[Thirty-five years' experience of thoracic surgery]

The paper pools the experience gained in the surgical treatment of lung malformations in children and adults, which has been used to develop their current classification. It also presents the outcomes of surgical treatment of acute infectious lung destructions, by taking into account the Marchuk severity index. Modes of surgical treatment of bullous pulmonary emphysema have been provided, which yield minimum postoperative mortality rates (3%). The experience of surgical treatment of 110 patients with cicatrical tracheal stenosis is summarized. The authors also present the results of operations made in 390 patients with Stage III non-small cell carcinoma of the lung, specify indications and procedures for resection of the bifurcation of the trachea when the latter is involved in the tumorous process. They also summarize the experience gained in having performed more than 300 operations in the past 5 years for progressive pulmonary tuberculosis, with 2.7% mortality, and 106 final pneumonectomies for postoperative recurrent pulmonary tuberculosis. The experience with allografting of the trachea (n = 2) and lung (n = 3) is important and little studied in our country.