CURRENT CONCEPTS IN GENERAL THORACIC SURGERY Edited by Lucio Cagini Current Concepts in General Thoracic Surgery http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/3070 Edited by Lucio Cagini Contributors Michele Scialpi, Teresa Pusiol, Irene Piscioli, Alberto Rebonato, Lucio Cagini, Lucio Bellantonio, Marina Mustica, Francesco Puma, Luca Brunese and Antonio Rotondo, Noritoshi Nishiyama, Jacopo Vannucci, Cristian Rapicetta, Massimiliano Paci, Tommaso Ricchetti, Sara Tenconi, Salvatore De Franco and Giorgio Sgarbi, Constance K Haan, Naohiro Kajiwara, Masatoshi Kakihana, Jitsuo Usuda, Tatsuo Ohira, Norihiko Kawate and Norihiko Ikeda, Antonio F Corno, B Goslin and R Hooker, José Francisco Valderrama Marcos, María Teresa González López and Julio Gutiérrez de Loma, Christodoulos Kaoutzanis, Tiffany N.S Ballard and Paul S Cederna, Slobodan Milisavljević, Marko Spasić and Miloš Arsenijević, Nicolas J Mouawad, Ajay Gupta, Hiroshi Makino, Hiroshi Yoshida and Eiji Uchida, Christopher Rolfes, Stephen Howard, Ryan Goff and Paul A Iaizzo Published by InTech Janeza Trdine 9, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia Copyright © 2012 InTech All chapters are Open Access distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license, which allows users to download, copy and build upon published articles even for commercial purposes, as long as the author and publisher are properly credited, which ensures maximum dissemination and a wider impact of our publications After this work has been published by InTech, authors have the right to republish it, in whole or part, in any publication of which they are the author, and to make other personal use of the work Any republication, referencing or personal use of the work must explicitly identify the original source Notice Statements and opinions expressed in the chapters are these of the individual contributors and not necessarily those of the editors or publisher No responsibility is accepted for the accuracy of information contained in the published chapters The publisher assumes no responsibility for any damage or injury to persons or property arising out of the use of any materials, instructions, methods or ideas contained in the book Publishing Process Manager Oliver Kurelic Typesetting InTech Prepress, Novi Sad Cover InTech Design Team First published November, 2012 Printed in Croatia A free online edition of this book is available at www.intechopen.com Additional hard copies can be obtained from orders@intechopen.com Current Concepts in General Thoracic Surgery, Edited by Lucio Cagini p cm ISBN 978-953-51-0870-2 Contents Preface IX Chapter Malignant Pulmonary Solitary Nodules: High Resolution Computed Tomography Morphologic and Ancillary Features in the Differentiation of Histotypes Michele Scialpi, Teresa Pusiol, Irene Piscioli, Alberto Rebonato, Lucio Cagini, Lucio Bellantonio, Marina Mustica, Francesco Puma, Luca Brunese and Antonio Rotondo Chapter Primary Lung Cancer Coexisting with Lung Metastases from Various Malignancies 15 Noritoshi Nishiyama Chapter The Acute Stress Reaction to Major Thoracic Surgery 25 Lucio Cagini, Jacopo Vannucci, Michele Scialpi and Francesco Puma Chapter Short and Long Term Results of Major Lung Resections in Very Elderly People 41 Cristian Rapicetta, Massimiliano Paci, Tommaso Ricchetti, Sara Tenconi, Salvatore De Franco and Giorgio Sgarbi Chapter Risk Prediction and Outcome Analysis 65 Constance K Haan Chapter Robot Assisted Thoracic Surgery (RATS) 89 Naohiro Kajiwara, Masatoshi Kakihana, Jitsuo Usuda, Tatsuo Ohira, Norihiko Kawate and Norihiko Ikeda Chapter Valved Conduits Right Ventricle to Pulmonary Artery for Complex Congenital Heart Defects 101 Antonio F Corno Chapter Surgical Management of the Aortic Root 113 B Goslin and R Hooker VI Contents Chapter Robotic Resection of Left Atrial Myxoma 147 José Francisco Valderrama Marcos, María Teresa González López and Julio Gutiérrez de Loma Chapter 10 Thoracic Reconstruction 165 Christodoulos Kaoutzanis, Tiffany N.S Ballard and Paul S Cederna Chapter 11 Thoracic Trauma 197 Slobodan Milisavljević, Marko Spasić and Miloš Arsenijević Chapter 12 Thoracic Vascular Trauma 239 Nicolas J Mouawad, Christodoulos Kaoutzanis and Ajay Gupta Chapter 13 Endoscopic Clipping and Application of Fibrin Glue for an Esophago-Mediastinal Fistula 263 Hiroshi Makino, Hiroshi Yoshida and Eiji Uchida Chapter 14 Localized Drug Delivery for Cardiothoracic Surgery 279 Christopher Rolfes, Stephen Howard, Ryan Goff and Paul A Iaizzo Preface The Aim of “Current Concepts of General Thoracic Surgery” is to provide a brief overview of several topics in this field It includes a collection of contributions from many outstanding Authors who provide their knowledge and experience from many countries around the world We apologize for the chapters reviewed that have were not chosen for publication in this book; however, according to the single centres experience, the final result offers thorough and precious information on the several topics evaluated by the Authors The wide range of subjects discussed goes from CT assessment of solitary pulmonary and metastatic nodules to prospective studies of drug delivery in thoracic surgery including surgical risk prediction, stress reaction, robotic pulmonary and cardiac procedures, vascular and thoracic reconstruction techniques, thoracic trauma and mediastinal fistula I believe that this book represents an enhancement in the knowledge and in the involvement of individuals dedicated to these areas of study It is my duty and pleasure to thank colleagues who helped me in the interesting and stimulating review process; Dr Stefano Pasquino for cardiac surgery and Professor Francesco Puma for his many worthwhile suggestions Lucio Cagini Thoracic Surgery Unit, Department of Surgical, Radiologic, and Odontostomatologic Sciences, University of Perugia, S Maria della Misericordia