title: Video-assisted thoracic surgery upper lobe trisegmentectomy for early-stage left apical lung cancer.
abstract: Resection of the left upper lobe with preservation of the lingula is the anatomic equivalent of a right upper lobectomy with preservation of the right middle lobe. Therefore, our standard operation for a small apical tumor in the left upper lobe has been an apical trisegmentectomy. The purpose of this article is to review our experience with the procedure by video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) and to describe the operative technique for a VATS apical trisegmentectomy. Eleven patients underwent the procedure with no deaths, low morbidity, and good initial disease-free survival. A VATS apical trisegmentectomy seems to be a feasible and reasonable treatment for small stage I lung cancers at the apex of the left upper lobe.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California 90048, USA.
authors.forename: Ward V
authors.initials: WV
authors.lastname: Houck
authors.forename: Clark B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Fuller
authors.forename: Robert J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: McKenna
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D018196:Carcinoma, Adenosquamous / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011013:Pneumonectomy / Q000379:methods*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D020775:Thoracic Surgery, Video-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D016896:Treatment Outcome