Chylothorax is a rare complication following cardiac surgery for congenital heart diseases. Although conservative management is successful in the majority of cases, surgical intervention is required in a refractory one. Recently, subcutaneous or intravenous infusion of octreotide has been used as a safe treatment that helps avoiding surgical intervention. Herein, we report two cases of postoperative chylothorax treated with parenteral octreotide and conservative therapy.
Chylothorax* ; Heart Diseases ; Infusions, Intravenous ; Octreotide* ; Postoperative Complications ; Thoracic Surgery

Patients in traffic accidents are usually presented with pain and bleeding due to fractures or soft tissue injury. On some occasions, more severe complications may be triggered by the trauma. A review of the published English language literature reveals no survival case once the traumatic mediastinal hematoma is ruptured. In our case, a 54-year-old man suffering motorcycle accident was admitted to emergency department. Computed tomography scan revealed subdural hematoma combined with posterior mediastinal hematoma. The patient was saved and discharged with a satisfactory outcome. Here we hope to share our treatment experience in dealing with the patient with severe multiple trauma.
Hematoma ; complications ; Hemorrhage ; therapy ; Humans ; Male ; Mediastinal Diseases ; complications ; Middle Aged ; Rupture ; Thoracic Diseases ; therapy

Aged ; Aneurysm, False ; complications ; Aortic Aneurysm, Thoracic ; complications ; Aortic Diseases ; etiology ; Esophageal Fistula ; etiology ; Humans ; Male

Thoracic splenosis is the autotransplantation of splenic tissue in the left thoracic cavity as a result of a splenic injury. This rare pathology is usually asymptomatic and may be discovered on incidental imaging, but the diagnosis often requires invasive procedures such as surgery in order to eliminate a neoplasic origin. We report a rare symptomatic case of a 39-year-old man presenting with chest pain and multiple nodules revealed on a computed tomography scan. The patient underwent a surgical exploration and the pathological studies concluded to a thoracic splenosis. Indeed, the previous medical history of the patient revealed a left thoraco-abdominal traumatism during childhood. The aim of this paper is to emphasize that the diagnosis can now be performed using only imaging techniques such as technetium-99 sulfur colloid or labelled heat-denatured red blood cell scintigraphy to avoid unnecessary invasive procedures including thoracotomy.
Abdominal Injuries ; complications ; Adult ; Asymptomatic Diseases ; Humans ; Male ; Spleen ; injuries ; Splenectomy ; Splenosis ; diagnosis ; etiology ; pathology ; surgery ; Thoracic Diseases ; diagnosis ; etiology ; pathology ; surgery ; Thoracic Injuries ; complications ; Thoracotomy ; Unnecessary Procedures

Interrupted aortic arch is a rare congenital vascular malformation associated with a high mortality rate in infancy, and is therefore very unusual in adults. We report a case of interrupted aortic arch in a 42-year-old male hypertensive patient who was found to have a disruption of aorta continuity distal to the left subclavian artery with massive collateral circulation into the descending aorta by computed tomography angiography. The patient was discharged after the blood pressure was controlled by antihypertensive therapy. This case suggests the necessity of careful auscultation for young patients with hypertension. Once murmur in the chest and back is heard, computed tomography angiography should be performed at once to avoid missed diagnosis and misdiagnosis.
Adult ; Aorta, Thoracic ; pathology ; Aortic Diseases ; complications ; Humans ; Hypertension ; etiology ; Male

Aged ; Epidural Abscess ; complications ; Female ; Humans ; Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus ; Osteomyelitis ; complications ; Paralysis ; etiology ; Spinal Diseases ; complications ; Staphylococcal Infections ; complications ; Thoracic Vertebrae

