Cardiothoracic surgery is undergoing a period of sweeping change. Our specialty was born out of the surgical treatment of tuberculosis and reached a "tipping point" near the half-way mark of last century.
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Thoracic
May 26, 2009
Pulmonary endoarterectomy is the treatment of choice in patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension. Traditionally, PEA is achieved by adopting periods of deep hypothermia at 18° Celsius and circulatory arrest. We present an alternative strategy, based on the application of a negative pressure in the left chambers and also in the superior vena cava.
May 6, 2009
It was a clear, cool fall morning of my first year in medical school. I had remembered that we were scheduled to have a special guest for our 8 AM lecture that morning, but little did I know how much that lecture would change my life.
May 6, 2009
The current “traditional” method for training cardiothoracic surgeons (five years of general surgery and two-three years of thoracic) dates back 80 years to a time in which the specialty consisted of operations for empyemas and tuberculosis. Needless to say, over the course of the last 80 years, the field of cardiothoracic surgery has changed dramatically.
March 24, 2009
Minimally invasive VATS enucleation of a proximal esophageal leiomyoma is a safe approach to treat this unusual benign esophageal tumor.
March 24, 2009
Surgical resection of carinal tumors can be safely accomplished via median sternotomy. Resection effectively alleviates airway obstruction. The transsternal approach provides excellent excellent exposure and should be considered for carinal tumors.
March 18, 2009
Patients with recurrent or persistent spontaneous pneumothorax are treated thoracoscopically. Those with blebs or small bullae are generally managed by stapler resection of the lesions. We have recently experimented with a new device (Endo-Floating Ball) for the coagulation of blebs as an alternative to endostapler resection.
February 5, 2009
The field of cardiothoracic surgery is undergoing a transition. Arguably, the entire field of medicine is undergoing an even more significant one.