Hyperhidrosis is a pathologic condition characterized by excessive sweating beyond what is required for normal physiologic thermoregulation. This overproduction causes a significant psychosocial affliction that can negatively affect an individual's quality of life. The incidence of hyperhidrosis depends on the…
The posterior mediastinum is an anatomically diverse region that includes visceral organs, major vascular structures, large neural structures, and important lymphatic vessels. Lesions that originate in the mediastinum are relatively rare compared with the diverse pathology that can involve the…
Anatomy Using the traditional “three-compartment” classification, the middle mediastinum is bounded anteriorly by the pericardium and posteriorly by the pericardium and membranous wall of the trachea ( Fig. 42-1 ). The lateral borders are composed of the mediastinal pleura, while…
Although the anatomy of the mediastinum is presented in detail elsewhere in this book, it is reviewed here from a thoracic surgical perspective to highlight the radiographic and surgical anatomic subdivisions of the mediastinum that have been proposed. The simplest…
Mediastinal Anatomy The anatomic boundaries of the mediastinum include the thoracic inlet superiorly, the diaphragm inferiorly, the sternum anteriorly, the spine posteriorly, and the pleural spaces bilaterally. It is convenient to divide the mediastinum into anatomic compartments that provide a…
Overview: Principles of Multimodality Therapy Achieving real improvement in the treatment outcomes for esophageal cancer has been a slow process. Arguably, the major hurdles impeding our ability to diagnose and treat the disease were, for the most part, overcome in…
The prevalence of esophageal adenocarcinoma has risen dramatically over the past three decades. Esophageal cancer is the eighth most common cancer worldwide, and more than 480,000 new cases were diagnosed in 2008. The documented increase is approximately six- to sevenfold,…
There were 17,460 estimated new cases of esophageal cancer diagnosed in the United States in 2012 and 15,070 estimated deaths. The overall survival from esophageal cancer remains dismal at less than 17% at 5 years in the United States. The…
The esophagus actively transports solids and liquids from the pharynx to the stomach. It has no digestive, absorptive, metabolic, or endocrine functions. A muscular tube subtended by two sphincters performs this rudimentary transfer task. Despite simplicity in esophageal function and…
Embryology At approximately the 18th or 19th day of fetal life, the notochord, the anlage of the vertebral column, starts to form, first in close association with endodermal cells and then separating from them. The foregut develops from the endodermal…