TRANSTHORACIC, TRANSDIAPHRAGMATIC EXCISION OF SIMULTANEOUS LUNG AND ADRENAL LESIONS

Simultaneous adrenal and pulmonary lesions frequently present a therap eutic challenge to the thoracic surgeon. We describe 2 cases in which a transthoracic, transdiaphragmatic approach was used to establish tis sue diagnosis and complete removal of gross tumor. In 1 case an intrao perative decision to perform a pneumonectomy was dictated by the tissu e diagnosis of the adrenal mass, which was obtained with relative ease via this method. In both cases the morbidity of traditional approache s for adrenal operation was avoided. (C) 1998 by The Society of Thorac ic Surgeons.