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Updated: Sep 26, 2026

Thoracoscopic Extended Right Middle Plus Lower Sleeve Lobectomy for Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer
Published on: February 27, 2026
[Clinical features of postoperative chylothorax for lung cancer and esophageal cancer]
Jun Zhao1, De-chao Zhang, Liang-jun Wang
1Department of Thoracic Surgery, Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing 100021, China.
Objective:
To define the clinical features of postoperative chylothorax for lung cancer (PCLC), and to compare them with those for esophageal cancer (PCEC).
Method:
We retrospectively analysed clinical characteristics of 12 patients with chylothorax among 4 084 patients receiving resection of lung cancer, as well as 52 in 4 479 patients having resection of esophageal cancer since 1985 at our hospital.
Results:
The incidence of PCLC was 0.29% and that of PCEC was 1.16%. The percentage of diagnosis confirmed within 4 postoperative days was 33.3% for PCLC, and 76.9% for PCEC. The rate of typical chylous pleural effusion was 83.3% for PCLC, and 5.8% for PCEC. Symptoms and signs of PCLC were much milder than those of PCEC. The re-operation rate was 16.7% for PCLC, and 96.2% for PCEC. All patients were discharged uneventfully.
Conclusion:
The incidence, causes, clinical manifestations, diagnosis, and treatment of PCLC is different from those of PCEC.
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