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BACKGROUND: The Ravitch procedure is a well-established surgical procedure for correction of chest wall deformities. Sternal wedge osteotomy is an important part of this procedure. We studied the incidence of wedge osteotomy with respect to the type of chest wall deformity in patients undergoing surgical correction with the use of a recently developed chest wall stabilization system. METHODS: A total of 47 patients, 39 (83%) male and 8 (17%) female with a mean age of 14.9 ± 2.1 years, underwent the Ravitch procedure. Twenty-four (51.1%) had pectus carinatum, 19 (40.4%) had pectus excavatum, and 4 (8.5%) had pectus arcuatum. A conventional or oblique sternal wedge osteotomy was performed as indicated, followed by chest wall stabilization using the MedXpert system. RESULTS: Of the 47 patients, 27 (57.4%) had a sternal wedge osteotomy. All cases of pectus arcuatum and redo cases underwent sternal wedge osteotomy. Pectus excavatum cases tended to have a greater incidence of wedge osteotomy compared to pectus carinatum cases (68.4% vs. 41.7%, p = 0.052). Patients with more resected ribs had a greater rate of wedge osteotomy (63.4%) compared to those with fewer resected ribs (16.7%, p = 0.043). CONCLUSIONS: A sternal wedge osteotomy is more commonly performed in patients with pectus excavatum compared to those with pectus carinatum. All redo and pectus arcuatum cases need a wedge osteotomy for proper correction. Wedge osteotomy is very likely in more aggressive corrections with more rib resections.

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Traumatic pulmonary pseudocyst is uncommon and usually regresses spontaneously with conservative treatment. In rare cases, surgical intervention may be necessary. A pseudocyst may be treated surgically to prevent potential complications if the patient undergoes a thoracotomy for another reason. We present a patient with hemopneumothorax and traumatic pulmonary pseudocyst after a motor vehicle accident, who was operated on electively due to massive air leak.

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Management of pain following thoracotomy is an important issue for the control of early morbidity. We herein present the case of a patient who was referred to our hospital after a fall from a height. Right-sided multiple rib fractures, hemopneumothorax, and diaphragmatic rupture were detected. Thoracic epidural catheterization was performed for pain management just before thoracotomy. The patient developed unilateral anhidrosis postoperatively. We discuss this rare complication of thoracic epidural analgesia with a review of relevant literature.

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First rib fractures are scarce due to their well-protected anatomic locations. Bilateral first rib fractures accompanying bilateral scapular fractures are very rare, although they may be together with scapular and clavicular fractures. According to our knowledge, no case of bilateral first rib fractures accompanying bilateral scapular fractures has been reported, so we herein discussed the diagnosis, treatment, and complications of bone fractures due to thoracic trauma in bias of this rare entity.

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Traumatic asphyxia is a rare syndrome caused by blunt thoracoabdominal trauma and characterized by cyanosis, edema, and subconjunctival and petechial hemorrhage on the face, neck, upper extremities, and the upper parts of the thorax. Traumatic asphyxia is usually diagnosed by history and inspection; however, the patient should be monitored more closely due to probable complications of thoracoabdominal injuries. Treatment is conservative, but the prognosis depends on the severity of the associated injuries. Herein we present a traumatic asphyxia due to an elevator accident in a 32-year-old male patient and discuss the diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis by reviewing the relevant literature.

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Surgical stabilization of the rib fractures has been successfully performed for the management of pain in multiple rib fractures, fixation of chronically painful nonunion, reduction of overriding ribs, and flail chest cases. Herein we report a patient who was treated with titanium rib clips after a motor vehicle accident leading to pulmonary parenchymal laceration and multiple painful rib fractures. Three of the rib clips were broken 4 months after the operation. The patient underwent the second operation for restabilization of the broken ribs. We review the relevant literature, with particular emphasis on the management of this complication.

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BACKGROUND: The impacts of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) immunoexpression and RAS immunoexpression on the survival and prognosis of lung adenocarcinoma patients are debated in the literature. METHODS: Twenty-six patients, who underwent pulmonary resections between 2002 and 2007 in our clinic, and whose pathologic examinations yielded adenocarcinoma, were included in the study. EGFR and RAS expression levels were examined by immunohistochemical methods. The results were compared with the survival, stage of the disease, nodal involvement, lymphovascular invasion, and pleural invasion. Nonparametric bivariate analyses were used for statistical analyses. RESULTS: A significant link between EGFR immunoexpression and survival has been identified while RAS immunoexpression and survival have been proven to be irrelevant. Neither EGFR, nor RAS has displayed a significant link with the stage of the disease, nodal involvement, lymphovascular invasion, or pleural invasion. CONCLUSIONS: Positive EGFR immunoexpression affects survival negatively, while RAS immunoexpression has no effect on survival in lung adenocarcinoma patients.

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Prolonged air leak following pulmonary resections is an important cause of morbidity and increased hospital costs. We compared 19 homologous/autologous tissue glue (fibrin glue) applied patients (FG group), 12 beriplast-P applied patients (beriplast group) and 27 control patients with respect to prolonged air leak, chest tube removal time and hospital costs. The mean ages for FG group (19 patients), beriplast group (12 patients) and control group (27 patients) were 48.5 +/- 14, 50.5 +/- 6.8 and 55 +/- 12.9 respectively. The groups were comparable with respect to age (p= 0.210), sex (p= 0.287) and the surgical procedure performed (p= 0.289). The incidence of prolonged air leak in FG group, beriplast group and the control group was 48%, 50% and 63%, respectively (p= 0.533). The mean chest tube removal time in FG group, beriplast group and the control group was 10.7 +/- 8.7, 9 +/- 4.1 and 8 +/- 3.1 days, respectively (p= 0.282). Mean hospital costs in FG group, beriplast group and the control group were 4633 +/- 3272 YTL, 4611 +/- 1583 YTL and 4015 +/- 911 YTL, respectively (p= 0.547). Fibrin glue had no effect on the incidence of prolonged air leak, chest tube removal time and hospital costs.

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