Journal and News Scan

The most common type of mesothelioma is malignant pleural mesothelioma, a nearly invariably lethal tumour of the pleura. Very seldom diagnosed prior to the advent of widespread asbestos mining in the early to mid twentieth century, this disease has sharply risen in incidence over the last five decades (1). The worldwide consumption of asbestos has peaked in the 1980s consequent to the call for an asbestos ban in several developed countries. However, in recent years the use of this carcinogenic mineral and its products seems to get an unprecedented popularity in Eastern Europe, Asia and South America (2). The tragic consequences of increased asbestos use in these parts of the world are that many more mesothelioma cases will be diagnosed in the future and that a major carcinogenic legacy is left behind for next generations. Asbestos has also been characterized as a time-bomb due to the long latency between first asbestos exposure and occurrence of disease (3). The purpose of these guidelines is clear. They are providing a set of concise evidence-based recommendations for the diagnosis, treatment and care of patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma. Although they were written to be used in an Australian context they will lend themselves also to be translated in health care settings outside of Australia. The team who voluntarily invested a significant amount of time in this project considered it a privilege to focus on better diagnostics, better treatment and care for those unfortunate victims of a hideous man-made disease called malignant pleural mesothelioma.

The authors report on patients with a small aortic annulus who underwent aortic root replacement using self-assembled valve composite grafts with prosthesis larger than aortic annulus. This technique resulted in excellent haemodynamic and good neo-root durability at long-term follow-up.

According to a study on 22 patients after repair of tetralogy of Fallot, ejection fraction of the right ventricular sinus and the extent of akinesia of the right ventricular outflow tract predict exercise capacity better than global right ventricular function.

Using data from the 3 US cohorts in the After Breast Cancer Pooling Project (ABCPP) with information about duration and smoking exposure in 10000 breast cancer survivor, researchers analyzed the association between smoking and breast cancer survival. Exposition expressed in pack-year increase risks of recurrence and breast cancer mortality and all-cause mortality.