Main description:

This issue of Thoracic Surgery Clinics, guest edited by Drs. Stephen Hazelrigg and Traves Crabtree, is devoted to Surgical Management of Benign Lung Disease. Drs. Hazelrigg and Crabtree have assembled expert authors to review the following topics: Evaluation of the emphysema patient: Best medical treatment and indications for surgical intervention; Life expectancy after lung volume reduction surgery; Analysis of recent literature on lung volume reduction surgery; Present role of endobronchial valves in emphysema treatment; Critical Analysis of the National Emphysema Treatment Trial Results for Lung-Volume-Reduction Surgery; Technical aspects of LVRS including anesthetic management and surgical approaches; Future treatment of emphysema with roles for valves and LVRS; Alpha one antitrypsin disease, treatment and role for lung volume reduction surgery; Postoperative Air-Leaks after Lung Surgery: Predictors, Intraoperative Techniques, and Postoperative Management; Value of a multidisciplinary team approach to treatment of emphysema; Economic considerations with endobronchial valves and lung volume reduction surgery; Outcomes of lung volume reduction surgery in homogenous emphysema; and more!