Resection of lung cancer involving the heart and great vessels

Over the last six years at the Tokai University Hospital, 104 patients were operated on for the primary lung cancer. Twenty nine of these patients were submitted to extended operations, because cancer had invaded the heart and/or great vessels. In three cases, the left pneumonectomy with partial resection and suture repair of the descending thoracic aorta was performed. In 26 cases, intrapericardial ligation of the pulmonary vessels was carried out: nine of these patients underwent intrapericardial pneumonectomy with partial resection of the atrial wall and one patient underwent sleeve resection of the superior vena cava with graft (Gorétex) replacement. No extracorporeal apparatus was used in any cases of extended operations. The postoperative course was mostly uneventful and there were no cases of operative death. We believe that excision of lung cancer extending into the heart and great vessels can offer the patient every chance for a longer life, especially in the case of squamous cell carcinoma.