Tuberculosis: mother of thoracic surgery then and now, past and prospectives: a review

This paper is an attempt to build a solid bridge between the past and the present of chest surgery in order to increase understanding of rationale of tuberculosis surgery and revive many techniques undeservedly neglected, some forgotten. Mycobacterium tuberculosis infects around one-third of the world’s population and kills between two and three million people annually, an enormous burden, indeed (1). Present surgical concepts and techniques to treat lung cancer are rooted in surgery for tuberculosis, or phthisiosurgery. Renewed spread of tuberculosis calls for review of the still active surgical methods and for a search for new ones. Thoracic surgery is one and indivisible, and the different surgical techniques and considerations are relevant on all walks of it, should we serve our patients’ suffering either from lung cancer or tuberculosis