Does a Carcinomatous Scalene Node Contraindicate Pulmonary Resection?

¹ Resident in Surgery, Virginia Mason Hospital.
² Department of Surgery, The Mason Clinic.

Scalene node biopsy is of proved value in the diagnosis of pulmonary malignancy, and likewise has prognostic significance. The mean life expectancy in twenty-four cases following positive biopsy is 3.6 months with a majority surviving three months or less. The complication of the disease were often present at the time of diagnosis. Pulmonary complications were often overshadowed by extra pulmonary metastases. In no patient was pulmonary sepsis or hemoptysis the dominant factor responsible for death. Because so little benefit would accrue the patient from extended pulmonary resection in the presence of a positive biopsy, it would seem to be a definite contraindication to pulmonary resection for lung carcinoma.