of the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery and were validated by the European Board of Thoracic Surgery at European Union of Medical Specialists. RESULTS Criteria regarding definition and scope of GTS, structure and qualification of GTS unit, training and education and recommendations for subjects of particular interest (lung transplant, oesophageal surgery, minimally invasive thoracic surgery, quality surveillance) were developed. CONCLUSIONS This document will hopefully represent the first step of a process of revision of the modern thoracic surgeons' curricula, which need to be qualitatively rethought in the setting of the qualification process. The structural criteria highlighted in the present document are meant to help and tackle the challenge of cultural and language barriers as well as of widely varying national training programme

Tumours of the thymus: a cohort study of prognostic factors from the European Society of Thoracic Surgeons database

OBJECTIVES A retrospective database was developed by the European Society of Thoracic Surgeons, collecting patients submitted to surgery for thymic tumours to analyse clinico-pathological prognostic predictors. METHODS A total of 2151 incident cases from 35 institutions were collected from 1990 to 2010. Clinical-pathological characteristics were analysed, including age, gender, associated myasthenia gravis stage (Masaoka), World Health Organization histology, type of thymic tumour [thymoma, thymic carcinoma (TC), neuroendocrine thymic tumour (NETT)], type of resection (complete/incomplete), tumour size, adjuvant therapy and recurrence. Primary outcome was overall survival (OS); secondary outcomes were the proportion of incomplete resections, disease-free survival and the cumulative incidence of recurrence (CIR). RESULTS A total of 2030 patients were analysed for OS (1798 thymomas, 191 TCs and 41 NETTs). Ten-year OS was 0.73 (95% confidence interval 0.69-0.75). Complete resection (R0) was achieved in 88% of the patients. Ten-year CIR was 0.12 (0.10-0.15). Predictors of shorter OS were increased age (P < 0-001), stage [III vs I HR 2.66, 1.80-3.92; IV vs I hazard ratio (HR) 4.41, 2.67-7.26], TC (HR 2.39, 1.68-3.40) and NETT (HR 2.59, 1.35-4.99) vs thymomas and incomplete resection (HR 1.74, 1.18-2.57). Risk of recurrence increased with tumour size (P = 0.003), stage (III vs I HR 5.67, 2.80-11.45; IV vs I HR 13.08, 5.70-30.03) and NETT (HR 7.18, 3.48-14.82). Analysis using a propensity score indicates that the administration of adjuvant therapy was beneficial in increasing OS (HR 0.69, 0.49-0.97) in R0 resections. CONCLUSIONS Masaoka stages III-IV, incomplete resection and non-thymoma histology showed a significant impact in increasing recurrence and in worsening survival. The administration of adjuvant therapy after complete resection is associated with improved surviva

Robotic thoracic surgery: from the perspectives of European chest surgeons

Although thoracic surgery is one of the fastest growing programs, the results of robotic thoracic surgery reports are presented very rarely. In this manuscript, the development of robotic thoracic surgery programs in Europe and the initial results are discussed. Several European countries lead the development of robotic surgery in the world, especially for lung cancer surgery and for thymus-thymoma surgery. Yet, we may not recognize any major advantage in the outcome when compared to video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS). But, certainly, the superior capabilities of the intraoperative instrumentation of robotic surgery will be beneficial. More experience in robotic surgery may provide superior results in oncological, physiological and life quality measurements

Standardized definitions and policies of minimally invasive thymoma resection

A wide range of technical approaches for the minimally invasive resection of thymus have been described. Most of the time, the benefits are superior cosmetic outcome and shorter duration of postoperative stay. Other demonstrable differences that have been reported include shorter duration of surgery, less intraoperative blood loss and less postoperative pleural drainage. Robotic surgery and video-assisted surgery (VATS) may become routinely used procedures in the treatment of stage I and II thymomas