%0 Journal Article
%T Left main bronchus resection and reconstruction. A single institution experience
%A Mark Ragusa
%A Jacopo Vannucci
%A Lucio Cagini
%A Niccol¨° Daddi
%A Roberta Pecoriello
%A Francesco Puma
%J Journal of Cardiothoracic Surgery
%D 2012
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1749-8090-7-29
%X Out of 98 bronchoplastic procedures performed at the Authors' Institution in the 1995-2011 period, 4 were LMBRR. Indications were bronchial carcinoid in 2 cases, inflammatory pseudotumor in 1 case, TBC stricture in 1 case. All patients underwent preoperatively a rigid bronchoscopy to restore the airway lumen patency. At surgery a negative resection margin was confirmed by frozen section in the neoplastic patients. In all patients an end-to-end bronchial anastomosis was constructed according to Grillo.There were neither mortality nor major complications. Airway lumen was optimal in 3 patients, good in 1.LMBRR is a valuable option for the thoracic surgeon. It maximizes the parenchyma-sparing philosophy, broadening the spectrum of potential candidates for cure. It remains a technically demanding procedure, to be carried out by an experienced surgical team. Correct surgical planning affords excellent results, both in the short and long term.Left main bronchus resection-reconstruction (LMBRR) is a technically demanding procedure indicated for management of inflammatory, benign and low-grade malignant lesions [1-7]. When based on solid oncological criteria sleeve resection of the main bronchus spares the whole left lung, yielding a huge functional advantage. The coincidence of suitable pathology and suitable anatomy, necessary for correct surgical indication, makes such procedure an infrequent task. The present paper focuses on the Authors' experience with LMBRR, analysing indications, technical standpoints and results.From 1995 to 2011, 98 patients underwent bronchoplastic procedures at the Thoracic Surgery Unit of Perugia University Medical School. Of these, 4 were submitted to LMBRR. Data were collected reviewing the hospital records. Three patients were female. Age range was 25-65 years. All patients had respiratory symptoms: dyspnea (4/4), fever (2/4), stridor (1/4), hemoptysis (1/4). Three patients were affected by neoplastic lesions (2 typical carcinoid, 1 inflamma
%K Airway
%K Trachea
%K Bronchi
%K Surgery
%U http://www.cardiothoracicsurgery.org/content/7/1/29