title: History of thoracoscopic surgery in Japan and the world.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to review articles to learn how current thoracoscopic surgery was developed to the present status.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Internet literature search engines PubMed and Index Medicus were used to search for the published articles. Interpretation of the articles was reflected in the reviewer's personal experience, who was closely associated with the developmental history.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Altogether, 49 articles were selected and reviewed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A variety of applications of thoracoscopy have been developed. It remains the major surgical technique in thoracic surgery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of California Irvine, School of Medicine, Irvine, CA, USA. awakabay@verizon.net
authors.forename: Akio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wakabayashi
mesh_terms: D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D013896:Thoracic Diseases / Q000266:history* / Q000601:surgery; D013906:Thoracoscopy / Q000266:history*