Churg-Strauss syndrome (CSS), or allergic granulomatosis, is a rare disease manifested by tissue infiltration, hypereosinophilia and vasculitis. Renal involvement may be seen in up to 50% of cases. We report the case of a 25-year old man who presented with a history of fever for two months, tingling, numbness, and paraesthesia of the upper limbs and left lower limb, along with diarrhoea for one month and an inability to walk for the past seven days. Serial laboratory investigations helped to reach the final diagnosis of CSS with mononeuritis multiplex, and skin, pulmonary and gastrointestinal involvement with hypertension. This is due to renal involvement in the form of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis without any nephrotic range proteinuria, which is a very rare clinical entity. The patient's symptoms were relieved after the administration of an unconventional mode of therapy.
Adult ; Biopsy ; Churg-Strauss Syndrome ; complications ; diagnosis ; Fever ; Glomerulosclerosis, Focal Segmental ; complications ; diagnosis ; Humans ; Kidney ; pathology ; Kidney Diseases ; complications ; Male ; Proteinuria ; diagnosis ; Radiography, Thoracic ; Skin ; pathology ; Treatment Outcome

INTRODUCTIONPathological pulmonary hernia is a rare clinical entity which can be caused by malignancies.

CLINICAL PICTUREA 72-year-old female presented with a painful bulge in the left 4th intercostal space. Chest radiography and computed tomography demonstrated a left pulmonary hernia, pleural effusion and destruction of ribs.

TREATMENTThe hernia sac was excised and a part of the chest wall was resected with reconstruction of residual defect.

OUTCOMEThe patient died 2 years after the treatment.

CONCLUSIONSA multidisciplinary approach involving various medical specialists may offer patients with pathological pulmonary hernia remarkable palliation and better quality of life.

Aged ; Breast Neoplasms ; complications ; pathology ; surgery ; Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast ; complications ; secondary ; Female ; Hernia ; etiology ; Herniorrhaphy ; Humans ; Lung Diseases ; etiology ; surgery ; Mastectomy ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local ; Thoracic Neoplasms ; complications ; secondary

BACKGROUND: Surgical site infection is one of the common postoperative complications of thoracic surgery, and its harm is related to infection degree and location. Light causes local pain, prolonged hospitalization and increased cost. Severe infection can lead to severe infection, even septic shock and life-threatening. Therefore, proper treatment of incision infection can help to promote recovery, reduce the burden of disease and lay a good foundation for further treatment. The traditional surgical treatment of wound infection includes thorough drainage, intensive dressing change and antibiotic use. There are many shortcomings such as long treatment process, ineffective treatment effect and so on. The experience of using vacuum sealing drainage (VSD) in 6 cases of postoperative infection patients in our department is summarized in order to improve the traditional treatment of postoperative infection in patients after thoracic surgery. METHODS: The clinical data of patients with postoperative incision infection or fistula after thoracic surgery in our department were reviewed and summarized. 6 patients treated with VSD material for postoperative infection. The process and final clinical results of them were summarized and discussed. RESULTS: In this study, fever and wound exudation disappeared within 6 h-10 h after VSD use, 5 cases of wound infection were obviously improved, the secretion disappeared and the granulation tissue grew well at the cutting edge of the operation, the second stage operation was performed to close the chest and skin. One patient was seriously infected, and the secretion was still more after VSD removal, reposition VSD device next time, the VSD device was removed 7 d later. The wound infection were obviously improved, the secretion disappeared and the granulation tissue grew well, close the chest and skin second stage. In all 6 patients, the symptoms were relieved, the symptoms improved and the surgical incision healed well. In 2 patients with esophageal cancer, the average operation time was 427.5 min, the average hospitalization time was 40 d, the average number of times of dressing change was 8.5, the average total cost during hospitalization was 111,893.47 yuan patients with chronic empyema, the average operation time was 192.5 min. The average hospital stay was 27.75 days, the average number of times of dressing change was 5.5, and the average total expenditure during hospitalization was 48,237.71 yuan. CONCLUSIONS VSD has a good effect on the treatment of postoperative incision infection patients in thoracic surgery. It can reduce the pain and burden of patients and ensure the quality of life of postoperative infected patients.
Adult ; Drainage ; instrumentation ; methods ; Esophageal Neoplasms ; complications ; surgery ; Female ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Postoperative Complications ; etiology ; surgery ; Retrospective Studies ; Thoracic Diseases ; complications ; surgery

Castleman Disease ; complications ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Dendritic Cell Sarcoma, Follicular ; complications ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Receptors, Complement 3b ; metabolism ; Thoracic Diseases ; complications ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Thoracic Wall ; Vimentin ; metabolism