Atrial resection in advanced lung carcinoma under total cardiopulmonary bypass

There are few reports of a surgical approach to T4 lung carcinoma that has invaded the heart. Although most cases will be considered inoperable, cases in which there is potential for complete resection and no distant or nodal metastatic disease (T4 N0 M0, Stage IIIB) may be considered for surgical therapy. We report a case of squamous cell carcinoma of the lung with cardiac involvement, in which we performed a completion pneumonectomy using total cardiopulmonary bypass. We describe indications and techniques for use of cardiopulmonary bypass in such cases.