title: [Spontaneous and recurrent pneumothorax. Surgical treatment. Apropos of 278 cases].
abstract: Over the past 19 years, 278 patients (238 men-40 women) have undergone 325 parietal pleurectomies: 311 transaxillary apical and 14 full pleurectomies. Mean age was 32 +/- 12 years. The overall male:female ratio was 6:1. Surgical treatment was performed for either recurrence of spontaneous pneumothorax or failure to respond adequately to management by tube drainage. Thirty-six patients underwent one stage bilateral apical pleurectomy. On the basis of our experience (idiopathic pneumothorax: 311; chronic obstructive lung disease: 12; histiocytosis X: 2), we advocate the use of transaxillary apical pleurectomy for the younger age group with recurrent idiopathic pneumothorax and a full pleurectomy in the older age group. Major complications occurred in 1.9% of cases (re-exploration for haemorrhage: 5 cases; for air leak: 1 case). The recurrence rate in this group of patients was 1% (3 in 278 patients: one of them has been reoperated).
authors.affiliation: Service de Chirurgie Thoracique et Cardiovasculaire, Hôpital Cardiovasculaire et Pneumologique Louis Pradel, Lyon.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Thévenet
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Gamondès
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bodzongo
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Balawi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011030:Pneumothorax / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000601:surgery*; D011656:Pulmonary Emphysema / Q000150:complications*; D012008:Recurrence; D012086:Reoperation
vernacular_title: Pneumothorax spontané et récidivant. Traitement chirurgical. A propos de 278 observations.