Intraoperative computed tomography of a resected lung inflated with air to verify safety surgical margin

Background: During sublobar resection for small, indistinct lung cancer, surgeons may be uncertain as to whether or not the target lesion has been resected and the surgical margin is sufficient. We herein report our procedure for confirming the success of sublobar resection without incising the resected specimen. Methods: We reviewed our initial experience of 12 patients with intrapulmonary lesions (consolidation diameter <= 1 cm) who underwent thoracoscopic pulmonary wedge resection using autostapler. Six patients had primary adenocarcinoma showing part solid lesion, and remaining six patients had metastatic carcinoma showing purely solid lesion. Intraoperatively, the resected specimen was inflated with air and subjected to computed tomography (CT). The maximum tumor diameter and surgical margin length were measured intraoperatively on CT and postoperatively on formalin-fixed specimen. Surgical stump cytology was also done to verify surgical margin. Results: According to the intraoperative CT, complete resection was confirmed in all patients. The intraoperative CT-based maximum tumor diameter closely correlated with the macroscopically measured one ( r= 0.971, P<0.0001). However, the tumor shrunk after formalin- fixation by 16.0% in patients with primary lung cancer (P<0.01), but not in patients with metastatic lung cancer. The intraoperative CT-based margin length closely correlated with the macroscopically measured one (r=0.984, P<0.0001). However, the margin shrunk after formalin-fixation in both patients with primary lung cancer and metastatic lung cancer, by 15.1% and 15.7%, respectively. Stump cytology was negative in all patients. Consequently, no recurrence was found during postoperative follow-up of 23 months (range, 14-31 months). Conclusions: Intraoperative CT is reliable for diagnosing the presence of a target lesion within the resected specimen as well as for estimating the surgical margin length in patients undergoing sublobar resection for intrapulmonary indistinct lesions.

Automated summary

Intraoperative CT is reliable for confirming the success of sublobar resection for indistinct lung cancer lesions by confirming complete resection and estimating surgical margin length. The intraoperative CT-based tumor diameter and margin length closely correlate with measurements on formalin-fixed specimens.