Carcinoma of the lung with invasion of the left atrium. Case reports

Three patients who had a nonsmall cell carcinoma of the lung with invasion of the left atrium without distal metastases (T4 N0-2 M0), underwent a radical pneumonectomy with a partial resection of the involved left atrium. Two of them had postoperative adjuvant therapy. The first patient died nine months after the operation from a ruptured thoracoabdominal aneurysm; the second patient died three months later from complications of adjuvant therapy; and the third patient is alive and free of metastases more than two years after the operation. Whenever technically feasible, nonsmall cell lung carcinoma that has invaded the left atrium without distal metastases should be resected in block with the left atrium.