Therapeutic thoracoscopy.

Thoracoscopy provides a minimally invasive window to the pleural space, lung, and mediastinum. Further advances prompted by improvements of specifically designed endoscopic instruments and procedural techniques are expected. There is no doubt that thoracoscopy has a place among therapeutic procedures in the chest. The time-proven principles of thoracic surgical intervention, particularly in regard to patients with cancer, however, must not be neglected. A beckoning window always offers new opportunities, but the open door of classic surgical techniques should not be ignored.