OBJECTIVETo describe the population-wide incidence of Zenker diverticulum over a 20-year period and characterize management strategies across specialties and treatment settings. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTSThis retrospective national cohort study was conducted from January 1, 1996, through December 31, 2015, and reviewed patient records from the Care Register for Healthcare in Finland, from which patients with Zenker diverticulum were identified. The data were analyzed in October 2021. EXPOSURES Zenker diverticulum. MAIN OUTCOME AND MEASURE The incidence of Zenker diverticulum per 100 000 person-years. RESULTS A total of 2736 patients (median [IQR] age at diagnosis 72.0 [19-106] years; 1278 women [46.7%]) were identified, making the annual incidence of Zenker diverticulum in Finland 2.9/100 000 person-years. Men had higher incidence (3.7/100 000 person-years) compared with women (2.3/100 000 person-years), with an incidence rate ratio of 1.61 (95% CI, 1.48-1.76; P < .001). Within the study population, 1044 patients (38.2%) underwent surgical treatment and 227 (8.3%) underwent 2 or more surgeries. The choice of initial operative approach depended on the medical specialty (Cramer V = 0.41) and on specific catchment area (Cramer V = 0.41). Overall, endoscopic approaches for initial operations were most popular. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCEThe cohort study results found that the incidence of Zenker diverticulum was 2.9/100 000 person-years. Most patients with Zenker diverticulum did not undergo definitive therapy. Some hospital districts and some medical specialties were more likely to opt for conservative treatment than others. The choice of operative approach depended more on physician-level factors rather than patient profiles.

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Very long-term health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is an important end point in operated early stage non esmall-cell lung cancer with good prognosis. The results for very long-term HRQoL after minimally invasive video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) has not been evaluated and compared to thoracotomy. Surprisingly, inferior overall HRQoL was evident for patients operated with VATS, independent of preoperative factors including age, comorbidities, and pulmonary function tests. Background: As a result of routine low-dose computed tomographic screening, lung cancer is more frequently diagnosed at earlier, operable stages of disease. In treating local nonesmall-cell lung cancer, video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS), a minimally invasive surgical approach, has replaced thoracotomy as the standard of care. While short-term quality-of-life outcomes favor the use of VATS, the impact of VATS on long-term health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is unknown. Patients and Methods: We studied patients who underwent lobectomy for the treatment of nonesmall-cell lung cancer from January 2006 to January 2013 at a single institution (n ¼ 456). Patients who underwent segmentectomy (n ¼ 27), who received neoadjuvant therapy (n ¼ 13), or who were found to have clinical stage > T2 or > N0 disease (n ¼ 45) were excluded from analysis. At time of HRQoL assessment, 199 patients were eligible for study and were mailed the generic HRQoL instrument 15D. Results: A total of 180 patients (90.5%) replied; 92 respondents underwent VATS while 88 underwent open thoracotomy. The VATS group more often had adenocarcinoma (P ¼ .006), and lymph node stations were sampled to a lesser extent (P ¼ .004); additionally, hospital length of stay was shorter among patients undergoing VATS (P ¼ .001). No other clinical or pathologic differences were observed between the 2 groups. Surprisingly, patients who underwent VATS scored significantly lower on HRQoL on the dimensions of breathing, speaking, usual activities, mental function, and vitality, and they reported a lower total 15D score, which reflects overall quality of life (P < .05). Conclusion: In contrast to earlier short-term reports, long-term quality-of-life measures are worse among patients who underwent VATS compared to thoracotomy.

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Inferior positive mediastinal N2 node patients seem to have an OS and PFS as poor as multilevel N2 disease patients. The OS and PFS of patients with positive hilar disease are similar to those in the inferior mediastinal positive N2 group. Superior positive mediastinal N2 node patients have better OS and PFS than the inferior mediastinal positive N2 group.

survival rates of p-I-II and IIIA mutant/wild were 96.8%/ 92.1% and 81.6%/61.8% respectively. The median survival time of p-stageIIIA mutant was 80.5 months, and those of others were not reached. The 3-year DFS of p-I-II and IIIA mutant/wild were 78.3%/69.2% and 27.1%/ 45.1%, respectively. There were no significant difference in OS and DFS at each p-stage despite the EGFR mutational status. Compared to the wild type, the p-IIIA mutant group had a poor DFS. Conversely, compared to wild type, the p-I mutant group showed a favorable DFS. According to the subtypes of EGFR mutation, there were no significant differences among EGFR subtypes, but pts with 19del tended to have the worst DFS. In subgroup analysis of 131 pts with recurrence, 3-year survival rate of p-I-II and IIIA mutant/wild were 92.0%/75.8% and 80.8%/45.6% respectively. Pts with p-IIIA mutant showed significantly favorable OS than those of wild type (p¼0.014) as well as with p-I-II wild type. Although OS was not significantly different among the subtypes of EGFR mutation, pts with 19del showed statistically better prognosis than shown by the wild type (p¼0.038). Conclusion: EGFR status was an independent prognostic factor in pts with surgically resected lung adenocarcinoma. Particularly, EGFR exon 19 deletion might be the strongest predictive factor of poor DFS and good OS in resected lung adenocarcinoma.

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Background: Computed tomography (CT) is widely used in the diagnosis of giant paraesophageal hernias (GPEH) but has not been utilised systematically for follow-up. We performed a cross-sectional observational study to assess mid-term outcomes of elective laparoscopic GPEH repair. The primary objective of the study was to evaluate the radiological hernia recurrence rate by CT and to determine its association with current symptoms and quality of life. Methods: All non-emergent laparoscopic GPEH repairs between 2010 to 2015 were identified from hospital medical records. Each patient was offered non-contrast CT and sent questionnaires for disease-specific symptoms and health-related quality of life. Results: The inclusion criteria were met by 165 patients (74% female, mean age 67 years). Total recurrence rate was 29.3%. Major recurrent hernia (> 5 cm) was revealed by CT in 4 patients (4.3%). Radiological findings did not correlate with symptom-related quality of life. Perioperative mortality occurred in 1 patient (0.6%). Complications were reported in 27 patients (16.4%). Conclusions: Successful laparoscopic repair of GPEH requires both expertise and experience. It appears to lead to effective symptom relief with high patient satisfaction. However, small radiological recurrences are common but do not affect postoperative symptom-related patient wellbeing.