Prediction of pulmonary function after lobectomy

• Published in: Hellenic journal of surgery Vol. 86; no. 3; pp. 159 - 165
• Main Authors: Baltayiannis, N., Nikolouzos, S., Anagnostopoulos, D., Bolanos, N., Chatzimichalis, A., Zacharia, G., Charpidou, A., Syrigos, K. N.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Vienna Springer Vienna 01.05.2014
• Subjects: Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Research Clinical Study; Surgery; lobectomy, lung cancer; Forced vital capacity; forced expiratory volume in the first second
• ISSN: 0018-0092; 1868-8845
• DOI: 10.1007/s13126-014-0119-8

Aim-Background Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer death in both men and women in our country. It has been estimated that there will be 7,000 lung cancer deaths every year in Greece. However, many patients with bronchogenic carcinoma also have coexistent obstructive lung disease. In these patients, preoperative prediction of functional status after lung resection is mandatory. The aim of our study was to determine the effect of lobectomy on postoperative spirometric lung function. Methods Seventy-two patients underwent spirometric pulmonary tests preoperatively, and at three and six months after surgery. The predicted postoperative forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV 1 ) were calculated using the following formula suggested by Juhl and Frost. Results The functional percentage loss at six months for lobectomies was 7.34% for FVC and 7.72% for FEV 1 respectively. The linear regression analysis derived from the correlation between predicted and measured FEV 1 revealed the following equation: FEV 1 POSTOP = 0.00211+0.896660 X FEV 1 PREOP . Conclusions We conclude that our formula is a reliable method for predicting postoperative respiratory function of the patients with lung cancer.