BackgroundPrimary malignant or metastatic sternal tumors are uncommon. A subtotal or total sternectomy can offer a radical form of treatment. The issue is to restore the structural integrity of the chest wall.Case presentationWe report the implantation of an individualized 3D–printed titanium sternum in a patient with a sternal tumor.ConclusionsWe believe that tridimensional print technologies may also change the strategy of chest wall reconstruction.

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OBJECTIVES: This study evaluated the role of ultrasound in postoperative care after major lung resection. BACKGROUND: High accuracy of lung ultrasound imaging was proved in various medical fi elds. The experience with ultrasound after thoracic surgery is limited. METHODS: Patients scheduled for major lung resection were consecutively included in a prospective study comparing two modalities of imaging examinations, namely those employing ultrasound and X-ray in the diagnoses of pneumothorax and pleural effusion. Two examinations were performed. One after recovery from anaesthesia, the second before chest tube removal. RESULTS: Forty-eight patients underwent 87 examinations. X-ray and ultrasound examinations showed substantial and fair agreements for pneumothorax (Cohen's kappa coeffi cients 0.775 and 0.397) and slight and substantial agreements for pleural effusion (Cohen's kappa coeffi cients 0.036 and 0.611). The sensitivity bounds for pneumothorax were 45.5-58.5 % at the fi rst and 29.7-59.4 % at the second examination. Sensitivity bounds for pleural effusion were 0-86.2 % at the fi rst and 32.6-36.9 % at the second examination. Except for two cases of pneumothorax being missed by X-ray imaging, the rest of mismatches were clinically irrelevant conditions with no impact on clinical decision and patient's outcome. CONCLUSION: The use of ultrasound can reduce the number of X-ray examinations and thus lower the radiation exposure after major lung resections (Tab. 4, Ref. 30).

The authors describe a case of a 36-year-old patient who had six months’ pain of the thoracic spine and left chest. A soft slowly growing resistance was present on the dorso-lateral side of the left chest wall, in the range of the seventh to ninth rib. According to the medical history, the patient did not have any prior trauma and malignancy. A well-defined tumor of the left chest wall with calcifications, which grew to the seventh and eighth intercostal space, was present on computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR) scans. The patient underwent resection of the tumor with the chest wall and reconstruction with polypropylene mesh. Histologically, it was a venous hemangioma, one of very rare tumors of the chest wall.