ECMO-assisted resection of huge thoracic mass

Clinicopathological Features of Intrathoracic Liposarcoma-A Systematic Review with an Illustrative Case

BACKGROUND

Liposarcoma (LPS) is one of the most common soft-tissue sarcomas. However, intrathoracic LPS is rare, as only 1% of all LPS cases are found in the thorax.

METHODS

A systematic literature review through PubMed and Embase databases was performed. Only eligible case reports and case series reporting intrathoracic LPS in adult patients were included. Kaplan-Meier curves were calculated to evaluate the survival rate of included patients based on the histological subtype of LPS.

RESULTS

123 studies reporting 197 patients were included. We added a case of a 69-year-old female patient with recurrent giant intrathoracic LPS. The primary tumor measured 15.1cm × 22.9 cm × 21.9 cm and weighed 3100 g. Six months later, the patient was admitted to the hospital with another intrathoracic tumor measuring 9.5 cm × 9 cm× 1.4 cm. The immunohistochemical studies showed expression of murine double minute 2 (MDM2) antigen in both primary and recurrent tumor cells.

CONCLUSIONS

Dyspnea, chest pain, and cough were the most common symptoms reported in included studies. Overall, the 5-year survival rate was 62%. The highest survival was observed in well-differentiated LPS patients (80%) and the lowest in myxoid LPS (31%).

SARS-Cov-2 and COVID-19, Basic and Clinical Aspects of the Human Pandemic: A Review

In the last two decades, we have witnessed three major epidemics of the coronavirus human disease namely, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome, and more recently an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Iran, a country of nearly 84 million, in the Middle East, severely involved with the COVID-19 disease. A documented multidimensional approach to COVID-19 disease is therefore mandatory to provide a well-balanced platform for the concerned medical community in our county and beyond. In this review, we highlight the disease status in Iran and attempt to provide a multilateral view of the fundamental and clinical aspects of the disease including the clinical features of the confirmed cases, virology, pathogenesis, epidemiology, and laboratory methods needed for diagnosis.