Simple thoracoscopic talcage (TT) is a safe and effective treatment of primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP). However, its efficacy has not previously been estimated in comparison with standard conservative therapy (pleural drainage (PD)).In this prospective randomised comparison of two well-established procedures of treating PSP requiring at least a chest tube, cost-effectiveness, safety and pain control was evaluated in 108 patients with PSP (61 TT and 47 PD).Patients in both groups had comparable clinical characteristics. Drainage and hospitalisation duration were similar in TT and PD patients. There were no complications in either group. The immediate success rate was different: after prolonged drainage (w7 days), 10 out of 47 PD patients, but only 1 out of 61 TT patients required a TT as a second procedure. Total costs of hospitalisation including any treatment procedure were not significantly different between TT and PD patients. Pain, measured daily by visual analogue scales, was statistically higher during the first 3 days in TT patients but not in those patients receiving opiates. One month after leaving hospital, there was no significant difference in residual pain or full working ability: 20 out of 58 (34%) versus 10 out of 47 (21%) and 36 out of 61 (59%) versus 26 out of 39 (67%) in TT versus PD groups, respectively. After 5 yrs of follow-up, there had been only three out of 59 (5%) recurrences of pneumothorax after TT, but 16 out of 47 (34%) after conservative treatment by PD. Cost calculation favoured TT pleurodesis especially with regard to recurrences.In conclusion, thoracoscopic talc pleurodesis under local anaesthesia is superior to conservative treatment by chest tube drainage in cases of primary spontaneous pneumothorax that fail simple aspiration, provided there is efficient control of pain by opioids.

The safety of talc pleurodesis is under dispute following reports of talc-induced acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and death. We investigated the safety of large-particle talc for thoracoscopic pleurodesis to prevent recurrence of primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP).418 patients with recurrent PSP were enrolled between 2002 and 2008 in nine centres in Europe and South Africa. The main exclusion criteria were infection, heart disease and coagulation disorders. Serious adverse events (ARDS, death or other) were recorded up to 30 days after the procedure. Oxygen saturation, supplemental oxygen use and temperature were recorded daily at baseline and after thoracoscopic pleurodesis (2 g graded talc).During the 30-day observation period following talc poudrage, no ARDS (95% CI 0.0-0.9%), intensive care unit admission or death were recorded. Seven patients presented with minor complications (1.7%, 95% CI 0.7-3.4%). After pleurodesis, mean body temperature increased by 0.41uC (95% CI 0.33-0.48uC; p,0.001) at day 1 and returned to baseline value at day 5. Pleural drains were removed after day 4 in 80% of patients.Serious adverse events, including ARDS or death, did not occur in this large, multicentre cohort. Thoracoscopic talc poudrage using larger particle talc to prevent recurrence of PSPS can be considered safe.

We compared the value of exercise testing and measurement of pulmonary haemodynamics (PH) in the pre-operative assessment of 5 patients (mean age: 64 years, 3 men) with clinical stage I or II bronchogenic carcinoma and severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. They were considered at high risk due to poor pulmonary function tests (PFT); (one or more of the following): (1) radionuclide calculated postlobectomy FEV₁ < 30% predicted, (2) diffusion capacity or transfer factor < 60% predicted, combined with a fall in PaO₂ on maximal exercise of > 5 mm Hg, (3) a PaCO₂ at rest of > 45 mm Hg. Maximal oxygen uptake (VO_2max) during symptom-limited cycle ergometry and PH were measured in these 5 patients. They were considered eligible for lobectomy if they fulfilled at least one of the two criteria: (1) mean pulmonary artery pressure (PAP) of < 35 mm Hg and pulmonary vascular resistance of < 190 dyn·s·cm-5 at moderate exercise (40 W), (2) a VO_2MAX of > 15 ml/kg/min. Six months postoperatively PFT and VO_2max were measured again. PAP40W was 21, 38, 38, 46 and 52 mm Hg, respectively, which would have excluded 4/5 patients from surgery. VO_2max was 21.7, 14.9, 13.4, 19.2 and 18.6 ml/kg/min, respectively, which would have excluded 2/5 patients. Expressed in percent predicted, however, VO_2MAX was > 69% in all 5 patients, indicating only mild impairment of exercise capacity in the 2 patients with < 15 ml/kg/min VO_2MAX· Therefore all 5 patients were offered surgery and underwent lobectomy. Apart from 1 prolonged air leak no complications occurred, the mean hospital stay was 16 days (13-21). At 6 months their PFT and VO_2max were unchanged. In conclusion, in our series of patients with marginal pulmonary function, exercise testing with the determination of VO_2max was superior to PH measurements for the prediction of operability. It seems that VO_2max should be expressed as a percent of predicted; however, our findings will need confirmation by future studies with bigger sample sizes.

No abstract

Therapeutic bronchoscopy has come a long way from removal of foreign bodies to minimally invasive techniques in management of diseases like lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma. This article discusses the exciting new techniques of therapeutic bronchoscopy namely; bronchoscopic lung volume reduction, bronchial thermoplasty, radiofrequency ablation, and use of fiducial markers in external beam irradiation.