Pulmonary function after early vs late lobectomy during childhood: a preliminary study.

BACKGROUND

One proposed reason for the early resection of asymptomatic congenital cystic adenomatoid malformations is the theoretical benefit of optimizing compensatory lung growth during infancy and early childhood. Our aim was to determine if early lobectomy is associated with better long-term pulmonary function than lobectomy later in childhood.

METHODS

A retrospective chart review of children undergoing pulmonary lobectomy for benign disease from 1990 to 2006 was performed. Those having surgery before and after 2 years of age were compared. Forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV(1)) were used as indicators of pulmonary growth, with FVC less than 80% predicted and FEV(1) less than 80% consistent with impaired pulmonary function.

RESULTS

Of 115 patients identified, 14 had postoperative pulmonary function testing at a mean age of 10 years. Of these, 7 had lobectomy before and 7 had lobectomy after 2 years of age. There was no significant difference between groups in mean FVC (81.5 vs 83.3) or the number of children with FVC less than 80% predicted, nor was there a difference in mean FEV(1) (87.6 vs 82.9) or the number of children with FEV(1) less than 80%.

CONCLUSIONS

Age at the time of lobectomy did not influence FVC or FEV(1). These preliminary data suggest that early lobectomy does not confer an advantage to the child with respect to long-term pulmonary function. A prospective study is necessary to confirm or refute these findings in a larger group of children.