[Lung resection for lung cancer in patient with situs inversus totalis]

Situs inversus, which occurs in 1-2 of every 10,000 births, is a congenital malformation in which the thoracic and abdominal viscera are arranged in partial on complete mirror image of the normal anatomy. In the case of situs inversus, special attention must be taken in performing surgery. We present a surgical case of primary lung cancer in an 81-year-old patient with situs inversus totalis. During surgery, we used the Univent bronchial tube for one-lung ventilation. The appearance of the right lung and the arrangement of the pulmonary vessels and the bronchi corresponded to those normally found on the right side was noted at left thoracotomy. Left middle lobectomy and partial resection of left upper lung were successfully performed. In lung resection for situs inversus, it is important to be aware the mirrorimage anatomy. The three dimensional computed tomography (3D-CT) images were useful for preoperative evaluation of vessel variation.