[Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery in diagnosis and treatment of pleuritis].
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate possibilites of video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery in diagnosis and treatment of pleuritis. 1997-2002 in Department of Thoracic Surgery and Oncology of Vilnius University Institute of Oncology 206 patients underwent videothoracoscopic procedures (146 (70.8%) of them for pleuritis). All procedures were performed in general anesthesia using double lumen tube. Mean patient age was 61+/-10 years. One hundred three women (71%) and 43 men (29%) were operated. Seventy four (51%) chemopleurodesis was performed with pleural biopsies: for 2 patients (1.36%) bleocine was used, and for 74 patients (50.6%) sterile talk.


RESULTS
Significance of pleural videobiopsies reaches 93%. Eleven patients (7%) failed in diagnosis: in 5 cases (3.4 %) due to adhesions, in 6 cases (3.4%) we made false positive diagnosis.


RESULTS
postoperative pneumonia - 12 patients (8.8%), pneumothorax - 2 patients (1.5%), pleural empiema - 1 patient (0.75%), bleeding - 1 patient (0.75%).


CONCLUSIONS
Specificity of video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery in pleural diseases reaches 93.0%. Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery is necessary even in cases of failed "blind" biopsies and possible in elderly patients. Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery provides not only easy morphologic verification of pleural diseases but also performance of chemopleurodesis.
Piscikas
Dainius Amerigas
DA
Institute of Oncology, Vilnius University, Santariskiu 1, 2021 Vilnius, Lithuania. vuoipiscikas@yahoo.com
Cicenas
Saulius
S
Jackevicius
Algirdas
A
Krasauskas
Arnoldas
A
Jakubauskiene
Renata
R
D000368:Aged; D000768:Anesthesia, General; D000903:Antibiotics, Antineoplastic / Q000008:administration & dosage; D001706:Biopsy; D001761:Bleomycin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D003951:Diagnostic Errors; D016724:Empyema, Pleural / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007442:Intubation, Intratracheal; D008297:Male; D008654:Mesothelioma / Q000175:diagnosis; D008875:Middle Aged; D010994:Pleura / Q000473:pathology; D010997:Pleural Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000556:secondary; D010998:Pleurisy / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D018700:Pleurodesis / Q000379:methods*; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000209:etiology; D011030:Pneumothorax / Q000209:etiology; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013627:Talc / Q000008:administration & dosage; D020775:Thoracic Surgery, Video-Assisted
D000903:Antibiotics, Antineoplastic; D001761:Bleomycin; D013627:Talc