BACKGROUND

Three-dimensional computed tomographic angiography (3D-CT angio) allows selective access to peripheral segments. Superselective segmentectomy (SSS) was applied to the surgical management of indeterminate small and deep pulmonary nodules.

METHODS

Thirty patients with indeterminate pulmonary nodules less than 25 mm in diameter and located deeper than 20 mm from the pleural surface were enrolled in this study between 2002 and 2009. All patients underwent exploratory thoracotomy. The SSS with a surgical margin from the nodule larger than the nodule diameter or 20 mm was directed toward the target pulmonary arteries by 3D-CT angio using a multidetector-row CT scanner. The SSS was evaluated for resected area, surgical margin, regional lymph nodes, morbidity, lung function, and survival rate.

RESULTS

Three patients received SSS at the daughter segment, 23 patients that at the subsegment, and the remaining four underwent miscellaneous SSS without major complications. Twenty patients exhibited early lung cancer, one patient stage IIA lung cancer, and the remaining nine patients had metastatic or benign tumors. Five patients with primary cancer subsequently underwent standard lobectomy. The remaining 16 patients with early lung cancer did not undergo lobectomy because of their major comorbidities or refusal of a second thoracotomy. The surgical margins were free of disease in all patients. The actual and disease-free five-year survival rates were 100% for the lung cancer patients, excluding those who subsequently underwent lobectomy. The lung function after SSS was well preserved.

CONCLUSIONS

Superselective segmentectomy is an applicable optional strategy for the surgical management of indeterminate small and deep pulmonary nodules.