• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.44-46
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• 1993

There are several methods for managing pneumothorax through thoracoscope. Among them, electric cautery of bleb or bulla is very simple to do and can be done through the conventional thoracoscope. It is cosmetically excellent because it needs only incision. It is economically cheap comparing other methods because it does not need staplers or clips and other disposables. However, this method has been controversial for its success rate because of the ability of sealing off the air-leaking from the lung tissue. To evaluate the success rate, 29 cases of pneumothorax treated by electric cautery and instillation of oxytetracyline solution through the thoracoscope were analyzed. Among 29 patients, 18 were male and 11 female ranging 17 to 43 years old. The indications for thoracoscopy were recurrence in 20 cases and persistence in 9 cases. The underlying casuses of pneumothorax were bleb in 10 cases and bulla with bleb or not in 19 cases. Twenty one cases were successful [4%] and 8 cases were failed. The failed 8 cases were explored from 14 to 28 days after thoracoscopy.Six cases were explored through transaxillary minithoracotomy and 2 were done through limited posterolateral thoracotomy. The causes of failure were the necrotic lung tissue occured by excessive electric cautery in 6 cases and the necrotic lung tissue and residual bulla in two cases. In 10 bleb cases, 9 were successful [90.0%]. But in 19 cases of bulla, 12 were successful [63.2%]. In conclusion, the success rate of electric cautery through thoracoscope was 72. 4% and the causes of failure were lung necrosis and residual bulla. The success rate of the bleb cases was higher than that of the bulla cases.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.33 no.9
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• pp.766-769
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• 2000

The long QT syndromes have been classified into acquired or inheritary forms, both of which are associated with a characteristic type of life-threatening polymorphic ventricular tachycardia called torsade de points. Beta-adrenergic blocker is the first cholic treatment, but in those whom cardiac events are not prevented by $\beta$-blockade, left thoracic sympathetic ganglionectomy may be useful in selected cases. A 50-year-old woman had an recurrent syncopal attack in which she was unconscious for 1-2 min and 1-2 times a month for 10 years. The EKG revealed that QT & QTc intervals were 744 and 632 msec respectively. Treatment with Beta-adrenergic blocker and calcium channel blocker was ineffective in preventing recurrence of syncopal spell. Therefore, she underwent left thoracic sympathetic ganglionectomy with thoracoscope. During the 9 months after operation, she was free of syncopal episodes and is doing well.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.26 no.9
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• pp.735-737
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• 1993

We have experienced a case of leiomyoma in the right upper lobe of the lung in a 56 year old female. Preoperative studies revealed the tumor nature as benign, and we chose right upper lobectomywith video-assisted thoracoscope rather than with the usual posterolateral thoracotomy. Postoperativehistological diagnosis was pulmonary leiomyoma which is a rare type of benign lung tumor.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.51 no.5
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• pp.363-366
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• 2018

One of the complications of permanent pacemaker implantation is unintended phrenic nerve stimulation. A 15-year-old boy with a permanent pacemaker presented with chest discomfort due to synchronous chest wall contraction with pacing beats. Even after reprogramming of the pacemaker, diaphragmatic stimulation persisted. Therefore, we performed thoracoscopic phrenic nerve insulation using a Gore-Tex patch to insulate the phrenic nerve from the wire. A minimally invasive approach using a thoracoscope is a feasible option for retractable phrenic nerve stimulation after pacemaker implantation.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.261-264
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• 1991

The result of thoracotomy for recurrent and persistent pneumothorax is usually excellent. However the patients undergone thoracotomy suffer from postoperative chest pain and require long postoperative recovery period. Also the operative incision scar gives the patients cosmetic problems. Subpleural blebs are usually causes of pneumothorax. They can be reached through the thoracoscope without thoracotomy and can be ablated by electrical cautery through it. Six patients with recurrent and persistent pneumothorax were managed thoracoscopic-ally. Five patients were successful and one case was failed. The failed case was explored 21 days after thoracoscopy. Follow-up period was from one to eight months. Although the follow-up period was short, thoracoscopic management of recurrent and persistent pneumothorax is thought to be good for preventing thoracotomy.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.364-370
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• 1989

22 Cases of traumatic diaphragmatic injuries treated at the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery in Chon-Buk National University Hospital from Jan. 1979 to Oct. 1988 were reviewed in this study. Of the 22 cases, 18 were male and 3 were female, a ratio of 4.5:1. This ratio revealed high incidence in male patient. The age distribution ranged from 2 to 60 years and mean age was 31 years. The modes of injury were as follows: 11 stab wound, 5 traffic accident, 2 fall down, 2 fighting injury, 1 compression wound by sand bag, and 1 slip down injury. Useful diagnostic tools were chest X-ray with or without radiopaque dye swallowing, which was the most commonly diagnostic, UGI series, and thoracoscope. Operations were performed in 22 cases, and 18 cases were through thoracotomy. The herniated organs through the ruptured diaphragm were stomach, omentum, liver, spleen, colon, and small bowel. There were associated injuries, and the most commonly associated was rib fracture. There was no postoperative death.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.24 no.10
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• pp.1039-1043
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• 1991

