1996 Volume 10 Issue 5 Pages 563-569
We treated 14 patients with lobectomy and pulmonary angioplasty for stage III primary lung cancer from 1985 to April 1995. In this paper, we consider the indications for the lobectomy/ pulmonary angioplasty for lung cancer. During same period, 19 patients with primary lung cancer were treated with pneumonectomy. We assessed the merits and indications for lobectomy/pulmonary angioplasty and compared it with pneumonectomy in respect to operation time, volume of blood lost, respiratory examination results before and after operation, and outcome. The volume of Blood lost during lobectomy/angioplasty was 856±348.1ml and the operation time was 306±77 minutes. The figures for pneumonectomy were 1146±1258 m/ and 252.7±5. 61 minutes respectively. Thus lobectomy and angioplasty caused much less bleeding. Before and one month after surgery, lobectomy/pulmonary angioplasty patients had significantly greater vital capacity and forced expiratory volume than did the pneumonectomy patients.
The 5-year survival rate of the pneumonectomy patients was 18.4% and that of the lobectomy/pulmonary angioplasty patient was 0%. These results show that pulmonary angioplasty preserves respiratory function after lobectomy, but the prognosis of lobectomy/ pulmonary angioplasty is worse than that of pneumonectomy in patients with stage III primary lung cancer.
