title: Resection of Posterior Mediastinal Tumors by Video Assisted Thoracic Surgery.
abstract: This case report illustrates successful Video Assisted Thoracic Surgery (VATS) performed on a 45-year-old woman and 52-year-old man presenting with a mass in left and right paravertebral space on the CT scan respectively. VATS has many benefits over traditional open operation (thoracotomy), resulting in less pain and shorten recovery time. However, VATS has higher equipment cost but when an experienced surgeon performs the surgery, better outcomes are achieved. VATS is not common in Pakistan's surgical setup as it is an expensive method of eradicating mediastinal pathologies and not every patient undergoes VATS. The primary objective of presenting these cases is to promote the use of VATS specifically for removal of posterior mediastinal tumors and improve the surgical outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, The Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi.
authors.forename: Taimur Asif
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Ali
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, The Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi.
authors.forename: Saulat Hasnain
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Fatimi
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, The Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi.
authors.forename: Syed Saad
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Naeem
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008479:Mediastinal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery*; D008482:Mediastinum / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D010154:Pakistan; D020775:Thoracic Surgery, Video-Assisted; D013908:Thoracotomy; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D016896:Treatment Outcome