Preoperative pulmonary evaluation of the thoracic surgical patient

Fig. 2 is an algorithm for the preoperative pulmonary evaluation of the lung resection candidate. Patients should undergo routine spirometry and diffusion capacity testing. If the FEV1 and DLCO are greater than 80% predicted, no further study is needed. When these parameters are less than 80%, some estimation of postoperative function is likely needed, taking into account the proposed resection. Patients with ppoFEV1 or ppoDLCO less than 40% are at increased risk of perioperative complications or death and should undergo formal exercise testing. A VO2max or ppoVO2max less than 10 mL/kg/min is associated with prohibitive risk for anatomic lung resection, and alternative treatment modalities should be considered.