A Giant solitary fibrous tumour resected through median sternotomy

Solitary fibrous tumour of the pleura (SFT) is rare neoplasms and consist less than 5% of the primary tumours of the pleura. In the English literature, very few cases of giant solitary fibrous tumours have been described. We report a clinical case of an intrathoracic giant SFT of the pleura in a 62‐year‐old female patient. Additionally, we reviewed the clinical, imaging and histopathological features, the therapeutic management and the clinical course of giant SFTs published in the English literature. For this, we conducted a comprehensive electronic search at the PubMed using the key words giant, huge, big and enormous.

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) complications encountered in forensic autopsy cases

Background

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) provides a significant increase in survival rate, even if performed by bystanders. However, bystanders may refrain from performing CPR for fear of eventual malpractice litigation. Currently lack Guidelines specifying whether a particular CPR-related complication is in all likelihood unavoidable or not. To fulfill this gap a great number of studies is required to be published in the most relevant leading academic literature. This paper aims at making a contribution to addressing such a challenge.

Methods

A retrospective observational study based on forensic autopsy material aiming at recording injuries resulting from the application of CPR. The severity of injuries was forensically evaluated.

Results

Out of 88 cases autopsied, only 26.7% had rib fractures (only 20% of which were located in the 6 lower ribs), 17.4% had sternal fractures (85.7% of which were detected in the body of the sternum and 14.3% in the manubrium). The ratio of sternal fractures to rib fractures is similar to the ratio cited in other studies reported in the literature (2:3, approximately). The number of fractures was 7.86 (4.11 on the right side and 4.75 on the left side). 16% of the cases were found to be mild, 48% were moderate, and 35% of the cases were severe. When a physician was present, a (not statistically significant) trend towards more severe complications was found.

Conclusion

The findings are in accordance with other similar studies reported in the literature referring to the classic external CPR. This study offers a proposal aiming at making a contribution to develop Guidelines specifying whether a particular CPR-related complication is in all likelihood unavoidable or not.