Hospital, Perugia, Italy 290 Current Concepts in General Thoracic Surgery the delivery of preconditioning therapies during surgical preparation, 2) providing for therapies that promote vascular genesis after CABG, and 3) the prophylactic administration of antiarrhythmic agents in order to prevent post-operative AF We believe that the possible treatments for the myocardium are numerous and will provide a few specific examples below, following a review of pericardial anatomy 3.1 Anatomy of the pericardium The pericardium is made up of two connected structures The innermost layer is serous membrane which is inseparable from the epicardial surface, and is called the “visceral pericardium.” The continuous serous membrane is folded in on itself and the single layer also makes up the inner surface of the parietal pericardium The single layer of mesothelial cells is indistinguishable from the fibrous outer layer (Figure 2) Together, the parietal and fibrous layers make up the outer layer, or “parietal pericardium.” This is the most prominent layer of the pericardium and is what we generally think of when we discuss the pericardium Figure Schematic of the layers of the pericardium The upper right shows a schematic diagram of the serous and fibrous pericardium with respect to the heart The expanded cross-section view shows the attachment of two layers of the serous pericardium (visceral and parietal) to the myocardium and fibrous pericardium, respectively Localized Drug Delivery for Cardiothoracic Surgery 291 The healthy pericardium contains 20-60 mL of pericardial fluid This fluid, an ultrafiltrate of the plasma [46], surrounds the heart, with the majority concentrated in the pericardial sinuses and atrioventricular grooves This fluid normally drains into the lymphatic system at a relatively slow rate, measured to be a volume equivalent to every 5-7 hours in sheep [47] However, as pericardial fluid pressure increases, such as in the case of cardiac tamponade, investigators have found that not only does lymphatic drainage increase [48], but fluid may pass through the pericardium and enter the pleural space [49] Though the volume of pericardial fluid is not evenly distributed, it is generally found to be well mixed due to the motion of the heart; thus agents can be considered to be quickly and evenly dispersed throughout [47] Even though there is only a relatively small amount of fluid circulating around the ventricles, this aforementioned mixing action will help maintain even distribution of any additions to the pericardial fluid epicardially, thus maintaining consistent gradients relative to the myocardium While the parietal pericardium is generally considered as non-compliant, the overall pericardial space can accommodate moderate increases in the amount of fluid by filling in the pericardial sinuses However, once this reserve volume space is filled, pericardial pressure quickly increases with added volume, i.e., symptomatic tamponade is elicited (Figure 3) Figure Percardial pressure vs pericardial volume As pericardial fluid volume increases, the pericardial reserve volume is filled Once the reserve volume is full, pressure within the pericardium rapidly rises causing cardiac tamponade and functional depression 3.2 The basic physiology associated with the pericardium The fibrous (parietal) pericardium is 1-3 mm thick in healthy humans, and as noted above, is considered as minimally or non-compliant In fact, because of these features, multiple bioartificial replacement heart valves are made with leaflets of either bovine of swine 292 Current Concepts in General Thoracic Surgery pericardium As such, this tough layer has the primary function to physically constrain the heart While this may not have a large influence at rest, during physical exertion, cardiac filling becomes limited by the pericardium Further, it has been noted that an intact pericardium also increases cardiac chamber interdependence, i.e., increased pressure in one chamber affects other chambers because the total volume is restricted by the pericardium A more detailed review can be found in the Handbook of Cardiac Anatomy, Physiology, and Devices [50] Typically during cardiothoracic surgery, the pericardium needs to be opened to obtain direct myocardial access, and at the end of a procedure the pericardium is not typically closed This in turn reduces the risk of post-surgical cardiac tamponade, as pressure cannot build up easily in an open pericardium However, the lack of a barrier between the heart and the healing incision site typically leads to scarring and epicardial fusions within this wound site Typically, this has minor consequences—that is until a subsequent open-heart procedure needs to be performed — and both the initial incisions and heart access are complicated by these additional fibroses It has been suggested that a barrier placed between the sternum and myocardium would potentially limit the buildup of subsequent adhesions and make reentry less risky While synthetic barriers such as the absorbable CovaCard (BIOM’UP, Lyon, France) are being developed [51], the native or graft pericardium also may provide a natural and available option Relative to physiological consequences, in addition to reducing reoperative complications, the closure of the pericardial sac following cardiac surgery has been proposed to reduce long-term cardiac performance and aid in maintaining diastolic function and ventricular geometry, as well as reduce right ventricular dysfunction [52], [53] Additionally, one could also consider that a closed pericardium may also provide a reservoir space for subsequent pericardial therapies Yet, one reported limitation to pericardial closure is that it can acutely reduce cardiac indices and stroke work [54] More specifically, Rao et al corroborated that these functions were reduced one hour post-operatively in patients who had pericardial closure (P