Operative mortality, mortality and late results in bronchial carcinoma]

457 patients with a bronchial carcinoma of the years 1947--1962 are compared with 126 patients of the years 1969--1970 and set up in comparison to the whole clinical material of the years 1960--1975. In the period between 1969 and 1970 radical resections were performed in 20% more patients than in the first period (1947--1962). Older patients were in the last period (1970--1974) more frequent. 8% of all patients in which lobectomy was performed and 5.5% of the patients in which pneumonectomy was performed were older than 70 years of age. Overall mortality has remained unchanged for exploratory thoracotomy (19%), palliative resection (17.5%) and "radical" resection (14%). For simple pneumonectomy the overall mortality went down from 19.2% (1960--1964) to 9.6% (1970-1974) and for simple lobectomy from 14.4% to 3.8%. The five-year survival rate after radical resections was 8% (first period 0%) and after simple resections 26% (26.2%). Patients with stage I epidermoid carcinoma had a five-year survival rate of 46%. Those with stage II (spread to ipsilateral hilar nodes) a five-year survival rate of 14.3% Patients with palliative resections and exploratory thoracotomy died within 16 months.