Author:

Abstract:

According to the National Cancer Database between 2004 and 2013, pneumonectomy for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) (n=79,953 patients) accounted for 5 percent of all resections (1). After successful treatment however, patients remain at risk (1–5%) for developing malignant lesions (recurrence or second primary) in the contralateral lung (2,3). Although—for resectable lesions—cure could be attained by surgery, the previous contralateral lung resection is a relative (but no absolute) contra-indication for which the risk-benefit ratio of every case should be discussed multidisciplinary. Outcome after post-pneumonectomy lung resection has improved over the last years due to improvement in surveillance techniques [positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT)] resulting in early diagnosis, careful selection of surgical candidates, advances in anaesthesiology and increasing experience with minimal invasive surgical techniques. In this paper we review these improvements and summarize the reported outcome of the largest reported single-center series.