Minimally invasive thoracic surgery for empyema

Surgery versus intrapleural fibrinolysis for management of complicated pleural infections: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Complicated pleural infection comprises of complex effusions and empyema. When tube thoracostomy is ineffective, treatment options include surgical drainage, deloculation and decortication or intrapleural fibrinolysis. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to examine which technique is superior in treating complicated pleural infections.

METHODS

PubMed, MEDLINE and EMBASE databases were searched for studies published between January 2000 to July 2023 comparing surgery and intrapleural fibrinolysis for treatment of complicated pleural infection. The primary outcome was treatment success. Secondary outcomes included hospital length of stay, chest drain duration and in-hospital mortality.

RESULTS

Surgical management of complicated pleural infections was more likely to be successful than intrapleural fibrinolysis (RR 1.18; 95% CI 1.02, 1.38). Surgical intervention group benefited from statistically significant shorter hospital length of stay (MD: 3.85; 95% CI 1.09, 6.62) and chest drain duration (MD: 3.42; 95% CI 1.36, 5.48). There was no observed difference between in-hospital mortality (RR: 1.00; 95% CI 0.99, 1.02).

CONCLUSION

Surgical management of complicated pleural infections results in increased likelihood of treatment success, shorter chest drain duration and hospital length of stay in the adult population compared with intrapleural fibrinolysis. In-hospital mortality did not differ. Large cohort and randomized research need to be conducted to confirm these findings.

Infective Pleural Effusions-A Comprehensive Narrative Review Article

Infective pleural effusions are mainly represented by parapneumonic effusions and empyema. These conditions are a spectrum of pleural diseases that are commonly encountered and carry significant mortality and morbidity rates reaching upwards of 50%. The causative etiology is usually an underlying bacterial pneumonia with the subsequent seeding of the infectious culprit and inflammatory agents to the pleural space leading to an inflammatory response and fibrin deposition. Radiographical evaluation through a CT scan or ultrasound yields high specificity and sensitivity, with features such as septations or pleural thickening indicating worse outcomes. Although microbiological yields from pleural studies are around 56% only, fluid analysis assists in both diagnosis and prognosis by evaluating pH, glucose, and other biomarkers such as lactate dehydrogenase. Management centers around antibiotic therapy for 2-6 weeks and the drainage of the infected pleural space when the effusion is complicated through tube thoracostomies or surgical intervention. Intrapleural enzymatic therapy, used to increase drainage, significantly decreases treatment failure rates, length of hospital stay, and surgical referrals but carries a risk of pleural hemorrhage. This comprehensive review article aims to define and delineate the progression of parapneumonic effusions and empyema as well as discuss pathophysiology, diagnostic, and treatment modalities with aims of broadening the generalist's understanding of such complex disease by reviewing the most recent and relevant high-quality evidence.

Prognostic Factors for Discharge Directly Home in Patients With Thoracoscopic Surgery for Empyema: A Multicenter Retrospective Cohort Study

Background: Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery is a widely recommended treatment for empyema in advanced stages. However, only a few studies have evaluated prognostic factors among patients with empyema who underwent video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery. Furthermore, no studies have evaluated predictors of direct discharge home. Patients and Methods: This multicenter retrospective cohort study included 161 patients with empyema who underwent video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery in five acute-care hospitals. The primary outcome was the probability of direct discharge home. The secondary outcome was the length of hospital stay after surgery. We broadly assessed pre-operative factors and performed univariable logistic regression for the direct discharge home and univariable gamma regression for the length of hospital stay after surgery. Results: Of the 161 included patients, 74.5% were directly discharged home. Age (>70 years; -24.3%); altered mental status (-33.4%); blood urea nitrogen (>22.4 mg/dL; -19.4%); and pleural pH (<7.2; -17.6%) were associated with high probabilities of not being directly discharged home. Fever (15.2%) and albumin (> 2.7 g/dL; 20.2%) were associated with high probabilities of being directly discharged home. The median length of stay after surgery was 19 days. Age (>70 years; 6.2 days); altered mental status (5.6 days); purulence (2.7 days); pleural thickness (>2 cm; 5.1 days); bronchial fistula (14.6 days); albumin (>2.7 g/dL; 3.1 days); and C-reactive protein (>20 mg/dL; 3.6 days) were associated with a longer post-operation hospital stay. Conclusions: Physicians should consider using these prognostic factors to predict non-direct discharge to the home for patients with empyema.

Diagnosis and management of pleural infection

Pleural infection remains a medical challenge. Although closed tube drainage revolutionised treatment in the 19th century, pleural infection still poses a significant health burden with increasing incidence. Diagnosis presents challenges due to non-specific clinical presenting features. Imaging techniques such as chest radiographs, thoracic ultrasound and computed tomography scans aid diagnosis. Pleural fluid analysis, the gold standard, involves assessing gross appearance, biochemical markers and microbiology. Novel biomarkers such as suPAR (soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor) and PAI-1 (plasminogen activator inhibitor-1) show promise in diagnosis and prognosis, and microbiology demonstrates complex microbial diversity and is associated with outcomes. The management of pleural infection involves antibiotic therapy, chest drain insertion, intrapleural fibrinolytic therapy and surgery. Antibiotic therapy relies on empirical broad-spectrum antibiotics based on local policies, infection setting and resistance patterns. Chest drain insertion is the mainstay of management, and use of intrapleural fibrinolytics facilitates effective drainage. Surgical interventions such as video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery and decortication are considered in cases not responding to medical therapy. Risk stratification tools such as the RAPID (renal, age, purulence, infection source and dietary factors) score may help guide tailored management. The roles of other modalities such as local anaesthetic medical thoracoscopy and intrapleural antibiotics are debated. Ongoing research aims to improve outcomes by matching interventions with risk profile and to better understand the development of disease.

Effectiveness of Immediate Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery for Empyema: A Multicentre, Retrospective Cohort Study

BACKGROUND

Because of limitations in previous randomised controlled trials and observational studies, the effectiveness of immediate video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) for patients with empyema in real-world settings remains unclear.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to evaluate whether immediate VATS improves clinical outcomes in patients with empyema.

METHODS

This multicentre retrospective cohort study included 744 patients with physician-diagnosed empyema from six hospitals between 2006 and 2021. The exposure was VATS performed within 3 days of empyema diagnosis, the primary outcome was 30-day mortality, and secondary outcomes were 90-day mortality, length of hospital stay, and time from diagnosis to discharge. We used propensity score weighting to account for potential confounders. For outcome analyses, we used logistic regression for mortality outcomes and gamma regression for the number of days.

RESULTS

Among the 744 patients, 53 (7.1%) underwent VATS within 3 days, and 691 (92.9%) initially received conservative treatment. After propensity score weighting, the differences in 30- and 90-day mortalities between the immediate VATS and initial conservative treatment groups were 1.18% (95% confidence interval [CI], -10.7 to 13.0%) and -0.08% (95% CI, -10.3 to 10.2%), respectively. The differences in length of hospital stay and time from diagnosis to discharge were -3.22 (95% CI, -6.19 to -0.25 days) and -5.04 days (95% CI, -8.19 to -1.90 days), respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Our real-world study showed that immediate VATS reduced the length of hospital stay and the time from diagnosis to discharge. Considering the small sample and differences in protocols between countries, further large-scale studies are warranted.

Culture-Positive and Culture-Negative Empyema After Thoracoscopic Decortication: A Comparison of Short-term and Long-term Outcomes

Background

Empyema thoracis is a serious infectious disease and is associated with high morbidity and mortality. The perioperative outcomes between culture-positive and culture-negative empyema after thoracoscopic decortication remained controversial, especially since there were no studies that reported the survival outcomes between culture-positive and culture-negative empyema.

Methods

This single-institute study involved a retrospective analysis. Patients with empyema thoracis who underwent thoracoscopic decortication between January 2012 and December 2021 were included in the study. Patients were grouped into a culture-positive group and a culture-negative group according to culture results obtained no later than 2 weeks after surgery.

Results

A total of 1087 patients with empyema received surgery, and 824 were enrolled after exclusion. Among these, 366 patients showed positive culture results and 458 patients showed negative results. Longer intensive care unit stays (11.69 vs 5.64 days, P < .001), longer ventilator usage (24.70 vs 14.01 days, P = .002), and longer postoperative hospital stays (40.83 vs 28.37 days, P < .001) were observed in the culture-positive group. However, there was no significant difference in 30-day mortality between the 2 groups (5.2% in culture negative vs 5.0% in culture positive, P = .913). The 2-year survival was not significantly different between the 2 groups (P = .236).

Conclusions

Patients with culture-positive or culture-negative empyema who underwent thoracoscopic decortication showed similar short-term and long-term survival outcomes. A higher risk of death was associated with advanced age, a higher Charlson Comorbidity Index score, phase III empyema, and a cause other than pneumonia.

[Diagnosis and treatment of bronchopleural fistula after anatomical lung resections]

OBJECTIVE

To assess the factors causing air leakage after anatomical lung resections and present a rational tactical approach for timely establishing the cause and level of bronchial fistula.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

We analyzed 723 patients who underwent anatomical lung resection (pneumonectomy - 136 patients, anatomical lobectomy and segmentectomy - 513, video-assisted anatomical resection - 74 patients).

RESULTS

In 506 (69.9%) cases, complete lung inflation after surgery was observed within 24-48 hours. Persistent air discharge for more than 3 days was observed in 141 (19.5%) patients. Prolonged air leakage for more than 7 postoperative days occurred in 50 (6.9%) patients. Air discharge for more than 10 days was considered abnormal and observed in 20 (2.8%) patients. Redo surgeries were performed in 49 patients with bronchopleural fistula at the level of segmental bronchi. Forty-two patients after primary thoracoscopy and 6 ones after primary thoracotomy underwent video-assisted resection of the lung with bronchopleural fistula after previous surgery. In 11 patients, re-thoracotomy was performed: middle lobectomy after previous right-sided upper lobectomy in 2 patients, lung resection after previous segmentectomy in 8 cases and atypical resection of bulla after previous right-sided lower lobectomy in 1 case.

CONCLUSION

Surgical approach for persistent postoperative air leakage involves various surgical interventions. The best option is minimally invasive thoracoscopic procedure. This method is valuable to visualize bronchopleural fistula, eliminate air leakage, additionally reinforce pulmonary suture and perform targeted adequate drainage of the pleural cavity.

ERS/ESTS statement on the management of pleural infection in adults

Pleural infection is a common condition encountered by respiratory physicians and thoracic surgeons alike. The European Respiratory Society (ERS) and European Society of Thoracic Surgeons (ESTS) established a multidisciplinary collaboration of clinicians with expertise in managing pleural infection with the aim of producing a comprehensive review of the scientific literature. Six areas of interest were identified: 1) epidemiology of pleural infection, 2) optimal antibiotic strategy, 3) diagnostic parameters for chest tube drainage, 4) status of intrapleural therapies, 5) role of surgery and 6) current place of outcome prediction in management. The literature revealed that recently updated epidemiological data continue to show an overall upwards trend in incidence, but there is an urgent need for a more comprehensive characterisation of the burden of pleural infection in specific populations such as immunocompromised hosts. There is a sparsity of regular analyses and documentation of microbiological patterns at a local level to inform geographical variation, and ongoing research efforts are needed to improve antibiotic stewardship. The evidence remains in favour of a small-bore chest tube optimally placed under image guidance as an appropriate initial intervention for most cases of pleural infection. With a growing body of data suggesting delays to treatment are key contributors to poor outcomes, this suggests that earlier consideration of combination intrapleural enzyme therapy (IET) with concurrent surgical consultation should remain a priority. Since publication of the MIST-2 study, there has been considerable data supporting safety and efficacy of IET, but further studies are needed to optimise dosing using individualised biomarkers of treatment failure. Pending further prospective evaluation, the MIST-2 regimen remains the most evidence based. Several studies have externally validated the RAPID score, but it requires incorporating into prospective intervention studies prior to adopting into clinical practice.

