Annals of Surgical Oncology Sign the Guestbook
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
This Article
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Schwarz, R. E.
Right arrow Articles by Landreneau, R. J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Schwarz, R. E.
Right arrow Articles by Landreneau, R. J.

Annals of Surgical Oncology, Vol 2, Issue 1 49-55, Copyright © 1995 by Society of Surgical Oncology

ARTICLES

Needle-localized thoracoscopic resection of indeterminate pulmonary nodules: impact on management of patients with malignant disease

R. E. Schwarz, M. C. Posner, M. B. Plunkett, P. F. Ferson, R. J. Keenan and R. J. Landreneau
Department of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pennsylvania.

BACKGROUND: The efficacy and therapeutic impact of needle-localized thoracoscopic resection (NLTR) was examined in patients with cancer who present with small indeterminate pulmonary nodules (IPNs). METHODS: Between December 1991 and August 1992, 30 patients underwent needle localization of 33 IPNs under computed tomography (CT) guidance followed by thoracoscopic resection. All previous attempts to characterize these small pulmonary nodules (mean size 7.9 +/- 4.9 mm) had failed. Twenty patients had an established diagnosis of cancer 1 month to 20 years before detection of the lung abnormality, whereas the remaining patients had no prior history of cancer. RESULTS: Histology of NLTR specimens in patients with a previous diagnosis of malignancy included 13 malignant and seven benign lesions. In all patients with cancer, therapeutic decisions were influenced by NLTR results. Thoracoscopic related complications were noted in two patients. Average length of hospital stay for NLTR was 6.7 +/- 3.9 days. CONCLUSION: NLTR in this series has proven to be a safe, well-tolerated, and accurate method for diagnosing and influencing the management of recently identified IPN. NLTR appears warranted for small pulmonary nodules not amenable to less invasive diagnostic modalities.


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Eur. J. Cardiothorac. Surg.Home page
C. Ludwig, J. Cerinza, B. Passlick, and E. Stoelben
Comparison of the number of pre-, intra- and postoperative lung metastases
Eur. J. Cardiothorac. Surg., March 1, 2008; 33(3): 470 - 472.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 1995 by the Society of Surgical Oncology.