Lung volume reduction loop uses bronchoscopic lung volume reduction(BLVR) technology to compress and collapse the necrotic emphysema tissue and exhaust the internal gas to achieve the purpose of lung volume reduction to treat emphysema. After the lung volume reduction loop is implanted into the human body, the compressed part of the lung tissue tends to expand with breathing, which makes the lung volume reduction loop expand into a linear trend periodically. Fatigue resistance is one of the most important performance indexes of the lung volume reduction loop. In the paper, Z-direction vibration fatigue machine was used to simulate the changes of human respiratory cycle movement to test the fatigue performance of lung volume reduction loop, which can provide some reference for the test method of in vitro fatigue performance of lung volume reduction related products in the future.
Bronchoscopy/methods* ; Emphysema/surgery* ; Humans ; Lung ; Pneumonectomy/methods* ; Pulmonary Emphysema/surgery* ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo investigate the operation of lung transplantation for end-stage emphysema.

METHODSFrom September 2002 to February 2005, 9 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) underwent lung transplantation. The types of surgery included single lung transplantation in 2 patients, lung transplantation with asynchronous contralateral lung volume reduction (one week later) in 1, single lung transplantation with synchronized contralateral lung volume reduction in 4, and bilateral sequential lung transplantation without cardiopulmonary bypass in 2.

RESULTSThe volume of chest drainage was more than 2000 ml at the first postoperative day in 2 patients, one was reoperated for hemostasis and another was successfully responded to conservative therapy. The ventilation time was ranged from 3 to 22 days postoperatively. Two patients were received tracheotomy. Seven patients achieved good results, two of them had returned to work, and 1 patient had lived for 30 months. One patient was died of severe acute rejection (4A) at 15th postoperative day and 1 succumbed to multisystem organ failure due to severe bacterial infection combine fungal infection.

CONCLUSIONEnd-stage emphysema is an indication for single lung transplantation. Single lung transplantation with contralateral lung volume reduction is a good way to utilize donor. If patient suffered from infection, double-lung transplantation should be considered first.

Female ; Humans ; Lung Transplantation ; methods ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pneumonectomy ; methods ; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive ; surgery ; Pulmonary Emphysema ; surgery ; Treatment Outcome

Giant bullae are large bullae occupying at least one-third of the hemithorax and surgical bullectomy is the treatment of choice. We report a case with symptomatic giant bullae which were resected successfully. A 35-year-old man presented with bilateral giant bullae that occupied almost the entire left hemithorax and a third of the right hemithorax. He was a current smoker with a 30 pack-year history and he presented with dyspnea on exertion. An elective surgical bullectomy was performed with video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery. The patient recovered without any adverse events and stayed well for 1 month after surgery.
Adult ; Blister ; Dyspnea ; Humans ; Pulmonary Emphysema ; Thoracic Surgery, Video-Assisted ; Young Adult*

OBJECTIVETo Summarize the clinical experience in the treatment of late-stage emphysema by lung volume reduction (LVR) in 5 years.

METHODSWe retrospectively studied the indications, contraindications, operation procedures and complications of LVR in 22 patients.

RESULTSBefore operation, the average FEV(1) was 24.5%, RV 196.8%, and TLC 130.5%; after operation they were 27.8%, 148.8% and 112.5%, respectively. 16 patients needed inhaling oxygen before operation, and 5 after operation. 16 patients finished 6-minute walking test with an average of 198 m, all patients walked much longer with an average of 256 m after operation. 3-degree lung function was observed in 14 patients, and 4-degree before operation in 8 patients; but 2-degree lung function in 5 patients, 3-degree in 13, and 4-degree in 4 after operation.

CONCLUSIONSHeterogeneous type emphysema with clear target area, especially bullous emphysema is the best indication for LVR. Lung function and life quality could be much improved postoperatively. Homogeneous type could also be treated with LVR in highly selected cases. TLCO < 20% is not an absolute contraindication, others standards need further investigation. Video-assistant thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) with subaxillary small incision for LVR is safe, reliable and effective. Application of stapler buttressing with bovine pericardia could decrease air leakage postoperatively.

Aged ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pneumonectomy ; Pulmonary Emphysema ; surgery ; Retrospective Studies ; Thoracoscopy

OBJECTIVETo review the experience with the management of single lung transplantation for emphysema.

METHODSBetween January 2003 and August 2006, single lung transplantation was performed in 6 patients for emphysema with cold low potassium solution flushing. A triple-drug regimen was adopted using steroids, mycophenolate mofetil and tacrolimus as the maintenance immunosuppressants. Chest radiograph score, oxygenation index, and pulmonary arterial pressure of the patients in early after the transplantation were reviewed.

RESULTSAll the 6 patients survived for over 30 days after the operation, and 4 of them remained alive with good quality-of-life. Four patients recovered from acute rejection successfully after methylprednisolone pulse therapy for 3 days. One patient underwent reoperation for hemorrhage in the thoracic cavity and finally recovered; spontaneous pneumothorax of the autologous lungs occurred in two patients, who underwent reoperation but finally died 74 days and 77 days after the transplantation, respectively.

CONCLUSIONSingle lung transplantation is effective for end-stage emphysema. Carefully selected recipients and comprehensive design of the surgical procedures are critical to successful lung transplantation.

Adult ; Female ; Humans ; Lung Transplantation ; methods ; Middle Aged ; Pulmonary Emphysema ; surgery ; Treatment Outcome

Humans ; Pilot Projects ; Prospective Studies ; Pulmonary Emphysema/surgery* ; Lung/surgery* ; Emphysema ; Perfusion ; Tomography, Emission-Computed ; Tomography ; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon ; Pneumonectomy ; Bronchoscopy/methods*

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the effect of single lung transplantation with concomitant contralateral lung volume reduction surgery (LVRS) for the management of end-stage emphysema.

