CAUTERY PNEUMECTOMY FOR CHRONIC SUPPURATION OF THE LUNG

Abstract

Of all the methods that have been used in the treatment of chronic lung suppuration, the one which, theoretically, would seem to be the most nearly ideal is the complete extirpation of the diseased tissue. Unfortunately, however, the ordinary resection of a lobe of the lung in a condition of suppuration has proved itself to be an extremely hazardous procedure. In a recent article, I 1 showed that the mortality in the forty-eight reported cases of lobectomy for bronchiectasis was 52 per cent. There is no doubt that many cases will yield to measures which accomplish compression or shrinkage of the lung tissue, but many others will not. Moreover, even in those patients who are symptomatically improved but who still retain their infected tissue, there is always danger of the occurrence, at some time, of a serious cerebral complication, a severe pulmonary hemorrhage or an extension of the inflammatory zone.