Endobronchial valve therapy has evolved over the past decade, with demonstration of significant improvements in pulmonary function, 6-minute walk distance, and quality of life in patients with end-stage chronic obstructive…
Lung volume reduction surgery (LVRS) patient selection guidelines are based on the National Emphysema Treatment Trial. Because of increased mortality and poor improvement in functional outcomes, patients with non–upper lobe…
Chronic obstructive pulmonary usually is subcategorized into 2 groups: chronic bronchitis and emphysema. The main cause of chronic bronchitis and emphysema is smoking; however, alpha1-antitrypsin also has been seen to…
Postoperative air leak is one of the most common complications after pulmonary resection and contributes to postoperative pain, complications, and increased hospital length of stay. Several risk factors, including both…
Lung volume reduction surgery can significantly improve quality of life for properly selected patients who are symptomatic despite maximal medical management for emphysema. This requires a well-constructed multidisciplinary team (including…
As palliative treatment, lung volume reduction surgery can be offered to a selected subset of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients. Careful adherence to established inclusion and exclusion criteria is critical…
Publication of the National Emphysema Treatment Trial (NETT) in 2003 established lung volume reduction surgery (LVRS) as a viable treatment of select patients with moderate to severe emphysema, and the…
The National Emphysema Treatment Trial compared medical treatment of severe pulmonary emphysema with lung-volume-reduction surgery in a multiinstitutional randomized prospective fashion. Two decades later, this trial remains one of the…
Inhaled therapy remains the cornerstone of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease pharmacologic care, but some systemic treatments can be of help when the burden of the disease remains high. Azithromycin, phosphodiesterase-4…
Minimally invasive surgical approaches to the treatment of thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS) will become increasingly common as more surgeons gain experience in thoracoscopic and robotic technique. Robotic surgery may be…
