Lung volume reduction surgery
21 Lung volume reduction surgery Claudio Caviezel and Walter Weder HISTORY Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is a major and wellknown health problem. It was first described as large air spaces…
Laparoscopic cardiomyotomy for achalasia
41 Laparoscopic cardiomyotomy for achalasia SHERAZ MARKAR AND GIOVANNI ZANINOTTO INTRODUCTION AND HISTORICAL NOTES Esophageal achalasia, albeit a rare disease with an incidence ranging from 0.4 to 1.5 per 100…
Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) sympathectomy
23 Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) sympathectomy Young K. Hong and M. Blair Marshall HISTORY Dorsal sympathectomies have been performed since the beginning of the twentieth century, with the earliest reported…
Thymectomy
11 Thymectomy Larry R. Kaiser HISTORY Over the past few decades, complete removal of the thymus gland has been shown to improve the clinical course of patients with myasthenia gravis…
Anterior mediastinal lesions
9 Anterior mediastinal lesions Antonio D’andrilli, Erino Angelo Rendina and Federico Venuta The mediastinum is a virtual three-dimensional space located between the lungs, above the diaphragm, posteriorly to the sternum,…
