title: Videothoracoscopic identification of chondromatous hamartoma of the lung.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The main disadvantage of a videothoracoscopic procedure is the lack of touch sensation. The probability of easily finding the lesion is usually estimated according to computed tomography (CT).
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To find useful parameters of location of chondromatous hamartoma of the lung parenchyma in relation to its size to assess the probability of successful search via a videothoracoscopic approach only.
  
  
  METHODS
  A group of 55 patients operated on for chondromatous hamartoma of the lung at the First Department of Surgery in Olomouc from January 2006 to June 2011 was analyzed. Initially, the tumor's longest diameter and its nearest distance to the pleural surface were measured on CT scans. Subsequently, the surgery began using the videothoracoscopic approach. A short thoracotomy with direct palpation followed when videothoracoscopy failed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No significant differences in age, sex and side of localization between the group with and without successful videothoracoscopic detection were found. A significant difference was found in the median size (p = 0.026) and the depth of the tumor (p < 0.0001) and in the calculated index "tumor size/depth" (p < 0.0001). Deeper analysis revealed that the parameters "depth" and "index size/depth" are considered to be good predictors but the parameter "size" is not a suitable predictor.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The main predictors of successful videothoracoscopic detection of lung chondromatous hamartoma are considered to be the depth of the tumor in the lung parenchyma with a cut-off value ≤ 7.5 mm and the index "size/depth" with a cut-off value ≥ 1.54; the tumor size is not considered to be a good predictor.
authors.affiliation: The First Department of Surgery, Palacký University Teaching Hospital, Olomouc, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Tomàš
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bohanes
authors.forename: Marek
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Szkorupa
authors.forename: Jiří
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Klein
authors.forename: Cestmír
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Neoral
authors.forename: Jana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zapletalová
authors.forename: Josef
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chudáček
authors.forename: Katherine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Vomáčková
authors.forename: Radek
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vrba
keywords: chondromatous hamartoma; lung; pulmonary nodule; video-assisted thoracic surgery; videothoracoscopy