Reviewer's report 
 Fecopneumothorax and colopleural fistula - uncommon complications of Crohn's disease Title: 
 1  11 March 2006 Version: Date: 
 mario pescatori Reviewer: 
Reviewer's report: 
General 
thank you for asking me to review this interesting and well written manuscript, which reports on a 
case of colopleural fecal fistula in a patient with Crohn's disease 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Major Compulsory Revisions (that the author must respond to before a decision on publication can 
be reached) The authors should provide more information on the operation performed (colectomy and Brooke ileostomy). Did they perform a total colectomy with a rectal preservation and a mucous fistula? Or 
did they oversew the rectum leaving the rectal stump in the peritoneal cavity? Or did they perform a 
proctocolectomy? Moreover, if they performed a total colectomy, why not to preserve the right and the transverse colon, and the sigmoid, considering that, according to their decription, only the splenic flexure was 
involved by thye disease? There is general agreement that in Crohn's patient limited resections are 
strongly advised to keep more large bowel thus minimizing the risk of postoperative diarrhoea and incontinence, also in view of further resections possibly due to recurrences? Finally the reference list apperas not to be updated as no article published in the last decade is 
quoted. 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Minor Essential Revisions (such as missing labels on figures, or the wrong use of a term, which the author can be trusted to correct) 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Discretionary Revisions (which the author can choose to ignore) 
 Unable to decide on acceptance or rejection until the authors have responded to the What next?: 
major compulsory revisions 
 An article of importance in its field Level of interest: 
 Acceptable Quality of written English: 
 No Statistical review: 
Declaration of competing interests: 
I declare that I have no competing interests' below 
Reviewer's report 
 Fecopneumothorax and colopleural fistula - uncommon complications of Crohn's disease Title: 
 1  11 March 2006 Version: Date: 
 mario pescatori Reviewer: 
Reviewer's report: 
General 
thank you for asking me to review this interesting and well written manuscript, which reports on a 
case of colopleural fecal fistula in a patient with Crohn's disease 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Major Compulsory Revisions (that the author must respond to before a decision on publication can 
be reached) The authors should provide more information on the operation performed (colectomy and Brooke ileostomy). Did they perform a total colectomy with a rectal preservation and a mucous fistula? Or 
did they oversew the rectum leaving the rectal stump in the peritoneal cavity? Or did they perform a 
proctocolectomy? Moreover, if they performed a total colectomy, why not to preserve the right and the transverse colon, and the sigmoid, considering that, according to their decription, only the splenic flexure was 
involved by thye disease? There is general agreement that in Crohn's patient limited resections are 
strongly advised to keep more large bowel thus minimizing the risk of postoperative diarrhoea and incontinence, also in view of further resections possibly due to recurrences? Finally the reference list apperas not to be updated as no article published in the last decade is 
quoted. 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Minor Essential Revisions (such as missing labels on figures, or the wrong use of a term, which the author can be trusted to correct) 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Discretionary Revisions (which the author can choose to ignore) 
 Unable to decide on acceptance or rejection until the authors have responded to the What next?: 
major compulsory revisions 
 An article of importance in its field Level of interest: 
 Acceptable Quality of written English: 
 No Statistical review: 
Declaration of competing interests: 
I declare that I have no competing interests' below 
Please review this paper.
user
Reviewer's report 
 Fecopneumothorax and colopleural fistula - uncommon complications of Crohn's disease Title: 
 1  11 March 2006 Version: Date: 
 mario pescatori Reviewer: 
Reviewer's report: 
General 
thank you for asking me to review this interesting and well written manuscript, which reports on a 
case of colopleural fecal fistula in a patient with Crohn's disease 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Major Compulsory Revisions (that the author must respond to before a decision on publication can 
be reached) The authors should provide more information on the operation performed (colectomy and Brooke ileostomy). Did they perform a total colectomy with a rectal preservation and a mucous fistula? Or 
did they oversew the rectum leaving the rectal stump in the peritoneal cavity? Or did they perform a 
proctocolectomy? Moreover, if they performed a total colectomy, why not to preserve the right and the transverse colon, and the sigmoid, considering that, according to their decription, only the splenic flexure was 
involved by thye disease? There is general agreement that in Crohn's patient limited resections are 
strongly advised to keep more large bowel thus minimizing the risk of postoperative diarrhoea and incontinence, also in view of further resections possibly due to recurrences? Finally the reference list apperas not to be updated as no article published in the last decade is 
quoted. 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Minor Essential Revisions (such as missing labels on figures, or the wrong use of a term, which the author can be trusted to correct) 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Discretionary Revisions (which the author can choose to ignore) 
 Unable to decide on acceptance or rejection until the authors have responded to the What next?: 
major compulsory revisions 
 An article of importance in its field Level of interest: 
 Acceptable Quality of written English: 
 No Statistical review: 
Declaration of competing interests: 
I declare that I have no competing interests' below 
assistant