Failure of preoperative staging to assess unresectability in M0 bronchogenic carcinoma

Despite extensive preoperative staging, unresectability of a bronchogenic carcinoma may not be known until an exploratory thoracotomy is done. Failures in anatomic staging occur because of inability to detect local extent of hilar lesions and inability to detect small deposits of metastatic disease. At the University of South Carolina, nine of 75 patients who underwent thoracotomies were found to be unresectable. Using an extensive staging protocol, the "back out" thoracotomy rate can be reduced to a minimum whereas no patient is denied a chance for surgical cure.