[Results of carinal resection for primary lung cancer]

Carinal resection for primary lung cancer was clinical evaluated. Carinal resection was performed in 18 patients. Thirteen patients underwent carinal resection and the other 5 sleeve or wedge pneumonectomy. The carinal reconstruction was of montage type in 10 patients and the double-barrel type in 2. There were 2 operative deaths, postoperative mortality rate was 11.1%. The 5-year survival for 16 patients excluding the 2 operative deaths was 38.8%. The 5-year survivals were 41.7% and 21.4% for N0 and N2 disease, respectively. Selected patients with localized lesion without mediastinal lymph node metastasis are the candidate for carinal resection and reconstruction.