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Query: UMLS:C0729233 (Thoracic)
 6,478 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The hilar and mediastinal lymph nodes of 36 patients with bronchogenic carcinoma were evaluated with computed tomography (CT). The American Thoracic Society (ATS) mapping was employed, which defines nodal stations in terms of well-recognized anatomic landmarks which are easily identified with CT and during thoracotomy. The differences (30 cases) between CT and surgical measurements in the 124 nodal stations which could be analyzed are discussed in detail. A better correlation was found using a 2-cm threshold value to define a "positive" or "negative" lymph node with CT. The comparison of radiologic data and the presence of metastases showed how with the 2-cm size criterion sensitivity drops from 81% to 53%, whereas specificity rises from 53% to 84%, thus affecting the subsequent diagnosis and therapy positively.
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PMID:[An evaluation of the N parameter according to the system of the American Thoracic Society (ATS) in pulmonary carcinoma. A comparison between radiology, surgery and histological diagnosis]. 141 Jun 75

One hundred forty-three patients with bronchogenic carcinoma were studied prospectively with computed tomography (CT) to determine the accuracy of CT in the evaluation of mediastinal nodal metastases. Mediastinal lymph nodes were localized according to the lymph node mapping scheme of the American Thoracic Society and were considered abnormal if they exceeded 1 cm in short-axis diameter. All patients underwent surgical staging, which consisted of either mediastinoscopy alone or mediastinoscopy and thoracotomy. At the time of surgical staging, all accessible nodes were either removed or sampled. The sensitivity of CT for mediastinal nodes on a per-patient basis was 64%, with a specificity of 62%. The sensitivity of CT for individual nodal stations involved with tumor was only 44%. The presence of obstructive pneumonitis did not appreciably alter the sensitivity of CT, but the specificity was lower (43%). The likelihood of metastases increased with lymph node size; however, seven of 19 (37%) lymph nodes that measured 2-4 cm in short-axis diameter were hyperplastic and did not contain metastases. The relative insensitivity of CT makes formal nodal sampling at the time of mediastinoscopy or thoracotomy essential to detect lymph node metastases.
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PMID:Bronchogenic carcinoma: analysis of staging in the mediastinum with CT by correlative lymph node mapping and sampling. 173 40

The presence of a large mediastinal mass (bulk disease) in patients with newly diagnosed Hodgkin disease is believed by many to predict a poorer prognosis and to warrant more aggressive treatment. These masses are formed by an aggregate of mediastinal lymph nodes. The determination of bulk disease is confusing, with at least 27 definitions having been proposed. This study seeks to determine the best definition, and determine the role of thoracic computed tomography (CT) versus chest radiographs in the evaluation of mediastinal bulk disease. One hundred seven consecutive newly diagnosed adult patients with Hodgkin disease were evaluated using 13 commonly used definitions of mediastinal bulk. Of the 76 patients with mediastinal disease, 73 had bulk disease as defined by at least one definition. Of the 16 patients who had recurrence of mediastinal disease, only the presence of bulk disease according to one definition (hilar adenopathy, greater than or equal to 2 cm) was statistically significant in its prediction (P = .05). No definition based on the size of the mediastinal nodal mass reliably predicted those patients with recurrence. No differences in our data were found for differing stages or disease cell types, the presence of extension, or with differing treatment regimens. This study highlights the confusion and controversy surrounding the use of bulk disease of the mediastinum as an adverse prognostic indicator. The numerous methods of measuring mediastinal bulk in patients with newly diagnosed Hodgkin disease are confusing, overlap, and are not statistically reliable in predicting recurrence. Efforts to create a standard or ideal definition were unsuccessful. Thoracic CT was useful in those patients whose bulk disease distorted only one side of the mediastinal silhouette on chest radiographs.
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PMID:Mediastinal bulk in Hodgkin disease. Method of measurement versus prognosis. 176 46

