Esophageal carcinoma: prognostic features and comparison between blunt transhiatal dissection and transthoracic...

Among 86 patients who underwent resection for thoracic esophageal carcinoma between 1982 and 1989, 49 were resected by a transhiatal blunt esophagectomy (THE) and 37 underwent a transthoracic-abdominal esophagectomy (TTE). The two groups were statistically comparable with respect to preoperative characteristics. Overall morbidity and respiratory complications were high for both groups (71% vs 62% and 45% vs 46%; P = NS). The rate of cardiac, renal, neurological and bleeding complications, as well as recurrent nerve injuries was similar in both groups. An anastomotic leak occurred in 39% (19/49) of THE patients and in 11% (4/37) (P < 0.05) of TTE patients. Hospital mortality was 16% (8/49) in the THE group (4 resulting from cervical anastomotic leaks, 4 from respiratory complications) and 13% (5/37) in the TTE patients (1 from myocardial infarction, 4 from respiratory failures; P = NS). Actuarial survival curves for all THE and TTE patients (5-year survival rate: 20% vs 22%) and separate analysis for N0 and N1 tumors revealed no significant difference between these two techniques. Of the different preoperative variables, only tobacco addiction, beside lymph node involvement, was an independent predictor of outcome. Respiratory complications and hospital mortality were significantly lower for the non-smokers and long term survival was significantly higher for the N0 stages.