Pulmonary torsion: a questionnaire survey and a survey of the literature

Abstract

Pulmonary torsion is a rare but life-threatening complication of thoracic operations and trauma. A questionnaire was sent to 140 thoracic surgeons in the United Kingdom to examine its incidence, particularly torsion of the middle lobe after right upper lobectomy. The answers from 117 thoracic surgeons (84%) were collected and analyzed. Thirty-five responders (30%) had seen one or more cases of pulmonary torsion. The majority of cases occurred after pulmonary resection, and most of these instances involved middle lobe torsion after right upper lobectomy. In total, 39 cases were reported; 1 (3%) occurred spontaneously in an azygos lobe, 2 (5%) were seen after trauma, 28 (72%) were seen after pulmonary resections and 8 (21%), after other procedures. In this group of responders, 27 (77%) routinely fix the middle lobe to the remaining lobe after right upper or lower lobectomy, upper lobe fixation being required only if the transverse fissure is well developed. Of the 82 responders who had never seen instances of pulmonary torsion, only 47 (57%) routinely do this fixation.