Bronchoplastic lobectomy with wide wedge resection for lung cancer with long-term steroid medication

A 57-year-old man with erythrodermia, who was given 5-10 mg/day of prednisolone for 2.5 years, was admitted to our hospital for squamous cell lung carcinoma of the right upper lobe. A bronchoscopy revealed a tumor nearly obstructing the right upper lobe bronchus. A bronchoplastic lobectomy was performed with wide wedge resection of the main bronchus and truncus intermedius. A postoperative bronchoscopy revealed good healing of the anastomosis and a 3-dimensional construction of the bronchus with chest computed tomography demonstrated no stenotic change and no kinking change in the anastomosis. One year and 6 months after surgery, no local recurrence was seen in the region of bronchoplasty. Bronchoplastic lobectomy with wide wedge resection is a useful procedure in cases with risk factors of anastomotic dehiscence, such as after induction therapy or during long-term administration of adrenal cortical steroids.