[Significance of pulmonary DSA for assessing the operability of lung tumors].

In lung tumours histological findings, exclusion of metastatic disease and different diagnostic procedures such as bronchoscopy, mediastinoscopy and thoracic CT play an important role for tumour staging to plan the correct therapeutic approach. Selection of patients for thoracotomy depends on results of these examinations. This study was carried out to assess the value of an additionally applied pulmonary DSA in 17 patients with lung tumours (bronchogenic carcinoma n = 14). Our results demonstrate that in 4 cases angiography could prove inoperability of tumours (compression of sup. v. cava, occlusion of a main pulmonary artery): one patient had a negative mediastinoscopy, one patient had a small cell bronchogenic carcinoma; in two patients an additional mediastinoscopy could be omitted. In two other patients with bronchogenic carcinoma who appeared operable in mediastinoscopy and DSA, explorative thoracotomy only could ensure inoperability due to an infiltration of the thoracic wall. As a minimal invasive method applicable in outpatients pulmonary DSA seems to be useful in giving additional important diagnostic information particularly in central bronchogenic carcinomas.