Last year, the lung transplant community was excited by reports from Toronto General Hospital of successful lung transplants with seemingly improved perioperative outcomes compared to standard of care ice storage, after donor lungs were stored for up to 16 hours at 10 degrees Celsius. While a clinical trial is ongoing, preclinical evidence suggests that organ storage may be successfully extended to more than a day, with intermittent normothermic ex-vivo lung perfusion (EVLP) utilization. Is it time to consider lung transplantation as a semi-elective procedure?
Procedures to evaluate lymph nodes before lung cancer therapy, including endobronchial guided nodal aspiration and mediastinoscopy, can help diagnose and stage the patient effectively. Research findings demonstrate, however, that these procedures are underutilized overall or employed in a highly variable fashion. In this STS webinar, an expert panel of pulmonologists and thoracic surgeons discusses the changing role of pretreatment nodal staging to include diagnosis, staging, and acquisition of sufficient tissue for biomarker testing.
Recent data from two large randomized studies of segmentectomy for small (≤2cm) peripheral non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treatment suggest a change is coming in the standard of care. In this STS webinar, an expert panel discusses how evolving robotic and imaging technologies are changing the landscape of treatment for early stage NSCLC. The session features a review of recent trials, advanced imaging, complex segmentectomy videos, and case scenarios.
Virtual interviews are now a part of our lives. It may be for the better: decreased time away, less cost, more discretion (if you are looking to change jobs), and an easy opportunity to get to know a group.
