La videotoracoscopia operativa di staging per carcinoma polmonare

Background. We describe our experience in performing Videothoracoscopy as the first step of the operation in patients affected by lung cancer: we refer to this procedure as Videothoracoscopic Operative Staging (VOS). Methods. In 218 consecutive patients already proposed for curative surgical resection on the basis of the conventional staging, VOS was carried out in order to assess a conclusive assessment of resectability. Results, VOS discovered causes of inoperability in 15 patients (6.9%), thus lowering the rate of exploratory thoracotomies (ETs) to less than 3%. Furthermore VOS allowed us to assess operability of 10 patients in whom preoperative computed tomography (CT) had suggested suspect of unresectability but could not provide a definitive judgement. Morbility and mortality were absent. Conclusions. Based on their experience the authors conclude that VOS implies a minimal surgical trauma and is of remarkable validity to reduce to a minimum the number of ETs in patients with lung cancer.