Surgery for primary, invasive and metastatic malignancy of the chest wall

Forty-four patients with primary (n = 6), invasive (n = 19) and metastatic (n = 21) chest tumours underwent complete resection between 1986 and 1989 in a total of 46 consecutive procedures. Nineteen patients were female and 25 male; 2 patients, 1 male, 1 female, had second operations. The underlying disease was bronchial carcinoma in 17 (14 male), mesenchymal tumours in 17, metastatic breast cancer in 7 and miscellaneous in 5. The chest wall resection included up to 6 ribs. The manubrium was resected in 2 patients, the corpus sterni in 5. Pulmonary resection was performed in 36 cases in an en-bloc fashion. Other concomitant resections included the pericardium, diaphragm or transverse process of the vertebrae. Amputation of the right arm was necessary in two cases. Reconstruction of the thoracic cage was accomplished with PTFE soft tissue patches in 7, methyl methacrylate implants in 2, Marlex mesh in 1 and Vicryl net in 6 cases. In the majority of cases, particularly in dorso-apical and posterior defects, no substitutes were used. A variety of plastic procedures including the use of omentum, musculo- and fasciocutaneous flaps was employed for the reconstruction of the integument. There was no operative mortality. Fourteen patients died after surviving 2-25 months. Serious infection occurred in 1 patient and minor delay of healing in 2. Good palliation can be achieved at low risk. The effect on long-term survival remains uncertain, depending on the basic pathology.