[Videothoracoscopy and pulmonary wedge resection]

The authors present a group of 67 patients where, using videothoracoscopy or the V.A.T.S. method (Video Assisted Thoracic Surgery), a wedge-shaped rsection of the lungs was made. The patients were divided into three groups with regard to the basic characteristic of the disease-disseminated pulmonary processes, peripheral pulmonary lesions and bullous pulmonary emphysema and spontaneous pneumothorax resp. The diagnostic and therapeutic contribution of the mentioned method, its good tolerance and short postoperative hospitalization is clearly in favour of this mininvasive method.