[Thoracoscopic surgery for an aged patient with T1N0 non-small cell lung cancer: case report]

An 85-year-old woman was referred to our hospital because of an abnormal shadow in the right upper lung field in chest roentgenograms. CT scans revealed a tumor, 3 cm in diameter at the peripheral field of the upper lobe. The lesion was diagnosed adenocarcinoma of the lung by transbronchial lung biopsy (c-T1N0M0). She underwent a partial resection of he S3 in consideration of age and the clinical stage, by using thoracoscopic procedure. Her postoperative course was uneventful and she was discharged on the 14th postoperative day. Since then, she has been free from recurrence for the past 3 years. Thoracoscopic surgery appears to be useful for aged patients with peripheral early lung cancer because of low incidence of postoperative disability and complications.