Esophageal perforation is associated with high morbidity and mortality rates, particularly if not diagnosed and treated promptly. Despite the many advances in thoracic surgery, the management of patients with esophageal perforation remains controversial. We performed a retrospective clinical review of 36 patients, 15 women (41.7%) and 21 men (58.3%), treated at our hospital for esophageal perforation between 1989 and 2002. The mean age was 54.3 years (range 7-76 years). Iatrogenic causes were found in 63.9% of perforations, foreign body perforation in 16.7%, traumatic perforation in 13.9% and spontaneous rupture in 5.5%. Perforation occurred in the cervical esophagus in 12 cases, thoracic esophagus in 13 and abdominal esophagus in 11. Pain was the most common presenting symptom, occurring in 24 patients (66.7%). Dyspnea was noted in 14 patients (38.9%), fever in 12 (33.3%) and subcutaneous emphysema in 25 (69.4%). Management of esophageal perforation included primary closure in 19 (52.8%), resection in seven (19.4%) and non-surgical therapy in 10 (27.8%). The 30-day mortality was found to be 13.9%, and mean hospital stay was 24.4 days. In the surgically treated group the mortality rate was three of 26 patients (11.5%), and two of 10 patients (20%) in the conservatively managed group. Survival was significantly influenced by a delay of more than 24 h in the initiation of treatment. Primary closure within 24 h resulted in the most favorable outcome. Esophageal perforation is a life threatening condition, and any delay in diagnosis and therapy remains a major contributor to the attendant mortality.

Esophagogastric anastomotic leaks are the most feared surgical complications following resection of esophageal cancers. We aimed to develop a therapeutic algorithm for this complication characterized by high morbidity and mortality using our 20 years of experience and the published literature. A total of 354 patients who had undergone an esophagectomy and esophagogastric anastomosis due to esophageal carcinoma were evaluated retrospectively. The incidence for anastomotic leak was 15.5% (n = 90) in the cervical region and 4.2% (n = 264) in the thoracic region (mean: 7.1%). Cervical anastomotic leaks were detected after a mean period of 7.2 days following the procedure. Fourteen patients with cervical leaks were treated conservatively. Four out of 14 patients (28.6%) died due to sepsis and multi-organ failure related to fistula. Thoracic anastomotic leaks were detected after a mean period of 4.7 days following the procedure. Emergency reoperation, resection and reconstruction procedures were performed in one patient. Self-expanding metallic coated stents were placed at the anastomosis region in two patients. A more conservative approach was employed in other patients with thoracic anastomotic leaks. Six of them (46.2%) died due to fistula. General mortality rate was 37.0%, and the duration of hospitalization was 40.0 days for patients with anastomotic leaks. Cervical anastomotic leaks are more common than thoracic anastomotic leaks, but most of them are successfully treated with conservative approaches. Thoracic anastomotic leaks that in the past were related to high mortality rates despite conservative or surgical procedures might be successfully treated nowadays with the use of self-expanding metallic coated stents.

Hydatid disease remains a serious health problem for the Mediterranean countries, such as Turkey. Living in a rural area is an important risk factor for the disease. Hydatid cysts are usually located in the liver, lung, and brain. Mediastinal hydatid disease is very rare that have been only anecdotally in the literature. The objective of this study was to evaluate the clinical and radiographic findings and surgical treatment of this unusual lesion. Between 1985 and 2002, 11 cases with primary mediastinal hydatid cyst were treated surgically at our clinic. Median age was 28.4 and ranged from 19 to 46 years. Symptoms included chest pain in nine patients (82%), and cough in six patients (54%). The cyst was located in the anterior mediastinum in four patients (36%), in the posterior mediastinum in five patients (45%) and in the middle mediastinum in two patients (18%). All cysts were intact except one cyst that ruptured into right intrapleural space. Surgical approach was right thoracotomy in five patients (45%), left thoracotomy in three patients (27%), and median sternotomy in three patients (27%). Total pericystectomy was chosen as the surgical procedure in all patients except four (36%), who had cystectomy and local curettage for cyst located vital structures. There were no complications and mortality postoperatively. Primary hydatid cysts of the mediastinum are distinct clinical entity that must be considered when caring for a patient with a mediastinal mass in endemic regions. Because of surrounding vital structures the cyst should be treated without delay.

Purpose: To prospectively determine whether the diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging is useful to distinguish between malignant and benign mediastinal lymph nodes. Materials and Methods:Thirty-five patients (14 women, 21 men; mean age 52 years) with 91 lymph nodes in the mediastinum detected by computed tomography underwent 1.5 Tesla (T) diffusion-weighted MR imaging before mediastinoscopy (n ϭ 29) and mediastinotomy (n ϭ 6). Diffusion-weighted MR images were acquired with a b factor of 50, and 400 s/mm 2 using single-shot echo-planar sequence.

Our findings show that biochemical and histopathologic injury occur in collapsed and contralateral lungs in one-lung ventilation, and this injury increases as occlusion time rises. We believe that occlusion and occlusion time-related injury should be borne in mind in the clinic under conditions requiring the application of one-lung ventilation.