[Artificial pneumothorax in the surgical treatment of progressing bilateral destructive lung tuberculosis].

23 patients with fibrous-cavernous pulmonary tuberculosis received surgical treatment at the Novosibirsk Research Tuberculosis Treatment Institute. In the contralateral lung all the patients had recent infiltrative lesions with destruction. M. tuberculosis were determined in all the cases. The patients underwent resection of the lung, osteoplastic thoracoplasty, osteoplastic thoracoplasty followed by pulmonary resection, open treatment of the caverns (10, 5, 2, 6 cases, respectively). Therapeutic pneumothorax eliminated destruction in the contralater lung in 18 patients. The other 5 patients achieved stabilization of the specific process in remaining destruction for which they subsequently underwent segmental resection. The cure was documented in all the patients treated.