Prevalence of Benign Pulmonary Lesions Excised for Suspicion of Malignancy: Could It Reflect a Quality Management Index of Indeterminate Lung Lesions?

BACKGROUND: The effort to detect lung cancer in ever-earlier stages leads to the identification of an increasing number of patients without preoperative histological diagnosis. The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence and characteristics of benign lesions excised in the context of lung cancer surgery. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed data from 125 surgical procedures. We compared the preoperative clinical or cyto-histological diagnosis with the surgical-pathologic diagnosis in order to identify the percentage of benign lesions excised. Furthermore, other parameters were analyzed, such as age, sex, tumor size, the presence of calcification, and the type of surgery according to subgroup. RESULTS: Of the 125 patients included in the study, 63 (50.4%) had a preoperative histological diagnosis of malignancy, corresponding to 56 cases (44.8%) of primary lung cancer and 7 cases (5.6%) of metastases. The 62 (49.6%) remaining cases without preoperative histological diagnosis were divided among 50 (40%) solitary pulmonary nodules and 12 (9.6%) pulmonary masses. According to the postoperative pathologic examination, we identified 12 (9.6%) benign lesions excised during lung cancer surgery. There were no statistically significant differences by subgroups with respect to age or sex. We found statistically significant evidence regarding the size and wedge resection as the surgical technique of choice for this type of benign lesion. CONCLUSION: Our study obtained results similar to those published by other groups regarding the resection of benign lesions in lung cancer surgery. This percentage could be a quality management index of indeterminate lung lesions.