| pubmed-article:2367478 | pubmed:abstractText | In the period between 1.1.1976 and 31.12.1987, a total of 336 surgical procedures were performed in 303 patients with pulmonary metastases from extrathoracic primary tumours. In 42 patients, metastatic spread had taken place via the portal vein, in 72 patients via the superior vena cava, and in the remaining 189 patients via the inferior vena cava. Irrespective of the primary tumour, the 30-day mortality rate for all three groups was less than one per cent; 3 patients died of respiratory complications. In the "portal" group, the five-year survival rate was 16% overall, although at the time of thoracotomy, metastastatic spread to other organs had been excluded. In the superior vena cava group, 36% of the patients survived for five years. Here, the favourable prognosis following resection of pulmonary metastases from carcinoma of the floor of the mouth and larynx, as also the late metastases from cancer of the breast, must be emphasized. In the third group (the inferior vena cava group) the five-year survival rate was 29%. In this group, the late metastases from cancer of the uterus has the better prognosis (57%). | lld:pubmed |
