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Ann Thorac Surg 1999;68:296-297
© 1999 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons

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Correspondence

Reply

^a Service de Chirurgie Thoracique, Hopital Laennec, 42, rue de Sevres, Paris 75007, France

To the Editor

I thank Dr Dov Weissberg for the pertinency of his remark. The relative innocuousness of most persistent air spaces after partial pulmonary resection has been highlighted since 1966, and haste in arriving at a decision to intervene surgically is therefore not warranted [1]. Also, the technique we recommend has not been used very often, as may be assessed by only 50 cases observed over a more than 20-year period in our institution. Recent papers have tried to identify spaces that may be observed from those that should be treated actively with surgery [1, 2]. Elective drainage of the apical chest by the posterior approach is a good alternative to the different surgical techniques used in those cases. In our routine practice, such drainage is not considered as an aggressive procedure. We recommend it because, as underlined [3], it allows optimal "pleural" nursing and is thus useful for both treatment and prevention.

References

1. Barker W.L. Natural history of residual air spaces after pulmonary resection. Chest Surg Clin North Am 1996;6:585-613.[Medline]
2. Miller S.I., Jr Acute and delayed space problems following pulmonary resection. Chest Surg Clin North Am 1996;6:615-621.[Medline]
3. Riquet M., Chehab A., Souilamas R., Le Pimpec Barthes F., Debesse B. Elective drainage of the apical chest by posterior approach. Ann Thorac Surg 1998;66:1824-1825.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Personal Folders Download to citation manager Author home page(s): Marc Riquet Permission Requests Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Riquet, M. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Riquet, M. Related Collections Related Article