METHODSA 46 year-old patient with end-stage emphysema received right lung transplantation and LVRS through the bilateral anterior-lateral intercostal incisions simultaneously.

RESULTSHyperinflation of the native lung or mediastinal shift did not occur after the operation, and the transplanted right lung dilated well without suppression. Acute rejection was not observed and the patient weaned from tracheal intubation 60 h after operation and from ventilator 108 h postoperatively. Persistent air leak occurred after LVRS but closed after instillation of hyperosmotic glucose. The patient was discharged 45 days after operation with significantly improved pulmonary function and normal life.

CONCLUSIONSingle lung transplantation with concomitant contralateral lung volume reduction for emphysema eliminates such complications of single lung transplantation as native lung hyperinflation, mediastinal shift, excessive suppression of the transplanted lung and hemodynamics instability, and can improve the success rate of the operation.

Combined Modality Therapy ; Humans ; Lung ; pathology ; surgery ; Lung Transplantation ; methods ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pulmonary Emphysema ; pathology ; surgery ; Treatment Outcome

Lung transplantation has been successfully employed for variety of obstructive lung disease. Single lung transplantation has become a therapeutic option for end-stage obstructive lung disease. The patient, a 57 year old man with emphysema, suffered from severe dyspnea, which progressively aggravated him for the last three years. A single lung transplantation was performed from a young brain-dead donor on April 7th, 1999 in the department of thoracic surgery, Respiratory Center, Yongdong Severance hospital, yonsei University. The immunosuppressive regimen was based on cyclosporine A and azathioprine from beginning, adding steroid. Single lung transplantation was feasible and beneficial in patients with end-stage emphysema.
Azathioprine ; Cyclosporine ; Dyspnea ; Emphysema ; Humans ; Lung Diseases, Obstructive ; Lung Transplantation* ; Lung* ; Middle Aged ; Pulmonary Emphysema* ; Respiratory Center ; Thoracic Surgery ; Tissue Donors

Placental transmogrification of the lung (PTL) is a very rare benign lung lesion. There are only about 40 cases reported in the literature. The imaging and histological features of PTL cases in the publication are various, most of which are cystic and a few of which are solid. Being extremely rare, the solid PTL is unknown to major pathologists and surgeons. We reported a case of solid PTL in the anterior mediastinum. The patient was a 52-year-old male with no history of smoking and without symptoms. During physical examination, chest CT revealed a circular low-density lesion with a maximum diameter of 2.9 cm beside the spine in the posterior basal segment of the left lower lobe of the lung. The wedge resection was performed by video-assisted thoracoscopy. Grossly, a round nodule was located underneath the visceral pleura. It was about 3.0 cm×3.0 cm×1.6 cm and the cut surface was grey-red, soft and spongy. Microscopically, the nodule was constituted of papillare, which resembled placental villi at low magnification. The axis of papillae was edema, in which some mild round cells with clear cytoplasm and CD10 positive staining aggregated and transitioned to immature adipocytes and amorphous pink materials deposited with a few of inflammatory cells infiltration. The surface of papillae was covered with disconti-nuous alveolar epithelium. Combined with the typical morphology and immunohistochemical characteristics of CD10 positive, the diagnosis was PTL. The patient was followed up for 1 year without recurrence and discomfort. So far, the pathogenesis of PTL is unclear. The major hypotheses include hamartoma, variant of emphysema and clonal hyperplasia of stromal cells. Based on the study of our case and publication, we speculate that the hyperplasia of stromal cells located in the alveolar septa might be the first step to form the solid PTL. With the progression of the disease, a typical unilateral cystic nodule develops as a result of secondary cystic degeneration due to the occlusive valve effect. Surgery is the only option for diagnosis and treatment of PTL. The clinician should make an individualized operation plan according to the clinical manifestations, location and scope of the lesion, and preserve the surrounding normal lung tissue as much as possible while completely removing the lesion. There is a favorable prognosis.
Male ; Humans ; Female ; Pregnancy ; Middle Aged ; Hyperplasia/pathology* ; Placenta/pathology* ; Lung/pathology* ; Pulmonary Emphysema/surgery* ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed/methods*

BACKGROUNDIf the emphysema lesions are not symmetrical, unilateral lung volume reduction surgery (LVRS) can be carried out on the more severe side. The aim of this research was to evaluate the feasibility and effects of LVRS performed simultaneously with resection of pulmonary and esophageal neoplasms.

METHODSForty-five patients with pulmonary neoplasm and 37 patients with esophageal neoplasm were randomly assigned to group A or group B. In group A, LVRS was performed simultaneously on the same side as thoracotomy. In group B, only tumor resection was performed. The nonfunctional lung area was determined by preoperative chest computed tomography and lung ventilation/perfusion scan. The lung volume removed was about 20% to 30% of the lobes on one side. Preoperative and postoperative indexes including pulmonary function testing variables, arterial blood gas analysis variables, dyspnea scale, 6-minute walk distance, etc., were compared between the groups.

RESULTSThere were no surgical deaths in this study. The postoperative forced vital capacity in 1 second, PaO2, PaCO2, dyspnea scale, and 6-minute walk distance were improved significantly in group A, whereas these indexes did not change or decreased slightly in group B.

CONCLUSIONSFor tumor patients who have associated emphysema, simultaneous LVRS not only increases the chance of receiving surgical therapy, but also improves the postoperative quality of life of the patient. LVRS has expanded the surgical indication for tumor patients.

Adult ; Esophageal Neoplasms ; surgery ; Female ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; surgery ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pneumonectomy ; methods ; Pulmonary Emphysema ; surgery ; Thoracotomy ; methods ; Treatment Outcome