Comparison of clinical outcomes of pulmonary sequestration in adults between surgery and non-surgery groups

Pulmonary sequestration (PS) is a rare congenital lung malformation that can be incidentally diagnosed in adulthood. The natural course of PS in adults is scarcely known.

In this retrospective cohort study, medical records and imaging results of adult patients diagnosed with PS between 1994 and 2019 were reviewed. Diagnoses of PS were confirmed by histopathological findings in resected cases, while non-resected cases were diagnosed based on the presence of anomalous systemic arterial supply and abnormal lung parenchyma on enhanced chest computed tomography (CT).

Among 104 patients with PS, the median age at diagnosis was 40.5 years, and 69 (66.3%) patients were asymptomatic. Patients in the surgery group were significantly younger (38.6 vs. 45.3 years, respectively, P=0.016), were more likely to be symptomatic initially (51.6% vs. 28.6%, respectively, P=0.015), and had larger PS (90.0 vs. 66.3 mm, respectively, P<0.001) than the non-surgery group. Of the patients in the surgery group, 29.0% (18/62) experienced postoperative complications. In the surgically resected cases, infections were only detected in intralobar PS, not in extralobar PS. Among 25 subjects without initial symptoms in the non-surgery group, 24 (96.0%) remained asymptomatic at the last follow-up.

Adults with PS tended to undergo resection if they were young, symptomatic, and had large PS (a median diameter of 90.0 mm). Almost all subjects who were initially asymptomatic and did not undergo surgery remained asymptomatic at the last follow-up. Therefore, considering the indolent course of PS, initially asymptomatic adults with PS could be followed up without surgery.