title: The role of surgery in the management of pleuropulmonary tuberculosis - seven years' experience at a single institution.
abstract: Pleuropulmonary tuberculosis (TB) is a relatively frequent condition (the incidence of (TB) was 176/100,000 in our county in 2004) and some of these patients with TB are undergoing surgical interventions. The authors share their experience in surgical treatment of pleuropulmonary tuberculosis, based on minimal invasive techniques such as VATS and filling the residual cavities with muscle or skin-muscle grafts. The authors are retrospectively revising 144 patients between 1 January 2001 and 31 December 2007 who underwent surgical treatment for tuberculosis in this period. Two hundred and thirteen surgical procedures were performed for pleuropulmonary tuberculosis, representing 4% of all the procedures done in the department. For most of the patients the etiological diagnosis was not established until the operations, all the patients were sputum-negative. The diagnoses at the admittance were: pulmonary nodules or tumors (42 patients), pleural collections (46), pleural thickening and post-tuberculosis syndromes (46), fibrocavitary tuberculosis (6), and tuberculous pericarditis (4). Of all the procedures applied, 14 were pulmonary resections, 50 atypical (wedge) resections, 70 video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) procedures, and nine patients needed muscle or skin-musle flap for residual pleural cavities. Eleven patients (7.6%) had to undergo secondary surgery due to complications. No in-hospital mortality was registered. The mean hospitalisation period was 10.1+/-4.2 (S.D.) days.
authors.affiliation: Municipal Clinical Emergency Hospital Timisoara, Romania. csaba.kerti@gmail.com
authors.forename: Csaba-Antal
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Kerti
authors.forename: Iris
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Miron
authors.forename: Gabriel V
authors.initials: GV
authors.lastname: Cozma
authors.forename: Ovidiu N
authors.initials: ON
authors.lastname: Burlacu
authors.forename: Calin P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Tunea
authors.forename: Voicu T
authors.initials: VT
authors.lastname: Voiculescu
authors.forename: Eustatiu F
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: Memu
authors.forename: Alexandru C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Nicodin
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009132:Muscles / Q000637:transplantation; D013510:Pulmonary Surgical Procedures / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods; D012086:Reoperation; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016038:Skin Transplantation; D013524:Surgical Flaps; D020775:Thoracic Surgery, Video-Assisted; D013908:Thoracotomy; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014396:Tuberculosis, Pleural / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D055815:Young Adult