Purpose: We performed an experimental study comparing different suture techniques in trachea anastomoses using the ex vivo sheep model, which deals with the parameters that suture tension, air leakage, intraluminal pressure, and tension at which the anastomosis will rupture. We aimed to find an answer to “Which suture technique should be used in tracheal anastomoses?”

Methods: In all, 45 sheep tracheas were randomly divided into three groups (each n = 15) differing in suture technique for anastomoses: single stitches, mixed, and continuous suture. The anastomoses were evaluated for air leakage under normal (25 mbar) and high (70 mbar) intraluminal pressures without tension. Then, air leakage was followed under high intraluminal pressure with tensile stress. Tension levels of dehiscence were also recorded. Data were statistically evaluated.

Results: No air leakage was observed at 25 mbar intraluminal pressure. At 70 mbar pressure without tension, no statistically significant difference was found among the groups (p >0.05). However, single-stitch technique was the best in terms of air leakage tension and rupture tension levels (p <0.05).

Conclusion: The most reliable and advantageous is single-stitch technique for a tracheal anastomosis in short-term results. Further studies are needed to analyze longer ventilation periods in terms of other serious complications as ischemic dehiscence and stenosis.

Purpose: This study aims to compare the effects and prognosis of medical thoracoscopy-assisted argon plasma coagulation (APC) combined with electrosurgical unit (ESU) surgery, video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS), and pleurodesis surgery, in providing appropriate treatment for elderly refractory pneumothorax patients.

Methods: Patients with refractory pneumothorax aged over 65 years were divided into three groups: APC combined with ESU (N = 20), VATS (N = 26), and pleurodesis (N = 24). Data on demographic characteristics, lung function evaluation, and short- and long-term prognoses were collected.

Results: Following surgery, compared with the APC-ESU and pleurodesis groups, patients in the VATS group demonstrated poor short-term prognoses, with high pleural effusion drainage levels and high visual analog scores (VAS; P <0.05). After the surgery, St. George’s Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) scores in the pleurodesis group were slightly elevated, whereas SGRQ scores in both the APC-ESU and VATS groups demonstrated a continual decrease. Finally, medical resource consumption analysis demonstrated a significant difference in hospitalization costs among the three groups; the VATS group being the most expensive.

Conclusion: Medical thoracoscopy-assisted APC combined with ESU is a safe, effective, and affordable treatment for elderly patients with refractory pneumothorax.

Purpose: Src family tyrosine kinases, including Fyn, are non-receptor tyrosine kinases that drive malignancy in various kinds of cancers. Fyn has also been suggested to be an effector of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signaling, and is recognized as a potential therapeutic target. However, little is known about the clinical importance of phosphorylated Fyn (pFyn) in lung adenocarcinoma. The purpose of this study is to examine the prognostic significance of pFyn in this disease.

Methods: A total of 282 lung adenocarcinoma specimens were collected from patients who underwent surgery at our institute. A tissue microarray was assembled from paraffin-embedded tumor blocks. pFyn expression was analyzed through immunostaining of the tissue microarray and each case was classified as positive or negative. The association of clinical information with pFyn expression was analyzed statistically.

Results: pFyn was positive in 107 cases. A pFyn-positive status was significantly associated with male gender, p53 mutant, pathological stage, tumor size, plural invasion, lymphatic invasion, vascular invasion, and differentiation. pFyn positivity was associated with poor relapse-free survival (RFS; hazard ratio [HR]: 2.11, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.32–3.42, p <0.01) and poor overall survival (OS; HR: 1.95, 95% CI: 1.17–3.33, p = 0.01).

Conclusion: pFyn expression may affect the prognosis of patients with lung adenocarcinoma after lung resection.

Purpose: To evaluate prognosis of patients with esophageal carcinoma undergoing pulmonary metastasectomy, and help determine appropriate therapeutic strategies.

Methods: We retrospectively studied 16 patients (15 men and one woman; median age 66.5 years) with esophageal carcinoma, who underwent curative resection of pulmonary metastases. Clinical characteristics and surgical outcomes were analyzed.

Results: In all, 11 patients underwent wedge resection, three segmentectomy, and two lobectomies. The average operating time and blood loss were 147 min and 103 mL, respectively. There were no perioperative deaths or severe complications. Five-year overall survival rate was 40.2% and 2-year disease-free survival rate was 35.2%. All recurrences occurred within 2 years. Univariate and multivariate analyses revealed that absence of adjuvant chemotherapy after therapy for esophageal carcinoma was a significant predictor of poor prognosis and recurrence, respectively (p <0.05). The prognosis of seven patients who underwent esophagectomy with adjuvant chemotherapy was better than that of the other nine patients (p = 0.0166).

