Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to J O Thayer.
Sarcoidosis causing the superior vena caval syndrome has been only rarely documented in the literature. We report surgical management of this problem with a spiral vein graft.
A patient with a new mediastinal mass 25 years after resection of a mediastinal bronchogenic cyst is presented. Computed tomography and subsequent thoracotomy revealed a recurrent bronchogenic cyst. This case illustrates that incompletely resected mediastinal bronchogenic cysts may recur many years later.
Spontaneous coronary artery dissection is a rare event that occurs most commonly in young, otherwise healthy women. Approximately 85 cases have been reported in the world literature. Dissection of the left main coronary artery is even less common; only 18 cases have been reported. This review discusses the incidence, presentation, pathogenesis, and management of spontaneous coronary artery dissection. The case of another patient with left main coronary artery dissection is described; to our knowledge, it is the first to be successfully treated by internal mammary artery bypass grafting.
The only long-term survivor of multiple bilateral pulmonary metastases from malignant melanoma after staged thoracotomies has been described, and a series of 18 patients who underwent pulmonary resection for metastatic malignant melanoma at one clinic have been reviewed. Median survival was 16.5 months and the 5 year survival rate was 11.1 percent. Forty-four percent of the patients had multiple metastases and 11.1 percent had bilateral metastases. There was no correlation between length of survival and disease-free interval, number of metastases, or the presence of unilateral versus bilateral tumor nodules. Twenty-seven percent of the patients had more metastases found intraoperatively than suspected preoperatively. Unfavorable results occurred when the extent of the disease required pneumonectomy. The current literature has also been reviewed and arguments have been made to support the surgical approach to carefully selected patients with metastatic melanoma to the lung.