The 30-day mortality and hospital mortality after chest surgery described in the annual reports published by the Japanese Association for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.

OBJECTIVES

The Japanese Association for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery has conducted annual surveys of thoracic surgery throughout Japan.

METHODS

The purpose of this study was to examine the 30-day mortality and hospital mortality after chest surgery per year to confirm the surgical outcomes of modern medical care in the area of respiratory surgery.

RESULTS

The mean of the 30-day mortality/hospital mortality over a period of 16 years for the patients with lung cancer, metastatic pulmonary tumors, mediastinal tumors, inflammatory pulmonary disease, empyema, and spontaneous pneumothorax was 0.60/1.20, 0.26/0.41, 0.26/0.45, 0.32/0.50, 1.77/4.15, and 0.07/0.10, respectively. Undergoing thoracic surgery is therefore relatively safe in Japan. The death rates associated with lung cancer and mediastinal tumors have gradually decreased owing to therapeutic improvements in recent years. However, this tendency was not true of empyema. The 30-day mortality/hospital mortality rates for empyema were particularly high.

CONCLUSIONS

These data suggest that the rates for empyema might have reached the limit for the current surgical techniques, and that there might be room for improvement by developing new techniques or management strategies. These data from the nationwide surveys can be useful for surgeons, because they can provide a better understanding of the present problems, as well as future prospects.