1996 Volume 18 Issue 6 Pages 553-557
A 78-year-old man admitted for further examinations of a well-defined round shadow in the left upper lung field on chest X-ray. Bronchoscopy revealed a small elevated lesion at the orifice of the right B^7 and transbronchial biopsy suggested squamous cell carcinoma. The Left lung lesion was not diagnosed but synchronous double lung cancer was suspected. Because of old age and cardio-pulmonary dysfunction, vaporization and pulmonary resection by Nd-YAG laser and additional irradiation were performed for both lesions. This patient remained satisfactory for 8 months until liver metastases appeared. No cancer cells were identified in the resected lung on autopsy. Nd-YAG laser therapy and irradiation were useful for lung preservation and maintainance of QOL.