The uniportal VATS in the treatment of stage II pleural empyema: a safe and effective approach for adults and elderly patients-a single-center experience and literature review

Background

Pleural empyema (PE) is a frequent disease, associated with a high morbidity and mortality. Surgical approach is the standard of care for most patients with II-III stage PE. In the last years, the minimally invasive surgical revolution involved also thoracic surgery allowing the same outcomes in terms of safety and effectiveness combined to better pain management and early discharge. The aim of this study is to demonstrate through our experience on uniportal-video-assisted thoracoscopy (u-VATS) the effectiveness and safety of its approach in treatment of stage II PE. As secondary endpoint, we will evaluate the different pattern of indication of u-VATS in adult and elderly patients with literature review.

Methods

We retrospectively reviewed our prospectively collected database of u-VATS procedures from November 2018 to February 2022, in our regional referral center for Thoracic Surgery of Regione Molise General Surgery Unit of “A. Cardarelli” Hospital, in Campobasso, Molise, Italy.

Results

A total of 29 patients underwent u-VATS for II stage PE. Fifteen (51.72%) patients were younger than 70 years old, identified as “adults,” 14 (48.28%) patients were older than 70 years old, identified as “elderly.” No mortality was found. Mean operative time was 104.68 ± 39.01 min in the total population. The elderly group showed a longer operative time (115 ± 53.15 min) (p = 0.369). Chest tube was removed earlier in adults than in elderly group (5.56 ± 2.06 vs. 10.14 ± 5.58 p = 0.038). The Length of Stay (LOS) was shorter in the adults group (6.44 ± 2.35 vs. 12.29 ± 6.96 p = 0.033). Patients evaluated through Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) scale returned to normal activities of daily living after surgery.

Conclusion

In addition, the u-VATS approach seems to be safe and effective ensuring a risk reduction of progression to stage III PE with a lower recurrence risk and septic complications also in elderly patients. Further comparative multicenter analysis are advocated to set the role of u-VATS approach in the treatment of PE in adults and elderly patients.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13017-022-00438-8.

Case report on peri-operative surgical and anaesthetic management of ruptured humongous lung abscess

INTRODUCTION

Early thoracic empyema is usually treated through video-assisted thoracoscopic (VATS) decortication. Patient selection is important for decortication if an effective surgical outcome is required. Lung isolation techniques are required to provide anesthesia for these patients to facilitate the surgeon while operating on the affected lung. The ultimate target is to protect the non-diseased contra-lateral lung from contamination.

PRESENTATION OF CASE

We are presenting a unique case of 20-year-old female, resident of Karachi, who was brought to the emergency room (ER) with signs of sepsis, hypotension, and multi-organ failure. She was brought to the operating room to undergo video-assisted thoracoscopy (VATS) for lung abscess decortication when her medical therapy had failed. On table decision of right upper lobe resection was made and ventilation strategy had to be modified accordingly.

DISCUSSION

The main anaesthetic aim was to protect the healthy parts of the lung from the abscess. Regular suctioning of secretions during surgery via the double lumen tube (DLT) lumen on the diseased side is recommended. While performing VATS, the lung abscess got ruptured and immediate measures to isolate the lung was taken to assist with surgical resection of the affected lobe. Lobectomy can only be done once the lung was completely isolated and maintaining perfusion and ventilation of the relatively healthy lung help in managing hypoxia.

