Bronchiectasis revisited

The writer of this retrospective essay witnessed his first open chest operation during the academic year 1928-29 while an intern in general surgery at Lakeside Hospital, Cleveland, Ohio. The operative procedure was probably the first of its kind to be performed at that teaching hospital, and it involved the excision of a mediastinal tumefaction through a median sternotomy. Now, more than fifty-five years and several thousand thoracic operations later, the author recounts the evolution of pulmonary resection, particularly in relation to the therapy of bronchiectasis. The technical obstacles which delayed too long the achievement of reasonably safe and anatomically complete resections of lung are discussed, and the circuitous route trod by pioneering surgeons in their struggle toward that desired goal is described. In addition, some contributions made along the way by members of the faculty at the Yale University School of Medicine to our present knowledge of bronchiectasis--its pathologic anatomy, pathophysiology, and surgical therapy--are summarized briefly.