• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.92-95
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• 1999

The patients with prolonged air leak after lung resection surgery were generally treated by pleurodesis with sclerosing agents such as talc, tetracyclin, doxycyclin, bleomycin, vibramycin, and OK432. However, for the case like dead space resulted by incomplete reexpansion of the remaining lung, chemical pleurodesis has shown to be not as effective as expected. If the patients keep the chest tube for long period of time, the risk of thoracic empyema would increase. Most thoracic surgeons have experienced prolonged airleak which developed after lung resection. Pleurodesis with autoblood was reported as an effective method in treatment of patients with prolonged airleak. The mechanism of blood pleurodesis may be direct obliteration of BPF and reduction of dead space by clot. Therefore we successfully treated the two patients with prolonged airleak using the autoblood plus OK432 or vibramycin.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.35 no.12
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• pp.902-905
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• 2002

Pulmonary resection often leaves a pleural space problem that can cause prolonged air leaks. We describe a patient with lung cancer undergoing a right middle and lower lobectomy complicated by prolonged air leaks. He had a history of pulmonary tuberculosis and COPD. Artificial pneumoperitoneum was made by instillation of air via a small central vein catheter into the left lower quadrant on postoperative day(POD) 21. The air leak ceased on POD 23 and the chest tube was removed on POD 25.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.39 no.10 s.267
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• pp.770-774
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• 2006

Background: Continuous air leakage through chest tube after lung surgery may increase pt's hospital stay and lead to many complications including empyema etc. Chemical pleurodesis has frequently been used for prevention of air leakage. Therefore, we performed chemical pleurodesis using diluted fibrin glue in patients with continuous air leak-age and observed the effects and efficiency of treatment. Material and Method: From September, 2001 to August, 2005, 16 patients whose continuous air leakage lasted more than 7 days underwent chemical pleurodesis with diluted fibrin glue. The effects of treatment, complications and recurrences were reviewed. Dissolved fibrinogen 1.0 g and aprotinin 500,000 KIU were mixed in a 50 cc syringe (Mixed solution A). And dissolved thrombin 5,000 IU and Calcium chloride 600 mg were mixed in a 50 cc syringe (Mixed solution B). Cefazolin 1.0 g was mixed in a 50 cc syringe (Mixed solution C). Rubber tube was inserted between the chest tube and the collecting bottle. An inserted rubber tube was positioned 60cm above the patient and forming a loop appearance was done. Mixed solutions A, B and C were injected into the highest rubber tube. Results: Continuous air leakages disappeared in all f6 patients at next day. Chest tubes were removed after 3 days in all patients. Complications were chest pain in 12 patients (75%), leukocytosis in 14 patients (88%), fever and chill in 14 patients (88%). All complications were transient and disappeared without specific treatment. Conclusion: Our findings demonstrated that diluted fibrin glue chemical pleurodesis was effective in patients with continuous air leakage lasting more than 7 days. Diluted fibrin glue chemical pleurodesis had good results with acceptable complications. long term follow-up is necessary to evaluate the accurate effects of treatment and recurrence in a large number of patients.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.34 no.10
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• pp.800-804
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• 2001

The intractable pneumothorax with continuous air leakage, emphysematous lung and high operative risk treated by selective bronchial occlusion has been seldomly reported abroad. The bronchus responsible for air leakage was occluded with such materials as fibrin glue, gelatin sponge and oxidized regenerated cellulose(surgicel). We performed selective bronchial occlusion by flexible fiberoptic bronchoscopy with gelfoam in two cases. There was no complication after the procedure; therefore, we report the treatment for intractable pneumo- thorax by bronchoscopy with gelfoam packing.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.724-732
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• 2000

Background : In patients with severe chronic lung diseases even a small pneumothorax can result in life-threatening respiratory distress. It is important to treat the attack by chest tube drainage until the lung expands. Pneumothorax with a persistent air leak that does not resolve under prolonged tube thoracostomy suction is usually treated by open operation to excise or oversew a bulla or cluster of blebs to stop the air leak. Pleurodesis by the instillation of chemical agents is used for the patient who has persistent air leak and is not good candidate for surgical treatment. When the primary trial of pleurodesis with common agent fails, it is uncertain which agent should be used f or stopping the air leak by pleurodesis. It is well known that inappropriate drainage of hemothorax results in severe pleural adhesion and thickening. Based on this idea, some reports described a successful treatment with autologous blood instillation for pneumothorax patients with or without residual pleural space. We tried pleurodesis with autologous bood for pneumothorax with persistent air leak and then we evaluated the efficacy and safety. Methods : Fifteen patients who had persistent air leak in the pneumothorax complicated from the severe chronic lung disease were enrolled. They were not good candidates for surgical treatment and doxycycline pleurodesis failed to stop up their air leaks. We used a mixture of autologous blood and 50% dextrose for pleurodesis. Effect and complications were assessed by clinical out∞me, chest radiography and pulmonary function tests. Results : The mean duration of air leak was 18.4${\pm}$6.16 days before ABP (autologous blood and dextrose pleurodesis) and $5.2{\pm}1.68$ days after ABP. The mean severity of pain was $2.3{\pm}0.70$ for DP(doxycycline pleurodesis) and $1.7{\pm}0.59$ for ABDP (p<0.05). There was no other complication except mild fever. Pleural adhesion grade was a mean of $0.6{\pm}0.63$. The mean dyspnea scale was $1.7{\pm}0.46$ before pneumothrax and $2.0{\pm}0.59$ after ABDP (p>0.05). The mean $FEV_1$ was $1.47{\pm}1.01$ before pneumothorax and $1.44{\pm}1.00$ after ABDP (p>0.05). Except in 1 patient, 14 patients had no recurrent pneumothorax. Conclusion : Autologous blood pleurodesis (ABP) was successful for treatment of persistent air leak in the pneumothorax. It was easy and inexpensive and involved less pain than doxycycline pleurodesis. It did not cause complications and severe pleural adhesion. We report that ABP can be considered as a useful treatment for persistent air leak in the pneumothorax complicated from the severe chronic lung disease.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.393-398
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• 2001

배경: 일차성 자연기흉의 재발방지를 위해서 폐기포절부위에 흡수성 셀룰로스망사와 Fibrin gluefm 도포하여 수술후 재발율을 줄일 수 있는 지 알아보았다. 대상 및 방법: 1996.4우러부터 2000.6월까지 2명의 술자가 222례의 일차성 자연기흉을 수술하였으며, 수술시기와 치료방법에 따라 4군으로 나누어 비교하였다. 제1군은 1996년부터 1997년가지 비디오흉강경수술 및 기계적 늑막유착술로 시술받은 군(25례), 제 2군은 같은 기간동안 액와개흉술 및 늑막유착술로 시술받은 군(53례), 제 3군은 1998년부터 2000.4월까지 흉강경수술 및 늑만유착술로시술받은 군(110례), 제 4군은 1999.7월부터 2000.6월까지 흉강경수술 및 봉합부위를 셀룰로스망사와 Fibrin glue로 보강한 군(34례)이었다. 각 군간, 엑스선상 기흉의 크기 및 폐기포의 수나 크기에 따라 재발율, 공기누출시간 및 흉관지속지간등을 일반선형모델을 사용하여 비교 분석하였다. 결과: 대상환자는 남자 203례, 여자 19례 이었고, 나이는 14게에서 68세이었고, 평균연령은 23.2$\pm$9.6세였다. 재발한 경우는제 1군이 5례(25%), 제 2군이 2례(3.8%), 제 3군이 5례(4.5%)이었고, 제 4군은 재발례가 없었다. 재발례는 모두 수술자의 수술경험이 2년이내일 때 발생하였다. 흉관지속기간은 제 4군이 제 3군(p<0.0006) 및 제1, 제2군(p<0.0001)에 비해서 더 짧았고, 술후 공기누출이 제 4군에서는 없었다. 술전흉부엑스선상 기흉의 크기에 따른 수술후 기흉의 재발울은 경도의 기흉에서 14.3%(2/14)이었고, 중등도 기흉에서 7.4%(10/134)이었으며, 심한 기흉에서는 재발례가 없었다. 재수술한 12례중 봉합부위근처에서 기포가 발행된 경우가 9례(75%)로 많았다. 결론: 재발방지를 위한 시술로 늑막유착술을 시행하지 않고 폐기포절제부위를 흡수성 셀룰로스망사와 Fibrin glue로 덮어주는 시술은 비교적 용이하며, 수술 후 공기 누출이 없었고, 수술 후 흉관지속기간이 더 짧았고, 단기간 추적에서 재발이 없었다. 재발에 영향을 미치는 것으로 흉부엑스선상 기흉의 크기가 작은 경우에는 재발율이 더 높았고, 수술자의 경험이 중요하였다.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.30 no.11
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• pp.1111-1116
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• 1997

