title: Reply.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Thoracic Surgery, Juntendo University School of Medicine, 1-3, Hongo 3 chome, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan 113-8431.
authors.forename: Aritoshi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hattori
authors.affiliation: Department of General Thoracic Surgery, Juntendo University School of Medicine, 1-3, Hongo 3 chome, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan 113-8431. Electronic address: kjsuzuki@juntendo.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Suzuki