Abstract:

Objective To investigate the clinicopathological characteristics, surgical procedures and prognosis of pulmonary pure ground-glass opacity (pGGO). Methods The clinical data of 34 patients with pGGO were collected, and the gender constitution, smoking status, surgical procedures, lesion size, histological types of tumor, lymph node metastasis and prognosis were retrospectively analysed. Results The numbers of females and non-smokers were significantly larger than those of males and smokers (P<0.05, P<0.01). Nineteen of the 34 patients received local resection (wedge resection or segment resection, video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery in 18), and the other 15 patients underwent lobectomy. Pathological examinations after operation revealed that there were 21 cases of bronchioloalveolar carcinoma and 13 cases of atypical adenomatous hyperplasia, and there was no lymph node metastasis. The diameters of bronchioloalveolar carcinoma lesions were significantly longer than those of atypical adenomatous hyperplasia lesions （P<0.05）, while there was no significant difference in lesion size between cases of local resection and those of lobectomy. Patients were followed up for 3 months to 5 years, and all survived, with no recurrence and distant metastasis. Conclusion The majority of patients with pGGO are females and nonsmokers. The diameters of bronchioloalveolar carcinoma lesions are longer than those of atypical adenomatous hyperplasia lesions. Local resection under video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery is recommended for treatment of pGGO.

Key words: lung tumor, pure ground-glass opacity, surgical treatment