In the context of the European Respiratory Society (ERS) plan for thoracic oncology [1], in 2014 the European Respiratory Journal (ERJ) initiated a series of reviews called “Challenges and controversies in thoracic oncology” [2]. The following questions were addressed. The specific contribution of each thoracic staging and treatment modality has not always been unequivocally established: which ...

BACKGROUND This study evaluated the results of thoracic metastasectomy for germ cell tumours to assess long term survival and identify prognostic factors. PATIENTS AND METHODS A series of 141 consecutive patients who underwent resection of thoracic metastases at Royal Brompton Hospital were retrospectively reviewed. Kaplan-Meier estimates of survival were calculated for clinical variables rel...

Many approaches for mediastinal tumor resection have been reported. Superior mediastinal tumors that involve the thoracic inlet and adjacent structures pose problems to thoracic surgeons. The cervicothoracic junction is difficult to access because of the crowded anatomy of this region. No single approach provides the best access to all of the tumors in this region. We introduce the cervical-tho...

A series of 237 cases of oesophageal carcinoma admitted to two thoracic units in Ceylon is analysed.Evidence suggestive of an aetiological link between betel chewing and high incidence of the tumour in Ceylon is presented. The sex incidence is unusual in that there is a preponderance of females in the series. A significant proportion of patients were women under 40 years of age. The middle thir...

[Purpose] The aim of this study was to determine the effects of thoracic region self-mobilization on chest expansion and pulmonary function in healthy adults. [Subjects] Nineteen healthy adults were randomly allocated to either an intervention group (n = 8) or a control group (n = 11). [Methods] Subjects in the intervention group performed self-mobilization of the thoracic region 3 times per we...

The case is described of a 36 year old woman who presented with a large left sided haemothorax. A thoracic computed tomographic (CT) scan suggested there was a bony outgrowth arising from the fourth rib. This was resected surgically and found to be an osteochondroma which was surrounded by blood clot. No definite site of bleeding was identified, but it is thought that the tumour may have trauma...

Extraadrenal paragangliomas are usually located in the head and neck region, with 90% arising in the carotid body or glomus jugulare (1) . These tumors have also been located in a number of other areas, including, rarely , the spinal canal (1-7). Previously reported intraspinal paragangliomas have all been located in the intradural compartment in the region of the cauda equina, with the excepti...

Thoracotomies are among the most painful of surgical incisions. Postoperatively, the movement of the chest with each breath increases the pain, and patients often “splint” to the point of hypercapnea or hypoxia. Substantial analgesia is required to avoid postoperative respiratory complications, but heavy opioid use blunts the respiratory drive and may itself be associated with postoperative com...

Carney complex (CNC) is an autosomal dominant multiple endocrine neoplasia and lentiginosis syndrome characterised by spotty skin pigmentation, cardiac, skin, and breast myxomas, and a variety of endocrine and other tumours. The disease is genetically heterogeneous; two loci have been mapped to chromosomes 17q22-24 (the CNC1 locus) and 2p16 (CNC2). Mutations in the PRKAR1A tumour suppressor gen...