PDT is effective in early primary or recurrent NSCLC, resulting in a CR rate of 72%. The incorporation of PDT in standard clinical practice, in combination with radiotherapy, warrants further investigation.

Glomus tumor of the trachea is a rare disease. A glomus tumor of the trachea in a 70-year-old man is described. The tumor was successfully excised with rigid bronchoscopy. Twenty-four months after treatment there remains no evidence of endobronchial regrowth at bronchoscopy or imaging studies. Histologic features and treatment are discussed.

Catamenial pneumothorax is the most frequent manifestation of thoracic endometriosis. Diagnosis should be suspected if a spontaneous pneumothorax occurs within 72 hours from the onset of menstrual bleeding. Furthermore diagnosis can be supported by the macroscopic findings within the pleural cavity, generally represented by multiple nodules with color ranging from brown to violet and of variable dimension (from several micrometers to 1 cm); confirmation comes from histologic examination of the resected specimens (endometrial glands surrounded by a decidual-like stroma). Increased levels of CA 125 and CA 19-9 are useful clues. On the other hand, diagnosis of catamenial pneumothorax can be challenging in atypical cases presenting with none of the above mentioned features. We report a similar case in which no proof of endometriosis was found neither at intraoperative examination of the affected hemithorax, nor at gynecological evaluation; moreover laboratory parameters and CA 125 and CA 19-9 in particular were within normal values. Eventually, diagnosis of catamenial pneumothorax was formulated only when a temporal connection with menstrual bleeding was noticedand when, on the ex juvantibus principle, implementation of a specific medical treatment was able to prevent further recurrences of the disease. A gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) analogue therapy was establishedand since then, after a two years follow-up, pneumothorax had never recurred. In conclusion, diagnosis of catamenial pneumothorax could be established on clinical grounds only.

LAPEG is a safe technique with a low complication rate. It should be considered a minimal alternative in all cases where the placement of PEG is not possible.

(PTACs) from which TD should be differentiated in consideration of the similar basic pattern of "paratracheal air collection". Diagnosis of TD is difficult because of its rarity, lack of symptomatology or specific symptomatology and low sensibility of the diagnostic tools available to date (chest CT and bronchoscopy). Apart from its intrinsic rarity, the case of TD we present here has the peculiarity of being diagnosed, differently from usual, by direct bronchoscopic visualization. The blunt thoracic trauma of which the patient was victim, gives more exemplarity to the diagnostic pathway of this entity. Indeed the detection of a para tracheal air collection on CT images could have been interpreted as a traumatic rupture of the trachea rather than a TD, leading to an unjustified surgical treatment. It was only clinical judgment combined with the use of the diagnostic imaging and bronchoscopy that conducted to the correct diagnosis.