Surgical Thoracoscopy

The techniques of surgical endoscopy are particularly well suited to thoracic surgery. In many fields they offer a better exposure than open chest surgery while suppressing or at least reducing the specific complications of thoracotomy. This book is the result of the common work of surgeons and internists who have, each in his own field, a large experience in thoracoscopy. In the first part of the work the instrumentation and the basic techniques are described. The main procedures in pleural, lung, mediastinal and esophageal pathology are then detailed. Their indications and results are discussed. The medical data of interest for those surgeons who might treat pleural diseases through thoracoscopyare given. In case of opposite or complementary techniques coexisting for a same topic, each technique is dealt with by an author experienced in it. We hope that this book which includes many figures and colour views will make surgeons enter into the exciting field of surgical thoracoscopy.