The complexity of decision making in thoracic surgery is growing exponentially. As new technology is introduced, physicians from nonsurgical specialties offer alternative and competing therapies for what was once the exclusive province of the thoracic surgeon. In addition, there is increasing knowledge regarding the efficacy of traditional thoracic surgical therapies. How to select among these varied and complex approaches is becoming increasingly difficult. The first two editions of this book have found wide acceptance among practicing surgeons, trainees, and educators. Chapters from them are regularly cited by the Thoracic Surgery Directors Association as valuable resources for their weekly curriculum exercises. As in the first two editions, chapters adhere to a specific format (updated for the third edition). This approach provides uniformity to the presentations, making it possible to identify useful material at a glance.

Advanced imaging technology has greatly improved the practice of thoracic surgery in the past 35 years. Among many other benefits, the advances decreased the rate of futile thoracotomy for lung cancer from more than 20% in the 1970s to the current incidence of only a few percent.? This issue of Thoracic Surgery Clinics provides updates about recent advances in imaging of thoracic diseases, and will help practicing thoracic surgeons understand how to best frame requests so that optimally useful information emerges from an examination.

Proposed topics for this issue include: Preoperative Evaluation and Risk Assessment; Surgical Management of Benign Pulmonary Diseases; Surgical Resection for Lung Cancer in the Elderly; Benign Esophageal Diseases - Diagnosis and Treatment; Surgical Resection for Esophageal Cancer in the Elderly; Postoperative Pain Management in the Elderly; Chemotherapy in the Elderly - Induction and Adjuvant Therapy; Radiation Issues in the Elderly; Quality of Life Issues and Ethical Dilemmas in the Elderly; Areas of Future Research and Studies.