• Sergi Call, Nina Reig-Oussedik, Carme Obiols, José Sanz-Santos, Juan Manuel Ochoa-Alba, Lucía Reyes Cabanillas, Mireia Serra-Mitjans, and Ramón Rami-Porta.
• Department of Thoracic Surgery, Hospital Universitari Mútua Terrassa, University of Barcelona, Terrassa, Spain; Department of Morphological Sciences, Medical School, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain. Electronic address: scall@mutuaterrassa.cat.
• J. Thorac. Cardiovasc. Surg. 2024 Feb 3.

ObjectivesThe aim of this study is to analyze the accuracy of video-assisted mediastinoscopic lymphadenectomy (VAMLA) and the unsuspected (u) N2/3 rates in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and normal mediastinum by integrated positron emission tomography-computed tomography.MethodsProspective observational single-center study of 603 consecutive VAMLAs from 2010 to 2022.Exclusion Criteriaother indications (n = 32), tumors different from NSCLC (n = 91), and clinical (c) N2/3 tumors by positron emission tomography-computed tomography (n = 46). Systematic nodal dissection was the gold standard to validate negative VAMLAs. Those patients with negative VAMLA and missing reference standard test were excluded. uN2/3 rates were analyzed in the global series and in the subgroups of tumors according to their clinical nodal and tumor categories. Pathologic findings were reviewed, and staging values were calculated.ResultsThree hundred eighty-three patients with cN0/1 NSCLC underwent VAMLA. Staging values of VAMLA were: sensitivity, 0.98 (95% CI, 0.92-0.99); negative predictive value, 0.99 (95% CI, 0.98-1); and diagnostic accuracy, 0.99 (95% CI, 0.98-1). The uN2/3 rate for the whole series (N = 383) was 18.8%. The uN2/3 rates according to presurgical nodal and tumor categories determined by positron emission tomography computed tomography were: 3.6% (4 out of 111) in cT1N0; 16.3% (18 out of 110) in cT2N0; 10.25% (4 out of 39) in cT3N0; and 32% (7 out of 22) in cT4N0. Forty-two percent (39 out of 93) in cN1; complication rate was 7%.ConclusionsThis series of NSCLC with normal mediastinum staged by VAMLA demonstrates a high accuracy of this technique and a high rate of uN2/3 disease (specially in cN1 and cT4N0). VAMLA could be considered the reference staging procedure for staging cN0/1 NSCLC.Copyright © 2024 The American Association for Thoracic Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

5 keywords...

hide…