A biomechanical model of the human thorax was constructed to investigate how asymmetric growth of the thorax might initiate spinal lateral curvature and axial rotation as seen in scoliosis deformities. Geometric data specifying nodal points of the model were taken from stereo-radiographs of an adolescent subject. An initially symmetrical geometry was created by 'mirroring' measurements of a hemi-thorax and spine. Published data provided cross-sectional measurements of the ribs, material properties of tissues and global flexibilities of the intervertebral motion segments. The ribs, sternum, intervertebral motion segments and intercostal ligaments were represented by elastic elements. Model deformations were calculated by the direct stiffness finite element method, with growth represented by an initial strain term in the constitutive law. Non-linear behavior was accommodated by running the model recursively, with updated node locations at each step. Both stress relaxation and stress modulation of growth in the component tissues were simulated. Thoracic growth of 20% with asymmetric growth of the ribs was simulated to give rib length asymmetries of 11%. similar to that observed in a previous study of patients with idiopathic scoliosis. This resulted in the model having a small thoracic scoliosis curvature convex toward the side of the longer ribs. Variations of the model which permitted free motion at the costo-vertebral joints or produced changes in the curvature of the posterior parts of the ribs resulted in axial rotation of the vertebrae similar to that observed clinically. The model supports the idea that growth asymmetry could initiate a small scoliosis during adolescence.
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PMID:Three-dimensional osseo-ligamentous model of the thorax representing initiation of scoliosis by asymmetric growth. 234 20

Although CT has assumed a major role in the preoperative evaluation of the mediastinum in patients with lung carcinoma, there is no consensus as to its accuracy or efficacy in this setting. A potential source of CT error is inaccurate detection or sizing of lymph nodes in particular mediastinal locations because of inadequate contrast with surrounding tissue or partial volume effects. We imaged five cadavers with CT and then meticulously dissected the mediastinal nodes. The nodes were measured and categorized by using the lymph node mapping scheme of the American Thoracic Society. The short axis nodal diameter was the best CT predictor of nodal volume. Excellent correlation was found between CT and autopsy for lymph node detection in right-sided mediastinal lymph nodes; poorer CT/autopsy correlation was found for left-sided lymph nodes, especially in the lower left peribronchial region. These findings suggest that CT may be less accurate in identifying left-sided mediastinal metastases.
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PMID:Mediastinal lymph node detection and sizing at CT and autopsy. 348 47

Previous reports have shown differences in the ability of CT to detect mediastinal lymph nodes, depending on the precise mediastinal location of the nodes. Poorest correlation between findings on CT and findings at autopsy has been described for left-sided lymph nodes, particularly those in the left peribronchial region (American Thoracic Society node station 10L), suggesting that cancers of the left lung might be less well staged by CT than cancers of the right lung. The relationship between the accuracy of mediastinal lymph node staging and the location of the primary lung cancer was examined in a retrospective study. In 103 patients with non-small-cell bronchogenic carcinoma who had preoperative CT evaluation of the mediastinum, the accuracy of preoperative staging was 81% for tumors of the right lung (70 patients) and 97% for tumors of the left lung (33 patients). The conclusion is that cancers of the left lung are staged at least as accurately as cancers of the right lung, despite the fact that left-sided mediastinal nodes are depicted more poorly on CT. Subcarinal and crossover (contralateral) nodal metastases and a low prevalence of metastasis involving only region 10L were the most important factors minimizing staging differences based on the site of the primary tumor.
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PMID:CT evaluation of mediastinal lymph nodes in lung cancer: influence of the lobar site of the primary neoplasm. 349 14

CT was used to investigate the number and size of normal mediastinal lymph nodes at 11 intrathoracic nodal stations defined by the American Thoracic Society lymph-node mapping scheme. Nodal size was measured both as short- and long-axis diameters in the transverse plane. Findings for 56 patients show the largest normal mediastinal nodes to be in the subcarinal and right tracheobronchial regions. Upper paratracheal nodes were smaller than lower paratracheal or tracheobronchial nodes, and right-sided tracheobronchial nodes were larger than left-sided ones. From the distributions of node sizes, thresholds were set above which nodes in any region might be considered enlarged. These thresholds, in agreement with a prior investigation of patients with lung cancer, suggest 1.0 cm as the upper limit of normal for the short axis of a mediastinal node in the transverse plane.
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PMID:Normal mediastinal lymph nodes: number and size according to American Thoracic Society mapping. 387 Dec 68

