COMPARISON BETWEEN PREOPERATIVE MEDIASTINAL STAGING BY COMPUTED-TOMOGRAPHY AND SURGICAL FINDINGS IN LUNG-CANCER

In order to study the sensibility of Computed Tomography (TC) in diagn osing malignant involvement of lymph nodes we compared preoperative CT staging to intraoperative findings in 50 patients operated for lung c ancer. Age ranged form 42 to 87 (mean 62,2 +/- 9,9), and 42 patients w ere male. Histologic types were: squamous cell (24 cases), adenocarcin oma (in 16 patients), 4 adenosquamous, 4 bronchioloalveolar carcinoma and 2 large cells. Preoperative CT scan and same surgical findings wer e achieved in 54% of all cases. CT's false negative rate was 12% and f alse positive was 34%. We conclude that histologic sampling of mediast inal lymph nodes (e.g. through mediastinoscopy) should be always recom mended since N staging is fundamental to an adequate treatment approac h.