In a period from Sep 1994 to Sep 1996, 38 patients were treated for spontaneous pneumothorax by video-assisted thoracic surgery(VATS). 31 male and 7 female patients with ages between 17 and 79(mean 30.0 years). No death occured. The postoperative complication rate of VATS was 7.9%(3/38). We noted no recurrence of pneumothorax, 3 wound dehiscence, 3 persistent air leak(>7days) in the patients. We compared theses results with thoracoscopic surgery of spontaneous pneumothorax in 38 cases(Group A), with cases of 21 patients(Group B) performed by the thoracotomy in the same period. There have been no recurrence in groud A, and one recurrence in group B at a median follow-up of 14.37$\pm$7.48 months and 16.81 $\pm$7.12 months, respectively. There was no significant difference in the duration of operation time including induction time between VATS and thoracotomy, but postoperative hospital stay and chest tube drainage periods were all less for these undergone VATS. Postoperative complication was less in group A(3/38=7.9%, 3 cases with persistent air leak >7days, all developed wound dehiscence, too), than in group B(9/21=42.9%, 8 cases with persistent air leak more than 7days, including 2 wound dehiscence, one recurrence, and the other one case of empyema). In our experience, VATS has the effectiveness of thoracic surgery for treating thoracic problems, has resulted in surgical intervention in spontaneous pneumothorax.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.60 no.1
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• pp.72-75
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• 2006

Background : This report reviews our experience with persistent air leaks in the peumothorax that were not considered candidates for surgical treatment in order to evaluate the efficacy and risks of the OK-432 plus autoblood or OK-432 pleurodesis. Material & Methods : From March 2004 to July 2005, 8 consecutive patients who had an air leak in the pneumothorax over 5 days and had been treated with OK-432 plus autoblood or OK-432 pleurodesis. The patients were not considered candidates for surgical treatments because the chest CT findings revealed severe chronic lung disease with multiple bullae and/or bullous changes. A prolonged air leak with/without dead space was treated with either OK-432 plus autoblood or OK-432 pleurodesis. The efficacy and side effects of OK-432 pleurodesis were assessed by determining the duration of the air leak, the number of pleurodesis, the patients' symptoms, measurements of the white blood cell count and the c-reactive protein level. Results : All of eight patients were male and the mean age was $72.4{\pm}8.5$. The mean number of pleurodesis was $1.9{\pm}1.1$ and the mean duration of the air leak was $4.6{\pm}4.6days$ after pleurodesis. Side effects after pleurodesis were encountered in 7 patients, which included a chilling sensation in 7 cases, chest pain in 5 cases, headache in 3 cases, local heat sensation in 2 cases, and fever in 1 case. Leukocytosis was observed in 6 patients, and the mean of WBC count and CRP were $14500{\pm}2100$ and $21.9{\pm}11.4mg/dL$, respectively. Conclusion : Either OK-432 plus autoblood or OK-432 pleurodesis has acceptable side effects, and can be considered a treatment option for persistent air leaks in the pneumothorax that are not candidates for surgical treatment.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.29 no.10
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• pp.1143-1147
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• 1996

Video-assisted thoracic surgery(VATS) is emerging as a potentially less invasive means of managing a wide variety of thoracic disorders. VATS was performed in 46 cases, in the Department of Thoracic & Cardiovascular Surgery of Chonbuk national University Hospital from August 1992 to July 1995. There were 20 men and 26 women, whose age ranged from 14 to 56 years. They were diagnosed hyperhidrosis in 21 cases, mediastinal tumor in 12 cases, pneumothorax in· 10 cases, and one case each of lelomyoma of the esophagus, Raynaud's syndrome, Burger's disease. Operation time averaged 89.7 minutes, and no patient was converted to d thoracotomy. The number of troche used, period of chest tube drainage, and postoperative hospitalization were 3, 1.8 days, and 4.B days, respectively. The postoperative complication ocurred in 5 cases (remnant pneumothorax 1 case, phrenic nerve aralysis 1 case, persistant air leakage 2 cases, compensatory hyperhidrosis 1 case). One patient with persistent air leak was managed by thoracotomy on postoperative) days, and the other patient by chemical pleurodesis. One patient diagnosed pathologically as thymic carcinoma, was managed by radiation therapy. There was no postoperative death. VATS has the benefits of reduced postoperative pain and postoperative hospitalization, and good cutsmetic effect.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.31 no.10
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• pp.995-998
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• 1998

Background: Prolonged air leak is a common complication after thoracoscopic bullectomy. Materials and methods: A technique is described to minimize postoperative air leak in thoracoscopic surgery for the treatment of recurrent or persistent spontaneous pneumothorax. Results: A 3.5cm utility incision is made in the anterior axillary line at the level of the third intercostal space, and blebs and bullae are stapled and sutured without excision, using standard surgical instruments and stapler. Conclusions: This technique may be useful to reduce prolonged air leak after removal of the bleb and bullous lesion, and may minimize the delayed recurrence of ipsilateral pneumothorax.