Keita Fujii

Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery for pulmonary arteriovenous malformations: report of five cases

We experienced five cases of pulmonary arteriovenous malformations (PAVMs) that were successfully treated by video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery. Four malformations were treated by local wedge resection and one was treated by segmentectomy. Criteria for patient selection for surgery were peripheral and solitary lesions, with feeding arteries larger than 3 mm. Postoperative hospital stays were 1–7 days (median, 2 days). All patients showed unchanged or increased values of PaO2 in arterial blood after operation. No major postoperative complication occurred in any patient, but a persistent air leak for 5 days occurred in the one patient who was treated by segmentectomy. No growth of accessory vessels or untreated malformations were seen in any patient throughout the follow-up period of 14–54 months. Thoracoscopic surgical resection for well-selected patients provides a high certainty of eliminating fistulae and was associated with lower morbidity, lower mortality, and shorter hospital stays.

Liver Infarction due to Liver Abscess

nosed segment III infarction due to liver abscess, because CT scan showed the cluster sign characteristic of a liver abscess [1, 2] . We performed an operation for lavage and drainage ( fig. 2 ). Nine days later, CT examination revealed that the abscess cavity had become smaller and the infarction area had a transformed abscess ( fig. 1 b). Five months later, CT examination revealed that the lateral segment of the liver was entirely reduced ( fig. 1 c). Case