Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgical thymectomy to treat early thymoma: A comparison with the conventional transsternal approach
Journal
Annals of Surgical Oncology
Journal Volume
21
Journal Issue
1
Pages
322-328
Date Issued
2014
Author(s)
Liu, Tom J.
Kao, Ming-Wei
Chang, Chin-Chih
Abstract
Background: For thymoma, the feasibility of resection via video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) remains controversial. The objective of our study was to compare the outcomes of VATS and transsternal thymectomy in order to evaluate the efficacy of the VATS method for treatment of early stage thymoma. Methods: This study is a retrospective study of 120 patients who underwent thymectomy of early stage thymoma (Masaoka stage I and II) in a single medical center from 1991 to 2010. Of these patients, 76 patients underwent VATS thymectomy (VATS group) and 44 patients underwent the conventional transsternal approach (sternotomy group). We applied the Kaplan-Meier method to estimate overall survival (OS), recurrence-free survival (RFS), and time to tumor recurrence (TTR) of these two groups. Results: The mean follow-up time was 61.9 months in the VATS group and 69.7 months in the sternotomy group. There was no surgery-related mortality or major complication. The VATS group had smaller specimen size (p < 0.05) and tumor size (p < 0.01), shorter length of stay (LOS) in the hospital (p < 0.01), and shorter duration of chest tube drainage (p < 0.05) than the sternotomy group. There were no significant differences between the two groups for OS, RFS, and TTR. Conclusions: In early stage thymoma, VATS thymectomy associated with shorter hospital LOS and shorter duration of pleural drainage compared with the conventional transsternal approach. Otherwise, the two approaches had similar oncologic outcomes during the mean 60-month follow-up period. ? 2013 Society of Surgical Oncology.
SDGs
Other Subjects
adult; aged; article; cancer staging; cancer surgery; cancer survival; controlled study; female; follow up; human; intermethod comparison; length of stay; major clinical study; male; middle aged; myasthenia gravis; outcome assessment; overall survival; pain assessment; pneumonia; postoperative complication; recurrence free survival; respiratory failure; retrospective study; sternotomy; surgical mortality; thorax drainage; thymectomy; thymoma; tumor recurrence; tumor volume; video assisted thoracoscopic surgery; visual analog scale; young adult; Adult; Aged; Drainage; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; Neoplasm Staging; Postoperative Complications; Prognosis; Retrospective Studies; Sternotomy; Survival Rate; Thoracic Surgery, Video-Assisted; Thoracoscopy; Thymectomy; Thymoma; Thymus Neoplasms; Young Adult
Type
journal article