title: Bilateral pulmonary contusion, flail chest and respiratory failure on late iatrogenic diaphragmatic eventration and severe kyphoskoliosis: a case report.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  We present a case of a 79 year old Caucasian Greek female with multiple acute and chronic diseases that in conjunction led to a critical condition.
  
  
  METHODS
  She had a chronic iatrogenic diaphragmatic eventration, chronic severe kyphoskoliosis and an acute thoracic trauma due to a falling. We decided to perform an operation for the diaphragmatic eventration and the flail chest on this patient in the hope of improving her respiratory capacity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Managing one chronic (eventration) and one acute (flail chest) thoracic disorder would restore normal mechanical properties of the thoracic cavity, although none of these diseases would be managed surgically as separate entities.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Athens Naval and Veterans Hospital, Deinokratous 70, Kolonaki, Athens, Greece. panos_hountis@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Panagiotis
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hountis
authors.forename: Sotirios
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Moraitis
authors.forename: Panagiotis
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dedeilias
authors.forename: Nikolaos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Antonopoulos
authors.forename: Levon
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Toufektzian
authors.forename: Mattheos
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Douzinas