An interview between a pulmonologist and a thoracic surgeon— Pleuroscopy: the reappearance of an old definition

As we all know, in 1910 Hans Christian Jakobaeus was the first to use ‘cystoscopy’ for the examination of serus cavities (1). This method was used for the tuberculosis treatment and was abandoned after few years. Since 1945 many other researchers used this technique to explore the thoracic cavity and to perform interventions in pleura and lung. Accordingly, this technique was named after Jakobaeus and called “Jakobaeus operation” (2). However, throughout the years other definitions emerged to describe the technique. From 1923 ‘pleuroscopy’ was the most common used definition (3). In later years, pneumonologists and interventional pneumonologists adopted the term ‘medical thoracoscopy’. Another term that abandons in literature is ‘Surgical or therapeutic thoracoscopy’ (4,5) and of course there is the videoassisted thoracic surgery (VATS) technique. In this interview, we will clarify a few important questions concerning pleuroscopy.