[Results of pneumonectomy for bronchial carcinoma]

615 patients suffering from lung cancer underwent pneumonectomy from 1966 to 1975 (standardized operation: 379; radical pneumonectomy: 236). Evidently the rate of postoperative insufficiency of the bronchial stump and pulmonary embolism was on the increase in cases of radical surgery. The postoperative mortality rate (including 30th postoperative day) was double as high in the radical group as in standardized operations. The 5 years survival rate following radical surgery came up to 13.1% (standard group 27%). This justifies radical pneumonectomy because there is no alternative left for the patients afflicted.