title: Surgical treatment of pulmonary artery sarcoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The study objectives were to characterize the prognostic perspectives of pulmonary artery sarcoma and to investigate the effect of distal embolectomy on the prognosis of surgical treatment of pulmonary artery sarcoma.
  
  
  METHODS
  Nine patients with pulmonary artery sarcoma were surgically treated at Anzhen Hospital, and the data were retrospectively reviewed. Five patients underwent only pulmonary artery sarcoma resection, and 4 patients underwent both pulmonary artery sarcoma resection and distal embolectomy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was no in-hospital mortality. Four patients had lung ischemia-reperfusion injury, 3 of whom recovered with the support of extended ventilation and positive end-expiratory pressure, and 1 of whom recovered with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support. During the follow-up, 5 patients who did not undergo distal embolectomy died 6 to 29 months after the procedure, with a median survival time of 10 months. Of the 4 patients undergoing distal embolectomy, 3 died 30, 37, and 43 months after the procedure, and 1 is still alive 39 months after the procedure. All 8 deaths were due to local or systemic recurrence. The patients who underwent distal embolectomy lived longer than the patients who did not undergo distal embolectomy (log-rank test, x(2) = 7.914, P = .005).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Radical surgical resection provides the only chance of survival for patients with pulmonary artery sarcoma, and distal embolectomy may further extend survival for these patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiac Surgery, Beijing Anzhen Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing Institute of Heart, Lung and Blood Vessel Diseases, Beijing, China. ganhuili@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Hui-Li
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Gan
authors.forename: Jian-Qun
authors.initials: JQ
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Qi-Wen
authors.initials: QW
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.forename: Yuan-Ming
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Shuang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Pi-Shan
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D017128:Embolectomy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009360:Neoplastic Cells, Circulating; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D011651:Pulmonary Artery / Q000601:surgery*; D012509:Sarcoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D019043:Vascular Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*