Prediction of the PostoperativeL ung Function in Patients with Primary Lung Cancer

The prediction of the postoperative lung function in patients with lung cancer was performed using a formula, (1-A(c)/B(c)) x F, where F is preoperative VC or FEV 1.0, A and B are the number of functioning subsegments in the resected lung and whole lung respectively and c is the correction factor derived from Xe-133 radiospirometry. In order to evaluate the accuracy of this method, a retrospective study was done in 23 patients who had undergone lung resection for primary lung cancer, such as left pneumonectomy (4 cases), upper lobectomy (10 cases), lower lobectomy (4 cases), middle and lower lobectomies (4 cases), and middle lobectomy (one case). The results were as follows: The postoperative VC =0.82 x (predicted postoperative VC) + 0.28, (r =0.826, p < 0.001). The postoperative FEV1,0 = 0.80 x (predicted postoperative FEV1.0) +0.25, (r =0.841, p <0.001). We concluded that postoperative VC and FEV 1.0 are able to be predicted accurately with our method.