A VATS lobectomy for lung cancer in a patient with an anomalous pulmonary vein: report of a case.

A video-assisted right upper lobectomy was successfully performed on a 58-year-old man with an anomalous segmental pulmonary vein. The tumor was a peripherally located adenocarcinoma. The anomalous vein behind the right main bronchus was identified and safely divided. This case emphasized that to perform this procedure successfully, (1) a careful preoperative evaluation of the anatomy, including the presence of any possible vascular and/or bronchial anomalies, is necessary, and (2) if any anatomical structures cannot be determined intraoperatively, a conversion into an open procedure must immediately be undertaken.