Orthopaedic aspects and early diagnosis of superior sulcus tumor of lung (Pancoast).
Fifty-one patients with superior sulcus tumor of lung (Pancoast) treated over a seventeen-year period were reviewed. Musculoskeletal complaints were the presenting symptoms in forty-six patients. The clinical manifestations and diagnostic pitfalls are discussed and recommendations advanced for a thorough roentgenographic study of the thoracic inlet in any patient with persistent shoulder or neck pain, with or without brachialgia. Should any apical lung abnormality be detected, a thorough evaluation including biopsy is indicated.
In terms of Tashtagol Mine, the authors address the issues connected with the configuration and surface of cavities formed by blasts of explosive charges in high-stress rock mass structured as a hierarchy of blocks. Laser scanning of a cavity offers the data on linear and angular characteristics of the cavity surface. The analysis of the surface structure provides details of the rock mass block hierarchy, which essentially influences formation of the roof and sidewalls of the cavity. Individual areas of the cavity surface are described with the help of approximation of measured coordinates of the cavity boundary in the cross sections using the second order curves, including circumferences and ellipses the radius of which are canonically connected with the phenomenon of zonal disintegration of rock mass.