MINUS ONE LUNG THAT SMOKERS DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT

“Smoking is harmful to your health!” is an inscription that can be read literally on every pack of cigarettes. But neither these words, nor the frightening pictures, telling without words about the consequences of this addiction, could not make the patient of the P. Hertsen Moscow Oncology Research Institute (MORI) – branch of the FSBI “National Medical Research Radiological Centre” (NMRRC) of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation get rid of tobacco consumption.

The native of the city of Tambov was 55 years old, but by this time the man’s smoking experience had already reached 39 packs/years. He confessed that he started to indulge in cigarettes at school and by the time of his illness he smoked at least one and a half packs, or 30 cigarettes, a day. Vladimir recalls that back in early 2023, he had a severe coughing fit, during which the man saw separated blood tissue in his sputum. As often happens, the patient did not pay attention to this, writing off a dangerous symptom on a previously suffered bronchitis. When the attacks became more frequent and his breathlessness increased, Vladimir turned to a doctor. Computer tomography revealed a non-breathing lung, doctors suspected a malignant process. In the course of additional examination, the man was finally diagnosed with central cancer of the left lung.

“One of our patient’s lungs was in a collapsed state. The fact is that in central lung cancer, the tumor blocks the bronchus. With this development of the malignant process, the air ceases to penetrate the lung parenchyma, and when exhaling it collapses,” explains the leading researcher of the Department of Thoracoabdominal Surgery Dr. Konstantin Kolbanov.

A special danger is the formation of adhesions between the lung and pleura, as well as inflammatory process in the root of the lung, where the major trunk vessels pass. This was the situation that surgeons encountered during the operation in this patient.

“The lung not only does not breathe, it decreases in size and pulls on itself the structures of the heart, the main vessels, displacing tissues and organs into the pleural cavity where the tumor process develops, says Konstantin Ivanovich. In this situation, the heart is more attached to the chest wall, which in itself is dangerous for surgeons during the intervention. And the inflammatory process, which develops against the background of atelectasis, forces surgeons to isolate the lung and vascular structures from the adhesions for a long time, without causing unwanted bleeding”.

In the course of surgical intervention, the surgeons revealed a dilated main bronchus, in which the exophyte resembling the shape of a worm was located, stretching from the lung parenchyma towards the trachea. The tumor process was also surrounded by altered lymph nodes, which enveloped nearby vessels from one lung. Given that it had already been out of breath for a long time, the surgeons had to remove it completely. The operation, which lasted about 3 hours, was completed successfully, the specialists managed to perform the entire planned scope of surgical intervention and help the patient.

Vladimir plans to quickly go through the recovery period. Of course, the operation is only one of the stages of complex treatment, but it was completed successfully, and very soon the man will be able to return to normal life. But now, as the doctors advise him, he will be able to quit his smoking habit forever.