Pulmonary Function After Arterial Sleeve Lobectomy

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death worldwide. Despite the evolution of medical and multimodal treatments, surgical treatment remains the curative management in the localized cancer.

Historically, in central lung tumors, pneumonectomy was the gold standard. Currently, bronchial sleeve lobectomy is recommended as first-line treatment over pneumonectomy when complete resection is possible (Grade 2C).

In the case of pulmonary artery invasion, lobectomy with arterial resection and reconstruction is now an accepted option for central localized cancer.

Despite surgical challenge, arterial sleeve lobectomy is oncologically comparable with pneumonectomy while avoiding the high morbi-mortality.

Indeed, this surgery has shown better results than pneumonectomy in terms of overall survival, post-operative mortality, and quality of life.

Initially performed in patients with impaired cardio-pulmonary reserves, this parenchymal sparing procedure can be realised in all patients, when anatomical conditions allow a complete resection.

In the literature, no study has yet specifically investigated postoperative respiratory function after arterial sleeve lobectomy.

The investigators designed a retrospective monocentric study at the University Hospital of Montpellier on 81 lobectomies with pulmonary artery sleeve resection for lung cancer, from January 2001 to December 2020.