CONCLUSION

Peri-operative management of ruptured lung abscesses required thorough pre-op evaluation, intraoperative lung isolation and ventilation, and postoperative analgesia with combined team effort both surgical and anaesthetic, are vital fundamentals to consider in guaranteeing the best outcome.

Challenges in Image-Guided Drainage of Infected Pleural Collections: A Review

Infected pleural fluid collections (IPFCs) commonly occur as a part of bacterial, fungal, or tubercular pneumonia or due to involvement of pleura through hematogenous route. Management requires early initiation of therapeutic drugs, as well as complete drainage of the fluid, to relieve patients’ symptoms and prevent pleural fibrosis. Image-guided drainage plays an important role in achieving these goals and improving outcomes. Intrapleural fibrinolytic therapy (IPFT) is also a vital component of the management. The concepts of image-guided drainage procedures, IPFT, and nonexpanding lung are discussed in this review.

Management of Pleural Infection

Pleural infection is a millennia-spanning condition that has proved challenging to treat over many years. Fourteen percent of cases of pneumonia are reported to present with a pleural effusion on chest X-ray (CXR), which rises to 44% on ultrasound but many will resolve with prompt antibiotic therapy. To guide treatment, parapneumonic effusions have been separated into distinct categories according to their biochemical, microbiological and radiological characteristics. There is wide variation in causative organisms according to geographical location and healthcare setting. Positive cultures are only obtained in 56% of cases; therefore, empirical antibiotics should provide Gram-positive, Gram-negative and anaerobic cover whilst providing adequate pleural penetrance. With the advent of next-generation sequencing techniques, yields are expected to improve. Complicated parapneumonic effusions and empyema necessitate prompt tube thoracostomy. It is reported that 16-27% treated in this way will fail on this therapy and require some form of escalation. The now seminal Multi-centre Intrapleural Sepsis Trials (MIST) demonstrated the use of combination fibrinolysin and DNase as more effective in the treatment of empyema compared to either agent alone or placebo, and success rates of 90% are reported with this technique. The focus is now on dose adjustments according to the patient's specific 'fibrinolytic potential', in order to deliver personalised therapy. Surgery has remained a cornerstone in the management of pleural infection and is certainly required in late-stage manifestations of the disease. However, its role in early-stage disease and optimal patient selection is being re-explored. A number of adjunct and exploratory therapies are also discussed in this review, including the use of local anaesthetic thoracoscopy, indwelling pleural catheters, intrapleural antibiotics, pleural irrigation and steroid therapy.

Optimal timing of video-assisted thoracic surgery for acute pyothorax: a retrospective study

OBJECTIVE

Although the value of video-assisted thoracic surgery for acute pyothorax is becoming widely recognized, the optimal timing of surgery has not been established. Therefore, we aimed to determine the optimal timing of video-assisted thoracic surgery in acute pyothorax.

METHODS

We retrospectively reviewed 38 consecutive video-assisted thoracic surgeries performed for acute pyothorax between January 2013 and December 2017 at our institution. Data were analyzed using the independent samples t test and Mann-Whitney U test. A receiver-operating characteristic curve was used to identify the optimal time for intervention.

RESULTS

The average time from disease onset to surgery was 17.9 days, and the average preoperative drainage period was 8.3 days. The operation was completed in all patients with video-assisted thoracic surgery curettage and drainage under general anesthesia; single lung ventilation was administered, and one or two thoracic drains were placed. The average postoperative drainage period was 10.8 days. Intraoperative complications were observed in two cases; no perioperative death occurred. Additional surgery was performed in four cases because of poor treatment response. There was no recurrence of pyothorax over a mean postoperative follow-up period of 42.5 months. A receiver-operating characteristic curve showed that the cut-off time from disease onset to surgery was 21.0 days; complication rates were 14.3% and 25.0% for patients operated on before and after 21 days, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Thoracoscopic surgery for acute pyothorax is safe and curative, and should be performed within 21 days of disease onset to avoid postoperative complications.

