[Pneumonectomy for lung cancer in a patient with acute respiratory failure; report of a case].

A 58-year-old man had developed acute respiratory failure because of deterioration of the pneumonia, and had been on a mechanical ventilator. Bronchoscopy showed tumor occlusion of the left main stem of the bronchus. For the purpose of weaning from ventilatory support and prevention of progress of the pneumonia, we performed a pneumonectomy and systematic hilar and mediastinal lymph node dissection using a thoracoscopy. The patient could be weaned from ventilatory support, and we could improve his quality of life by minimally invasive surgery.