Does the use of pedicled pleural flaps prevent cardiac herniation in patients with large pericardial defects after intrapericardial pneumonectomy?
Pedicled pleural flaps offer a safe and effective surgical technique for repairing large pericardial defects and preventing cardiac herniation following intrapericardial pneumonectomy.
We report our technique for the repair of large pericardial defects resulting after intrapericardial pneumonectomy for locally advanced non-small cell lung carcinoma, using pedicled pleural flaps. Creation of a pedicled pleural flap, large enough to cover the pericardial defect, performing blunt dissection of parietal pleura from the inferior edge of the thoracotomy incision and suturing it in the defect margins, is an easy, safe and effective technique for the prevention of cardiac herniation. Pedicled pleural flaps are an excellent material, not very popular nowadays, for the repair of pericardial defects resulting after intrapericardial pneumonectomy, when it is possible to create a pleural flap.
Christophoros N. Foroulis (Tue,) studied this question.