Assessment of Intraoperative Microbiological Culture in Patients with Empyema: Comparison with Preoperative Microbiological Culture

Purpose: Assessing microbiological culture results is essential in the diagnosis of empyema and appropriate antibiotic selection; however, the guidelines for the management of empyema do not mention assessing microbiological culture intraoperatively. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that intraoperative microbiological culture may improve the management of empyema.

Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of 47 patients who underwent surgery for stage II/III empyema from January 2011 to May 2019. We compared the positivity of microbiological culture assessed preoperatively at empyema diagnosis versus intraoperatively. We further investigated the clinical characteristics and postoperative outcomes of patients whose intraoperative microbiological culture results were positive.

Results: The positive rates of preoperative and intraoperative microbiological cultures were 27.7% (13/47) and 36.2% (17/47), respectively. Among 34 patients who were culture-negative preoperatively, eight patients (23.5%) were culture-positive intraoperatively. Intraoperative positive culture was significantly associated with a shorter duration of preoperative antibiotic treatment (p = 0.002). There was no significant difference between intraoperative culture-positive and -negative results regarding postoperative complications.

Conclusions: Intraoperative microbiological culture may help detect bacteria in patients whose microbiological culture results were negative at empyema diagnosis. Assessing microbiological culture should be recommended intraoperatively as well as preoperatively, for the appropriate management of empyema.

Role of Anti-Tuberculous Treatment in the Outcome of Decortication for Chronic Tuberculous Empyema

Introduction: Chronic tuberculous empyema (CTE) is a common complication of tuberculosis that requires some form of surgical intervention along with anti-tuberculosis therapy (ATT). The aim of this study was to determine the optimum duration of pre-operative ATT in CTE prior to the decortication and its outcomes.

Material and Methods: This comparative prospective study was conducted from August 2019 to August 2020 in the Department of Thoracic Surgery, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Karachi, Pakistan. A total of 70 patients were included in the study. They were grouped into two arms: patients operated at or within six weeks of ATT commencement (Group A) and patients operated after six weeks of ATT (Group B). Both groups had 35 participants each. Patients were evaluated based on a self-administered questionnaire. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered significant.

Result: In this study, there were 55 (78.6%) males and 15 (21.4%) females with a mean age of 33.5 ± 11.2 years. Diagnosis of CTE was most commonly made through sputum acid-fast bacilli (AFB) smear (n=35, 50%) which most commonly involved right upper (n=20, 28.6%) and lower lung lobes (n=20, 28.6%). Complications such as air leaks, need for ventilator support, need for intensive care unit (ICU) stay, residual collection, and pneumothorax all were significantly higher in Group A (31 patients out of 35) compared to Group B (18 patients out of 35). In Group B, 21 (60%) participants had full post-operative expansion of lungs, compared to eight (22.8%) in Group A (p=0.002). In total five participants had failure to expand lungs; all of them belonged to Group A (p=0.02).

Conclusion: The optimum timing of surgery and preoperative ATT is crucial for achieving better outcomes and requires good collaboration between the treating pulmonologist and thoracic surgeon. Our study highlights the importance of pre-operative ATT for at least more than six weeks before undertaking decortication for better outcomes and minimizing morbidity.

Pleural empyema in children - benefits of primary thoracoscopic treatment

Introduction

Pleural empyema is the condition of the pleural cavity when initially sterile pleural effusion has become infected. In the majority of cases, it is of parapneumonic origin. Parapneumonic effusions and pleural empyemata usually continuously progress in severity. The American Thoracic Society divides them into three stages: exudative, fibrinopurulent and organizing. The therapy depends on the stage.

Aim

To assess whether thoracoscopy should be considered better than conservative treatment and to assess the feasibility of the thoracoscopic approach to the 3^rd phase of pleural empyema.