The bullectomy, or sedge resection of the lung including bullae is the treatment of choice for the recurrent spontaneous pneumothorax, and but results in pleuropulmonary fistulae in postoperative periods in some emphysematous lungs. There are many methods to close the air leakages with T-M, Talc powders. Or the closure of air leakage sites can be closed c resuture, wedge resection or lobectomy through re-explothoracotomy. Tisseel, a in thoracic surgical areas in recents. We have sealed the post-operative air leakage sites after bullectomy or segmental resection for 4 recurrent spontaneous pneumothorax with the spray of Tisseel & throbin through thoracoscope without re-explothoracotomy. The post-operative courses are uneventful to now.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.38 no.9 s.254
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• pp.627-632
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• 2005

Background: The video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) with 2 mm thoracoscopy in primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP) was known to be unreliable in its accuracy and recurrence rate. We compared 10 mm VATS with 2 mm VATS in the results of operation. Material and Method: From Sept. 1998 to Dec. 2002, 176 cases (10 mm VATS; 73 cases, 2 mm VATS; 103 cases) of PSP were treated by VATS blob resection at Korea University Ansan Hospital. 10 mm thoracoscope, 5 mm port, and 5 mm instruments were used in 10 mm VATS group, and 2 mm thoracoscope, 2 mm ports and 2 mm instruments used in 2 mn VATS group. In the two groups, staples were inserted through 11.5 mm port for chest tube. Result: The mean follow-up duration was 20,8$\pm$16.1 months in 10 mm VATS group, and 13.9 $\pm$8.2 months in 2 mm VATS. The most common indication of operation was a recurrent pneumothorax ($34\%$) in 10 mm VATS and patient's desire ($40\%$) in 2 mm VATS, respectively. The operation time, number of staples used in operation, postoperative chest tube keeping days, postoperative total amount of drainage, and postoperative hospitalization days were statistically lower in 2 mm VATS. Other significant variables affecting the operation time in linear regression analysis were the number of staples that used in operation, the presence of pleural adhesion, and type of pleurodesis and thoracoscope used in operation. However, $R^2$ values were lower than 0.1. The postoperative recurrence rate was $2.7\%$ in 10 mm VATS and $2.9\%$ in 2 mm VATS. It was not significant statistically. Recurrent cases developed within 1 year in both groups but the difference was statistically insignificant. Conclusion: Although there were differences in follow-up duration between two groups, the operation time, number of staples that used in operation, postoperative chest tube keeping days, postoperative total amount of drainage, and postoperative hospitalization days were statistically lower in 2 mm VATS. And in 2 mm VATS, there were no technical difficulties during operation and no differences in recurrence rate from 10 mm VATS. As a result, we suggest that 2 mm VATS can be used in the treatment of PSP.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.49-52
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• 2010

A hemothorax usually occur, due to injuries to the intercostal and great vessels, pulmonary damage, and sometimes fractured ribs. We report a case in which the hemothorax that occurred, neither intrathoracic injury nor injury to internal thoracic vessels and organs, via lacerated diaphragmatic and liver laceration due to a right upper part of anterior chest stab injury caused by a sharp object. The patient's general conditions gradually worsened, so chest and abdominal computed tomogram were taken. The abdominal computed tomogram revealed diaphragmatic injuries and bleeding from the lacerated liver. We performed an exploratory laparotomy to control the bleeding from the lacerated liver with simple primary sutures. In addition exploration was performed in the right pleural space through the lacerated diaphragm with a thoracoscopic instrument. There were no bleeding foci in the right pleural space, the vessels, or the lung on the thoracoscopic video. Closure of the lacerated diaphragm was achieved with simple, primary sutures. The postoperative course of the patient was uneventful, and the patient was discharged.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.85-87
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• 2000

Patent ductus arteriosus(PDA) is a common congenital heart disease encountered in premature neonates infants and children. Patent ductus arteriosus was the first surgically managed congenital heart disease,. Classic surgical interruption of patent ducturs arteriosus was partially replaced by a transcatheter endovascular closure, After a 5-7 mm video-assisted thoracoscopic interruption of the patent ductus arteriosus first applied in 1991, this minimally invasive technique came to be used in many centers, Video-assisted thoracoscopic interruption of the patent ductus arteriosus is feasible in low-weight infants whereas transcatheter endovascular closure of the ductus is usually not possible. We experienced successful outcome for the treatment of patent ductus arteriosus with 2 mm video-assisted thoracoscopic titanium clipping, We believed that this technique is a simple safe and rapid method for closure of the patent arteriosus.