This study was carried out in order to investigate possible side-effects of thoracic epidural morphine on cardiac electrophysiology, haemodynamics and metabolism. In pentobarbital-anaesthetized dogs, intracardiac conduction times were determined by His bundle electrography, and refractoriness by programmed electrical stimulation; monophasic action potential recordings were obtained from the right ventricle by the suction electrode technique. Cardiac output, left ventricular and aortic blood pressures were measured, as well as plasma concentrations of morphine, free fatty acids, glycerol, glucose and lactate. Thoracic epidural morphine (0.12 mg X kg-1) reduced spontaneous heart rate, prolonged atrioventricular nodal conduction time and refractoriness, and reduced left ventricular dP/dt max. Bilateral vagotomy reversed these effects. Intra-atrial, His Purkinje and intraventricular conduction times, atrial and ventricular refractoriness and action potential duration, stroke volume and mean aortic blood pressure, as well as the metabolic variables, were not significantly influenced by thoracic epidural morphine with or without vagotomy. Peak plasma morphine levels of 12-25 ng X ml-1 were measured 10 min after morphine injection. In conclusion, this study demonstrates depressive side-effects of epidural morphine on cardiac function, mediated by an increased vagal activity.
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PMID:Cardiac effects of thoracic epidural morphine caused by increased vagal activity in the dog. 396 75

The pattern of pulmonary involvement from ovarian cancer was evaluated in 357 patients who were seen at the Yale-New Haven Hospital from 1966 to 1975. Thoracic involvement by tumor was found in 169 patients (44.5%), a figure considerably higher than in previous reports. Pleural effusions were present in nearly 75% of patients who had thoracic involvement. Only 73% of the effusions contained identifiable malignant cells. Solid metastases to the pulmonary parenchyma were present in 12.3% of the patients; lymphangitic and nodal spread was observed in only 1% of the patients. The incidence of metastases did not correlate with tumor histologic features. Five-year survival figures were 29% for the control group; 5.6% of the patients who had evidence of thoracic involvement were alive after 5 years compared with a 49% 5-year survival of those patients with no evidence of thoracic involvement. Right-sided lesions produced thoracic metastases more frequently than left-sided lesions. No significant differences with respect to age, race, menopause, smoking history, or autopsy rate were found between those patients with and without pulmonary metastasis. Chest x-ray was found to be of great value in determining pulmonary metastasis; only 6% of patients who were proven by autopsy to have spread of cancer to the thoracic cavity had a chest x-ray that did not show malignancy. The majority of these ten patients had lymphangitic or microvascular disease. No cases of second primary occurring in the lung were noted in this review, although two case reports have appeared in the literature. Only three patients with pulmonary involvement by tumor had no other evidence of Stage IV disease.
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PMID:Pulmonary metastases in ovarian cancer. Analysis of 357 patients. 401 9

To investigate cardiac electrophysiological effects of thoracic epidural analgesia, a local anaesthetic solution, 0.5% bupivacaine, was administered into the thoracic epidural space in twelve pentobarbital anaesthetised dogs. Intracardiac conduction times were measured by His bundle electrography and refractoriness was determined by programmed electrical stimulation. Monophasic action potentials were recorded from the right ventricle by a suction electrode technique. Thoracic epidural analgesia increased the ventricular effective and functional refractory period, as well as the duration of the monophasic action potential. The intra-atrial and His-Purkinje conduction times and the QRS-width were not significantly influenced. AV nodal conduction time and AV nodal functional refractory period were markedly prolonged by thoracic epidural analgesia. Thoracic epidural analgesia induced AV block of the second degree in most experiments after a second dose of bupivacaine during pacing at higher frequencies. We conclude that thoracic epidural analgesia has significant cardiac electrophysiological effects which may be both antiarrhythmic and arrhythmogenic. Thoracic epidural analgesia should be used with care in patients with atrioventricular conduction disturbances.
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PMID:Electrophysiological effects of thoracic epidural analgesia in the dog heart in situ. 688 1


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