Preface

摘要

While reviewing the numerous changes that have occurred in our understanding and treatment of chest wall lesions, it is remarkable to reflect on what we have inherited from the century which recently closed. It is hard to believe that a mere 100 years ago chest wall surgery was essentially off limits to surgeons.In this issue of Seminars in Pediatric Surgery, we present the latest advances and techniques in chest wall surgery and review the problems resolved by each generation of surgeons. Before the era of positive pressure ventilation, surgeons devised techniques that allowed them to "stay out of the chest cavity," including the "open" repair of the pectus excavatum. The dramatic advances that occurred in the surgical field during the second half of the last century, including improved anesthesia, the use of muscle and tissue flaps, the use of a variety of rigid and absorbable materials for reconstructive procedures, and finally the introduction of fiberoptics which opened the door to minimally invasive techniques, have particularly impacted the treatment of chest wall lesions.