During a 7 year period from January, 1956 to December, 1962, 364 patients were
operated on for pulmonary tuberculosis, resection in 249 patients and thoracoplasty in
115 cases. The operative mortality for resection was 2.8% and that for thoracoplasty
1.7%.
Of these, 207 patients, 147 resection cases and 60 thoracoplasty cases, were followed
for a period of 10 months to 6 years.
Of the 147 cases of resection, 129 cases or 87.8% became inactive following the
surgery, while, of the 60 cases of thoracoplasty, 49 cases or 81.7% were converted
inactive following the surgery.
Of the resection cases, 25 patients had pneumonectomy and all remained inactive
following the surgery. One hundred and eight cases had lobectomy or lobectomy plus
segmental resection and 16 cases or 14.8% remained active following the surgery.
Fourteen cases had a segmental resection only and 2 cases or 14.3% remained active
following resection.
Of the cases with moderately advanced and far advanced tuberculosis, the reactivation
rate was 13.4% and 13.5% respectively following resection while none of those who had
only minimal disease had reaction following resection.
Those who had positive sputum preoperatively showed a reaction rate of 15.4%
following resection. On the other hand, none of those who had negative sputum
preoperatively had a reactivation of the disease following resection.
Those who had unilateral disease showed a reactivation rate 8.9%, and those who had
fibrosis or small nodular diseases on the contralateral side on X-Ray at the time of
resection had a reactivation rate of 21.4%
Of the thoracoplasty cases, 5.5% of those who had unilateral disease remained active
following surgery, and 23.8% of the patients who had bilateral disease remained active
following thoracoplasty.
Of the resection cases, 69 cases had the chief drugs only, some of them for a
prolonged period of time, and the reactivation rate was 14.5% Those who had secondary
drugs coverage-pre and postoperatively had a reactivation rate of 10.2%.
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