Conclusion: Pulmonary metastasectomy in patients with esophageal carcinoma was only one choice of multimodal treatment, and perioperative chemotherapy was important for long-term survival after pulmonary metastasectomy. Pulmonary metastasectomy was effective in patients undergoing esophagectomy with adjuvant chemotherapy.

Purpose: Different surgical procedures were defined due to degree of Ebstein anomaly. In this study, we are reporting our surgical experience of adult patients with Ebstein anomaly.

Methods: We analyzed the patients, who had operated with the diagnosis of Ebstein anomaly from March 2011 through February 2018, retrospectively. We evaluated patients in two groups: patients with cone type surgical repair were in Group 1 and patients with other surgical (Danielson, Carpentier) procedures were in Group 2.

Results: There were 23 patients in the study; 9 (39%) were in Group 1 and 14 (61%) were in Group 2. In the comparison of preoperative data, groups were statistically similar. Aortic cross clamp and cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) times, need for inotropic agents, intubation time, postoperative >2 tricuspid regurgitation incidence, intensive care unit, and hospital staying times were statistically significantly higher in Group 2. There was one mortality (4.3%) in Group 2 due to sepsis.

Conclusion: Cone type repair can safely be performed in the repair of Ebstein anomaly with acceptable results. Our results are encouraging to prefer this technique as one of the first-line treatment of Ebstein anomaly. However, further randomized controlled studies are recommended to evaluate the efficacy of this surgical procedure.

Purpose: Our study aimed to investigate the potential pathogenetic theories of different phenotype prevalence in bicuspid aortopathy.

Methods: A total of 407 bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) patients with aortic dilation were retrospectively reviewed. Association was determined between aortic valve lesion types and aortic configurations to confirm the homogeneous BAV subsets, and then, dominance analysis was used to evaluate the relative importance of two components of aortic valve lesion (BAV phenotype and valvular dysfunction) that associated with aortic configurations in each subgroup.

Results: Dominance analysis showed that Type-1 LR was the dominant contributor (79.0% and 79.6%) associated with the higher prevalence of the dilation of aortic root (AoR) and ascending aorta (AAo) in BAV patients with Type-1 LR and aortic regurgitation (AR) or aortic stenosis (AS) + AR. However, AS was the main contributor (60.0%) associated with the raised incidence of the dilation of AAo and proximal aortic arch (PArc) in Type-0 LAT and AS.

Conclusions: Different dominant pathogenetic theory determined the phenotype of BAV aortopathy. In patients of Type-1 LR with AR, inherent disposition is mainly responsible for the higher frequency of AoR dilation. Valve-related hemodynamics determined greater prevalence of the dilation of AAo and PArc in patients of Type-0 LAT with AS.

Neonatal primary repair of tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) with absent pulmonary valve (APV) syndrome is associated with high mortality rates. Our plan involves a staged repair that avoids one-stage intracardiac repair (ICR), with a first palliation that closes the main pulmonary orifice using an expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) patch, pulmonary arterioplication, and an adjustable Blalock-Taussig (BT) shunt. This strategy was used for a neonatal case with TOF/APV syndrome with hypoplastic left ventricle (LV). There was evidence of subsequent progressive increase in the LV size, and bronchial compression was relieved and an ICR was performed successfully at 9 months of age.

Thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) is used to treat retrograde type A acute aortic dissection (RTAAD). In case 1, a 52-year-old man, who was conservatively managed, reported worsening back pain. Emergency TEVAR was performed 7 days after onset. After deploying two GORE Conformable TAG (CTAG) in the descending aorta, his symptoms disappeared. In case 2, a 52-year-old man with progressive worsening resistant hypertension, renal dysfunction, and respiratory failure despite maximal medical therapy underwent TEVAR 8 days after onset. A CTAG was deployed from the left subclavian artery under rapid pacing, and two Zenith Dissection stents were placed, which resolved complications. In both cases, after 6 months, computed tomography (CT) scan showed complete resorption of the false lumen in the ascending aorta. TEVAR for RTAAD with complete thrombosis of false lumen in the ascending aorta can be an alternative to surgery when the primary tear is located in descending aorta.