Material and methods

The clinical course of 115 patients treated from 1996 to 2017 was analyzed. 45 patients operated on thoracoscopically after the failure of conventional treatment were compared with 70 patients treated by primary thoracoscopic drainage and decortication.

Results

The results of the study demonstrated that patients treated primarily by thoracoscopy had a shortened length of hospital stay (16.6 vs. 19.3 days), reduced drainage time (7.9 vs. 9.8 days), and shorter time of general therapy (31.8 vs. 38.0 days). They required fibrinolysis less frequently (12.8 vs. 26.7% of patients) and had reduced risk of reoperation (10 vs. 15.6% of cases). Operation time in the 3^rd stage was only 15 min longer. The difference in length of hospital stay was only 0.8 days in favor of less severe cases.

Conclusions

The thoracoscopic approach is safely feasible in the 3^rd stage of pleural empyema and should be considered as the preferred approach. Furthermore, the post-operative stay and general course of the disease are milder whenever surgery would not be delayed by prolonged conservative treatment attempts.

Increasing incidence of tuberculosis diagnosed by surgery: a single centre analysis in low-incidence country

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to assess the incidence of thoracic tuberculosis (TB) in patients who underwent surgery for indeterminate lung nodules, mass and pleural effusions.

METHODS

A monocentric retrospective study was carried out from 2012 to 2018 in a high-volume thoracic surgery centre. All patients with finding of thoracic TB within surgery and/or confirmed post-surgery were studied. Demography, origin, TB related symptoms, immunosuppression, type of surgery, and complication of surgery were analyzed.

RESULTS

During the seven-year period TB was diagnosed in 71 cases, 58% were men. The mean age was 50 years. 21% of the cases had family history of TB or were successfully treated for TB in the past. 14% of patients had prior history of treatment for malignancy. Five patients (7%) received immunosuppressive therapy. The indication for surgery was indeterminate lung nodules and mass in 55 patients (77.5%) and indeterminate recurrent or persistent pleural effusions in 21 patients (22.5%). In five patients (7%) a lung carcinoma and a concomitant TB infection was detected. 63 of the cases (88.7%) had positive real-time PCR TBC test. Direct microscopic detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis detected TB in five cases (7%). The microbiological diagnosis by culture was achieved in 19 patients (26.8%). Two patients (2.8%) were diagnosed with multidrug-resistant TB. Surgical procedure complications occurred in nine cases (12.7%).

CONCLUSIONS

Although the overall incidence of TB in the Czech Republic is low and constantly continues to decrease, the number of TB detected by surgical procedures is increasing. Surgery still remains an important tool in diagnostics of nonobvious cases of TB, especially in patients with a potential risk of malignancy.

Nonintubated Uniportal Video-Assisted Thoracic Surgery for Chest Infections

Chest infection is a health care problem in many regions of the world, and pleural empyema is the most common type of surgical chest infection. In the past decennium, the introduction of nonintubated surgery and uniportal video-assisted thoracic surgery changed considerably surgical treatment of pleural empyema. Although the advantages seem evident, the need for randomized controlled trials is necessary to confirm the usefulness. Moreover, in the future, an education and training program for thoracic surgeons and anesthesiologists would allow increasing the number of awake surgical options in caring for patients with stages II to III empyema.

Breathe: surgical interventions in pulmonary diseases

This is my first issue of Breathe as the new Chief Editor and I would like to take the opportunity to thank Renata Riha, the outgoing Chief Editor, for the outstanding work she has done over the past 3 years. Under her leadership, Breathe established a strong online presence, introduced new features such as the Physiology masterclass and the Radiology corner, and strengthened the journal's collaboration with the European Respiratory Society Early Career Members Committee. Today, Breathe is a leader in providing practice-focused educational content to respiratory professionals.

The December issue of Breathe focuses on surgical interventions in pulmonary diseaseshttp://ow.ly/iGEa30mlZuw