Operated bronchial carcinoma: a review of 230 cases

Two hundred and thirty patients, treated by resection for bronchial carcinoma, were analysed. The histological examination showed in 80% a squamous cell carcinoma, in 11.3% an adenocarcinoma, in 5.3% a large cell and in 3.4% a small cell carcinoma. There was a great difference between preoperative and postsurgical TNM-classification: 90% stage I preoperatively and only 68.3% after resection with mediastinal lymph node dissection. Twenty-four patients (10.4%) died during the first 30 days after operation. The main cause of death was cardiac failure or respiratory insufficiency. Forty-four patients (19.1%) had non-fatal complications. Atelectasis and pneumonia predominated. Survival without regard to stage and cell type was 27.6% at 5 years. As expected survival rate in T1N0M0 was best (40%). Therefore early detection of bronchial carcinoma is essential.