Bronchoplastic procedures and pulmonary artery reconstruction in the treatment of bronchogenic cancer.

Nineteen patients with primary bronchogenic carcinoma underwent bronchoplastic procedures (six wedge and 13 sleeve resections) between 1970 and 1982. In six of them lobectomy was combined with sleeve resection and reconstruction of the pulmonary artery: In one a synthetic prosthesis was inserted. Twelve patients had squamous cell carcinoma, five adenocarcinoma, and two large cell carcinoma. No operative deaths were observed, and the 5 year survival rate is 28.1%. One patient had an early bronchial fistula and two patients had bronchial stenosis (one suture granulation and one local recurrence). No patient with resection of the pulmonary artery had vascular complications. Survival rates on the basis of nodal involvement indicate 50% survival at 5 years without nodal metastasis (11 cases) versus 9.7% with nodal involvement (eight cases) (p less than 0.05). Bronchoplastic procedures, even if accompanied by segmental resection of the pulmonary artery, can be performed safely with long-term results comparable to those following major pulmonary resections.