10 Knowledge and Skills Required To learn medical thoracoscopy/pleuroscopy (MT/P), a pulmonologist needs to know the exact topographical anatomy of the thorax, the pathophysiology and pathology of respiratory diseases, their diagnostic…
8 Contraindications Medical thoracoscopy/pleuroscopy (MT/P) is a safe procedure with only a few absolute and relative contraindications (Table 8.1), and these follow logically, for the most part, from the preceding chapter…
13 Teaching Methods Thoracoscopy skills should be developed over an extended period during which physicians acquire expertise in pleural diseases and procedures (see Chapter 10, “Knowledge and Skills Required”). Technical skills…
12 Documentation Documentation of the procedure is essential since it not only provides the information to colleagues—chest physicians, oncologists, pathologists, thoracic surgeons, and others—but it is also a permanent part of…
2 Differences between Medical Thoracoscopy/Pleuroscopy and Surgical Thoracoscopy/Video-assisted Thoracic Surgery As already explained in Chapter 1, two different techniques have emerged, video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) and medical thoracoscopy/pleuroscopy (MT/ P). VATS…
9 Complications and Their Prevention Medical thoracoscopy/pleuroscopy (MT/P) is a safe and effective modality in the diagnosis and treatment of several pleuropulmonary diseases if certain standard criteria are fulfilled. Complications of…
7 Clinical Prerequisites for Medical Thoracoscopy/Pleuroscopy Medical thoracoscopy/pleuroscopy (MT/P) should be considered an invasive procedure that the chest physician should use only when other, simpler methods fail to yield a diagnosis…
6 Medical Thoracoscopy/Pleuroscopy in Research Medical thoracoscopy/pleuroscopy (MT/P) is a valuable tool for research in pleural diseases. It allows macroscopic inspection of the whole pleural cavity, including the surface of the…
4 Medical Thoracoscopy/Pleuroscopy in Children Indications for medical thoracoscopy/pleuroscopy (MT/P) in children are rare, and there are only a few publications. Rodgers and Talbert, pediatric surgeons, were the first who reported…
5 Medical Thoracoscopy/Pleuroscopy in Animals Thoracoscopy in animals relates to three different topics: use for diagnosis and treatment in animals, use for research in animals, and use for teaching of the…
