Pneumonectomy with mediastinal lymphadenectomy in lung cancer

The authors describe a method for removal of lymph nodes of the anterior and posterior mediastinum during pneumonectomy, which increases considerably the radical character of the operation. The necessity of separate removal of the lung and the mediastinal fat is emphasized. The anterior and posterior mediastinum are opened by a horseshoe-shaped incision. The described operative technique was used in 613 patients. The control group was made up of 240 patients. Three-year and five-year survival in the group of patients studied was 50.2 and 43.6%, respectively, which was higher than in the control group (38.4 and 27.8%, respectively).