Pleural dissemination in non-small cell lung cancer: results of radiological evaluation and surgical treatment.

The aims of this study are to evaluate the diagnostic ability of chest computed tomography (CT) in the early detection of pleural disease and to analyze the results of surgical treatment for lung cancer with pleural dissemination. Twenty-three non-small cell lung cancer patients with pleural dissemination, but without distant metastasis, underwent pleuropulmonary resection during the past 15 years. Chest CT scans were obtained preoperatively in 21 of those patients. In eight patients without pleural effusion, small pleural nodules, about 3-5 mm in size, were found in their chest CT. However, during surgery, small nodules were more frequently observed on the parietal pleura than on the visceral pleura in five of them. Therefore, early detection of the dissemination by chest CT seemed limited to only those of the visceral pleura. In the survival curve after resection, there was no difference among the patients with n2 disease, but there was a significant difference between the patients without n2 disease and those with it (P < 0.05). The presence of n2 disease appeared to be a poor prognostic sign in this form of advanced lung cancer.