Left lower lobectomy and partial preservation of segmental arteries of left upper lobe: A strategy to avoid pneumonectomy in selected cases

Abstract

In this article we report two cases of left lower lobe lung cancer undergoing a surgical procedure that allowed the preservation of lung parenchyma and avoided pneumonectomy. The first case concerned a left lower lobe non-small cell lung cancer with extracapsular spread in a metastatic interlobar lymph node and the second a left lower lobe lung cancer with invasion of the pulmonary artery at the origin of lobar branches to the lower lobe. In both cases, a lung-sparing surgical treatment was preferred and a left lower lobectomy was performed with division of lingular arteries and the interlobar artery, preserving the remaining arterial branches to the upper lobe.

Keywords: Lung cancer; lung-sparing resection; pulmonary artery invasion.