BACKGROUNDBronchoplasty plus pulmonary arterioplasty has become one of the standard surgical operation for central-type lung cancer. The aim of this study is to review the surgical experience of bronchoplasty and pulmonary arterioplasty in treatment of central-type lung cancer.

METHODSFrom 1987 to 2005, 56 patients with central-type lung cancer underwent bronchoplasty and pulmonary arterioplasty. There were 45 males and 11 females with a mean age of 56 years. According to pTNM classification, 18 cases were in stage IIB, and 32 in stage IIIA and 6 in stage IIIB. Histologically, there were 35 cases of squamous cell carcinoma, 14 cases of adenocarcinoma, 4 cases of small cell lung cancer and 3 cases of carcinoid. The surgical procedures included sleeve resection of bronchus for 30 cases, wedge resection of bronchus for 26 cases, and sleeve resection of pulmonary artery for 16 cases and wedge resection of pulmonary artery for 40 cases.

RESULTSOne patient died in the perioperative period. The overall 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival rate was 79.6% (43/54), 48.1% (25/52) and 34.0% (17/50), respectively.

CONCLUSIONSThe results suggest that bronchoplasty and pulmonary arterioplasty can decrease the proportions of total pneumonectomy and exploratory thoracotomy and expand the indication of operation. Bronchoplasty and pulmonary arterioplasty can be achieved with satisfactory outcome for central-type lung cancer, especially for those patients with advanced lesions or poor pulmonary function.