title: Thoracolithiasis diagnosed by thoracoscopy under local anesthesia.
abstract: A 68-year-old woman was referred to our hospital for a lung nodule identified on chest radiography. Computed tomography (CT) showed a 10-mm calcified nodule in the left thoracic cavity. On follow-up CT, the nodule was found in a different location within the left thoracic cavity. Thoracoscopy was performed under local anesthesia, removing a pearl-like pleural stone. Thoracolithiasis was therefore diagnosed without any complications. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on thoracoscopy under local anesthesia for the diagnosis of thoracolithiasis. When thoracolithiasis is suspected, thoracoscopy under local anesthesia is minimally invasive and useful, and could be considered as an option for definite diagnosis.
authors.affiliation: Division of Respiratory Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Shiga University of Medical Science Otsu, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nakagawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Critical and Intensive Medicine, Shiga University of Medical Science Otsu, Japan.
authors.forename: Masatsugu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ohuchi
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Kohka Public Hospital Kohka, Japan.
authors.forename: Takuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fujita
authors.affiliation: Department of General Thoracic Surgery, National Hospital Organization Higashi-Ohmi General Medical Center Higashi-Ohmi, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshitomo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ozaki
authors.affiliation: Division of Respiratory Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Shiga University of Medical Science Otsu, Japan.
authors.forename: Yasutaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nakano
authors.affiliation: Department of General Thoracic Surgery, National Hospital Organization Higashi-Ohmi General Medical Center Higashi-Ohmi, Japan.
authors.forename: Shuhei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Inoue
keywords: Intrathoracic calculus; local anesthesia; lung nodule; thoracolithiasis; thoracoscopy