title: Two-field radical lymphadenectomy in the treatment of esophageal carcinoma.
abstract: This paper retrospectively compares post-operative complications, mortality and long-term survival of patients with esophageal carcinoma who were treated with standard esophagectomy or with extended two-field lymph node clearance. Fifty-seven patients with resectable esophageal carcinoma were included in the study. Twenty-eight patients were submitted to a radical two-field esophagectomy and lymphadenectomy, while the remaining 29 were submitted to a standard, more conservative, esophagectomy performed mostly through a transhiatal route. The two groups of patients were similar in all clinical, laboratory and pathologic features. There was a significant lower anastomotic leakage rate in the group of patients submitted to a radical lymph node resection; post-operative respiratory complication rate and mortality were similar in both groups. The overall 5-year survival was 20%. When lymph node resection was performed, the 5-year survival rate rose to 36%; it was 44% when nodal involvement was negative and 19% for N1 patients; when standard esophagectomy was the procedure, these figures were 9% (p < 0.05), and 6% respectively.
authors.affiliation: II Department of Surgery, Hospital Universitario San Carlos, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Torres
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sánchez-Pernaute
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hernando
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Díez Valladares
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: González López
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pérez Aguirre
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Suárez
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Balibrea
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D016629:Esophagectomy / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008197:Lymph Node Excision / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate