title: Left upper lobectomy can be a risk factor for thrombosis in the pulmonary vein stump.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Thrombosis in the left upper pulmonary vein stump after left upper lobectomy is a very rare but important complication because it occurs in the systemic circulation system. We previously made the first ever report on the frequency and risk factors of thrombosis in the pulmonary vein stump after lobectomy. In this study, we conducted an investigation in a different hospital to determine whether this was a common complication.
  
  
  METHODS
  From 2008 to 2012, 151 patients who underwent lobectomy and following enhanced CT within 2 years after the operation were studied. Postoperative contrast-enhanced CT imaging was retrospectively checked.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found thrombosis in the pulmonary vein stump in 5 of the 151 patients (3.3%). All 5 patients underwent left upper lobectomy (17.9% of the patients who underwent left upper lobectomy). These 5 patients did not have infarction of any vital organ. The thrombus was disappeared several months later on contrast-enhanced CT in 3 patients and followed in 2 patients. On univariate analysis, there was a significant difference only in the operative procedure (p<0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Thrombosis in the pulmonary vein stump occurred with high frequency in patients who underwent left upper lobectomy. Because the frequency of thrombosis in this study was the same as in our previous report, this might be a common complication.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Steel Memorial Muroran Hospital, 1-45 Chiribetsu-cho, Muroran, Hokkaido 050-0076, Japan. kit_katton0803@yahoo.co.jp.
authors.forename: Kazuto
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ohtaka
authors.forename: Yasuhiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hida
authors.forename: Kichizo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kaga
authors.forename: Yasuhiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kawase
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hayama
authors.forename: Tatsunosuke
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ichimura
authors.forename: Naoto
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Senmaru
authors.forename: Naotake
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Honma
authors.forename: Yoshiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Matsui
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011013:Pneumonectomy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D011667:Pulmonary Veins / Q000601:surgery*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D020246:Venous Thrombosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology*