• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.155-161
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• 1998

Between January 1979 and August 1996, resection of a primary chest wall tumor was done in 51 patients. The mean age of the patients was 36.1 years(2 to 69 years). A palpable mass was the most common symptom(32 patients, 62.7%). The tumor was malignant in 11 patients (21.6%) and benign in 40 patients(78.4%). The tumors in 32 patients(62.7%) had developed from the bony or the cartilaginous wall and in 19 patients(37.3%) from soft tissue. Thirty seven of the patients with benign tumors were treated by excision (three of the patients: wide resection and reconstruction) without recurrence or death, and they are currently free from disease. Most malignancies(8 patients) were treated by wide resection and chest wall reconstruction. Five of them are currently alive. The chest wall reconstruction with Marlex mesh, Prolene mesh, or Teflon felt was done in five of the patients with malignant tumors. There was no operative or hospital mortality among the total 51 patients.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.31 no.10
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• pp.988-994
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• 1998

Background: Chest wall tumors can classified into soft tissue tumors and bone tissue tumors and can be subclassified into benign and malignant tumors. Materials and methods: We report an analysis of 68 patients with primary chest wall tumors treated at the department of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery at Hanyang University Hospital from January, 1973 to September 1997. Results: Among a total of 68 patients 33(48.5%) were males and 35(51.5%) were females. The ages of the patients ranged from 10 to 79 years with a mean age of 39.3 years. According to the age distribution, 23 patients (33.8%) were from the 4th decade, 12 patients(17.6%) were from the 6th decade, and 10 patients(14.7%) were from the 5th decade. Among the primary chest wall tumors, 53 cases were benign and 15 cases were malignant. Among the benign tumors, 17 cases(32.1%) were in the 4th decade and among the malignant tumors, 6 cases(40%) were in the 4th decade. In both malignant and benign tumors the most common ages were in the 4th decade. The most common tumors were fibrous dysplasia and chondroma, each with a total of 14 cases(26.4%). Osteochondroma and lipoma each had 8 cases(15.1%). Among malignant tumors, osteosarcoma was most common with 8 cases (53.3%). According to location, 49 cases occured in both bone and cartilage tissue, 19 cases occurred in cartilage. Among the presenting symptoms, palpable mass was present in all cases. Fifty-one patients complained of tenderness and among cases with involvement of the lung, 3 patients had complained of respiratory distress. Among the malignant tumors 6 cases underwent a radical operation and 4 cases of benign tumors underwent a radical operation. Postoperativly, there was one case with recurrence from a desmoid tumor. There were no deaths postoperativly and no deaths due to complications(and their postoperative courses were uneventful). Conclusions: Most patients with primary chest wall tumors initially present with mass at admission. Resection is sufficient treatment for benign tumors but in malignant tumors wide resection of the chest wall is needed and mchest wall reconstruction.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.175-181
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• 2003

Primary chest wall tumors originate from soft tissue, bone or cartilage of the chest wall and it comprises 1∼2% of all primary tumors. Resection of tumor is often indicated for chronic ulceration or pain, and long-term survival might be achieved after surgery depending on the histology and the surgical procedure. Material and Method: Retrospective study of 125 primary chest wall tumors (86 benign, 39 malignant) operated between Sep. 1976 to Mar 2001 were reviewed and their clinical outcomes were analyzed. Follow-up data were collected at the outpatient clinic. Result: All patients with benign tumors were treated by excision without recurrence or death, and most malignancies were treated by wide resection. Malignant fibrous histiocytoma and chondrosarcoma constituted 46.2% of the malignant neoplasm. There was no operative death. The overall 3-year survival for patients with primary malignant neoplasm was 76.0%, and the 10-year survival was 60.5%. All deaths were disease-related and the tumor recurred in 11 patients. There was no significant difference in survival between patients with resection margins less than 4 cm and those with resection margins greater than 4 cm. Conclusion: Chest wall resection offers excellent results for benign chest wall tumors and substantial long-term survival for malignant diseases. Safe resection margin of 4 cm or more did not correlate with the survival rate although the tumor recurrence correlated with poor survival.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.37 no.9
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• pp.809-812
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• 2004

Chest wall metastases from malignant tumors are rare and the majority of them are from adjacent structures such as the breast, lung, pleura, and mediastinum. Paticularly, chest wall metastases from distant organs are an even rarer event. There are few reports of chest wall metastasis with obscure or absent primary tumor. A 51-year-old man was diagnosed with metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma after an operation for a palpable mass on his left upper chest wall, At that time, there was no evidence of primary hepatocellular carcinoma in the liver after various examinations. We report a case of chest wall metastasis from unknown primary hepatocellular carcinoma.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.40 no.7 s.276
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• pp.526-528
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• 2007

A giant cell tumor of bone is a benign bone tumor, but has very high local recurrence rate and, very rarely metastasizes to the lung or a distant area. We report a case of a 29-year-old male patient presenting with a metastatic giant cell tumor of the soft tissue of the chest wall, who underwent a total resection of the radius for recurrence of the giant cell tumor. The tumor was not related to any bony structure of the thorax. We resected the tumor with a wide surgical margin. No evidence of malignancy was seen in the frozen and permanent pathological report.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.39 no.4 s.261
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• pp.343-346
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• 2006

An 81-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital with bilateral chest wall mass in the infrascapular region. Considering the possible diagnosis of a malignant chest wall tumor at such location, we performed excision and biopsy. Both masses were histologically diagnosed as elastofibroma. We experienced this rare disease, bilateral elastofibroma, so we report this case with a bibliography.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.35 no.10
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• pp.764-767
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• 2002

An unusual case of primary leiomyosarcoma at the left lower posterior chest wall with metastasis to the right lung parenchyme is presented. The patient was a 43-year-old man who was asymptomatic but a slow growing hard mass was noted at the left lower posterior chest wall. The chest computed tomography showed a tumor at the left lower posterior chest wall with multiple metastasis to the right lung. The left lower posterior chest wall mass was examined by percutaneous needle aspiration and it was revealed as rhabdomyosarcoma histologically. En bloc resection to the left lower posterior chest wall tumor and metastasectomy to the multiple nodules in the right lung were done and pathological examination finally revealed primary leiomyosarcoma at the left lower posterior chest wall with multiple metastasis to the right lung. Chemotherapy was scheduled as adjunctive measure.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.629-633
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• 1998

Implantation of malignant cells along the needle aspiration tract is an extremely rare potential complication following a percutaneous fine needle aspiration biopsy of a lung carcinoma. The dissemination of malignant cells by a needle aspiration biopsy may convert an operable and potentially curable lesion into a fatal disease. We report two cases of chest wall implantation of carcinoma of the lung after a thin needle aspiration biopsy. A fifty-five year old male was successfully treated by a radical full-thickness excision of the chest wall and immediate reconstruction with the latissimus dorsi musculocutaneous island flap. A sixty-eight year old female was treated with a partial-thickness excision of the chest wall and skin graft due to superimposed infection and ulceration of the metastatic chest wall carcinoma. One case lived for 31 months up to November 1994, and the other's condtion has been uneventful for 3 months up to now.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.37 no.10
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• pp.892-895
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• 2004

Parachordoma is a very rare, slow-growing, and low-grade malignant tumor that occurs in the extremities and trunk. The differential diagnosis includes extraskeletal myxoid chondrosarcoma and chordoma in the histologic finding. Thus, histologic findings with immunohistochemistry may be helpful in distinguishing parachordoma from extraskeletal myxoid chondrosarcoma and chordoma. I report with a brief review of literatures one case of parachordoma of the chest wall which was successfully treated by en-bloc resection and chest wall reconstruction using 2 mm Gore-Tex$^{\circledR}$ soft tissue patch and free from recurrence for 16 months.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.289-291
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• 2008

Pleomorphic hyalinizing angiectatic tumor (PHAT) is a rare, low grade soft tissue neoplasm of an unknown histogenesis. It is characterized by sheets of mitotically inactive oval and pleomorphic cells, mono- and multi-nucleated giant cells, intranuclear cytoplasmic inclusions and prominent clusters of thin-walled ectatic vessels with perivascular hyalinization. We have experienced a 50 years old male patient who had a palpable mass in his right anterior lower chest wall. The mass was excised and it was confirmed as PHAT. He has been well 2 years postoperatively without recurrence.